Monkeyland is a primate sanctuary in The Crags, near Plettenberg Bay. A visit takes you into an indigenous forest, where monkeys, lemurs and other primates move through the trees around you.
The forest is central to the experience. Rather than walking past a row of enclosures, visitors follow a guide along forest paths, looking for the animals among the branches and vegetation. Some are easy to spot. Others take a little patience.
The guide helps identify the different species and explains their behaviour and backgrounds. Watching how they move, feed and interact gives you more to appreciate than simply taking a photograph. Looking up is part of the visit: there can be as much happening overhead as at ground level.
One of Monkeyland’s distinctive features is its suspension bridge through the forest canopy. It gives visitors another perspective on the woodland and the space the animals inhabit.
This is an animal sanctuary, and the visit should be approached with that in mind. There is no handling or petting of the primates. Giving them space and following the guide’s instructions are part of the experience.
Monkeyland fits into a Garden Route itinerary that includes Plettenberg Bay and Tsitsikamma. It offers a change from coastal viewpoints and beaches, with time spent beneath the trees learning about the animals.
On our private Garden Route tours, we can discuss including Monkeyland when planning your itinerary. Some guests have a particular interest in wildlife; others prefer to spend longer walking along the coast. Having your own guide and vehicle gives us room to arrange the days around those interests.
Monkeys and apes are both primates, but they belong to different groups. Most monkeys have tails; apes do not. Gibbons, which live at Monkeyland, are apes, along with gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans. Lemurs belong to another branch of the primate family.
Baboons are monkeys too, although there are no baboons at Monkeyland. For a chance to see wild chacma baboons, you can join our complimentary full-day private Cape Peninsula tour, included with your Convoy Tours Garden Route booking.
This full-day tour includes Cape Point, the Cape of Good Hope, the African penguins at Boulders Beach and the coastal drive along Chapman’s Peak. Baboons live in the Cape Point section of Table Mountain National Park, so we keep an eye out as we explore. Sightings are never guaranteed, and we observe them from a respectful distance. Together, the two tours offer different opportunities to see and learn about these fascinating animals.
