Wild Vietnam: Rare Primates & Mammals 2-Week Expedition

Day 0: Arrive in HCMC
Arrive in Ho Chi Minh City and transfer to our hotel, where we have arranged your accommodation. In the afternoon, the group will meet for the first time before taking a short walk to one of the city’s urban parks. Here we’ll search for a variety of easily observed mammals, including Indochinese Ground Squirrel, Cambodian Striped Squirrel, Pallas’s Squirrel, Greater Short-nosed Fruit Bat, Javan Pipistrelle and Oriental House Rat, a great way to begin the tour list! Afterwards we’ll enjoy a welcome dinner together, a chance to meet your guides and fellow mammal watchers, go over some tour plans, and build the excitement for the days ahead. This first welcome dinner is on us. If you need assistance with your airport transfer, just let us know, we’ll be happy to help arrange it.

Day 1: HCMC / Can Gio / Nui Dinh
With an early start, we’ll visit a few local spots in the city picking up Finlayson’s Squirrel and Black-bearded Tomb Bat before travelling south and taking a ferry to Can Gio, an expansive area of old growth mangrove, wetlands and coastal mudflats. Here, we’ll visit Vam Sat, taking small boats through the mangroves to visit a colony of Large Flying Fox. We may also pick up our first Common Long-tailed Macaque and Northern Pig-tailed Macaque of the trip. After lunch, we’ll take the ferry eastwards and transfer to Vung Tau where we’ll check into our accommodation. This spot is famous for having a number of Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat, hopefully completely our set. Following an early dinner, we’ll visit the forests of Nui Dinh, for one of our big targets of the trip, Southern Pygmy Slow Loris. Other key species here include Lesser Oriental Chevrotain, Southern Palm Civet and a variety of forest bats.

Day 2–4: Cat Tien National Park
We’ll depart Vung Tau early and make the roughly three-hour journey to Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam’s premier national park and one of the most rewarding wildlife watching destinations in Indochina. Upon arrival, your guides will arrange park entry, and we’ll cross the river by ferry into the park. After checking into our accommodation, we’ll jump straight into exploring the incredible wildlife viewing opportunities this park offers. We’ll spend nearly four full days and three nights here, with extensive spotlighting sessions each evening. During our time in the park, we’ll focus on key target species not seen elsewhere on the tour, working systematically through the park’s diverse habitats. Highlights include 6x species of primate, Southern Yellow-cheeked Gibbon, Black-shanked Douc Langur, Annamese Langur, Common Long-tailed Macaque, Northern Pig-tailed Macaque and Southern Pygmy Slow Loris. Other species include Northern Treeshrew, Northern Smooth-tailed Treeshrew, Gaur, Northern Red Muntjac, Lesser Oriental Chevrotain, Sambar, Black Giant Squirrel, Common Giant Flying Squirrel, East Asian Porcupine, Indomalayan Long-tailed Giant Rat, Small-toothed Palm Civet, Small Indian Civet, Large-toothed Ferret Badger, Javan Mongoose, Yellow-throated Marten, Mainland Leopard Cat, Sunda Pangolin, Burmese Hare and potentially evenAsian Elephant. Bat diversity is also excellent, with regular visual encounters with Grand Roundleaf Bat, Woolly Horseshoe Bat, Indochinese Horseshoe Bat, Greater False Vampire Bat, Lesser False Vampire Bat and Thick-thumbed Myotis, to name just a few of our regular targets. Over a typical four-day stay, we often encounter 30~ species, making this an essential starting point for the tour. Our daily routine usually includes early morning fieldwork, a midday break and siesta, afternoon sessions targeting crepuscular species, followed by dinner and dedicated spotlighting into the night. During the daytime, we’ll also visit several known bat roost sites, a bat cave and explore a range of habitats for additional wildlife encounters. One of our stops will include a bird hide frequented by forest squirrels and treeshrews, often drawn in by the free feed, offering excellent photographic opportunities and close-up views of these otherwise elusive species.

Day 5: Cat Tien > Ho Chi Minh City > Da Nang > Tam Ky
We’ll spend our final morning in Cat Tien making the most of any last wildlife opportunities before travelling back to Ho Chi Minh City for our flight north to Da Nang, in Central Vietnam. Upon arrival, we’ll be collected and transferred south to our accommodation near Tam Ky, ready for an early start the following day. En route, we’ll make a stop in Hoi An for dinner and visit a local spot for Greater Bandicoot Rat, both Japanese and Javan Pipistrelle and Asian House Shrew (if we’re lucky!).

Day 6: Nui Thanh
Today is dedicated to one of Vietnam’s most iconic and critically endangered primates, the Grey-shanked Douc Langur. We’ll depart before dawn for Nui Thanh, where we’ll spend the morning working alongside the local conservation team and the NGO GreenViet to observe and learn about this striking species in its natural habitat. We typically spend the full morning in the field before having lunch and then making our way back, arriving in Da Nang by early evening. Alongside this critically endangered species, we may pick up our first Maritime Striped Squirrel for the trip and more Northern Pig-tailed Macaque. This is one of the few scheduled “nights off” during the tour, giving you a chance to rest and perhaps see a little bit of one of Vietnam’s most famous cities.

Day 7-8: Son Tra Nature Reserve > Bach Ma National Park
We’ll begin the day at dawn with an exploration of Son Tra Nature Reserve, possibly Vietnam’s most iconic wildlife-watching destination outside of Cat Tien. This world-renowned hotspot is home to one of the planet’s most visually striking primates, the Red-shanked Douc Langur, often referred to as the Queen of the Primates. With the help of our team, we typically encounter as many as a dozen or so family troops in a single morning, offering exceptional opportunities for both viewing and photography. Other species we may encounter include Javan Mongoose, Rhesus Macaque, and Maritime Striped Squirrel. After lunch, we’ll transfer to Bach Ma National Park, where we’ll spend the next two nights in French-era villas located near the summit of the Annamite Mountains, a truly breathtaking setting and often a highlight location on this trip. We have 2 days and 2 nights in the park, giving us plenty of time to target some of the trip’s major highlights, including Northern Yellow-cheeked Gibbon, Stump-tailed Macaque, (more Red-shanked Douc Langur!), Annamite Muntjac, Small-toothed Ferret Badger, Northern Palm Civet, Small-toothed Palm Civet, Yellow-throated Marten, Black Giant Squirrel, Asian Red-cheeked Squirrel, Inornate Squirrel, Indomalayan Niviventer, Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse, Brush-tailed Porcupine, Ratanaworabhan’s Fruit Bat and Northern Woolly Horseshoe Bat. Other mega-rarities here include Large-antlered Muntjac and Indochinese Serow, though we only rarely record these species. During the day, we’ll also visit a network of war mines that have become home to a variety of bat colonies, including Intermediate Horseshoe Bat, Pearson’s Horseshoe Bat, Lesser False Vampire Bat and Ha Long Roundleaf Bat.

Day 9: Bach Ma > Phong Nha-Ke Bang
This morning marks our final opportunity in Bach Ma. If we’re still missing Northern Yellow-cheeked Gibbon (or any other diurnal targets), we’ll be up early to check the known locations. If need be, we’ll split our two guides between the southern site and upper colonies, staying in touch by walkie-talkie, a method that’s worked well on past tours. After breakfast, we’ll descend from the highlands and begin our transfer north to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. Today is primarily a travel and rest day, offering guests a welcome chance to relax and recharge before the final leg of our journey. Once we’ve checked into accommodation and had a rest, we’ll take explore the national park on dusk, trying to pick up some of the macaque species that typically move around on dusk, including Stump-tailed and Assam Macaque. At sunset, we’ll visit some of the caves where thousands Leschenault’s Rousette (amongst many other species) exit for the night. After the bats, we’ll return to accommodation for dinner, then offering a short walk amongst the farmland for Ricefield Rat and Ricefield Mouse.

Days 10: Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park
Today we’ll be up very early for some serious primate watching with our main target being Southern White-cheeked Gibbon, one of the rarest and most difficult primates to see in the world. This is primarily a “crack of dawn” species, so after targeting this, we’ll spend the rest of the morning working on other rather primates including Hatinh Langur, Stump-tailed Macaque, Assam Macaque, Red-shanked Douc Langur and possibly Indochinese Black Langur (a very difficult species, and taxonomically complex). Other diurnal targets include Black Giant Squirrel, Inornate Squirrel, Javan Mongoose, Yellow-throated Marten and the very rare Yellow-bellied Weasel. We’ll take a break in the afternoon, possibly visiting a bat cave (this is season dependant). Like the day before, we’ll return in the late afternoon to look for primate and other predator movement around dusk before spotlighting after dark. Spotlighting opportunities in the park are limited, however possibility exists for high-value targets including Northern Palm Civet, Masked Palm Civet, East Asian Porcupine, Indochinese Flying Squirrel, Lesser Giant Flying Squirrel, White-footed Indochinese Rat, and if we’re lucky, our first Northern Pygmy Slow Loris.

Days 11: Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park > Dong Le > Vinh

Today is our final morning in the park. As with Bach Ma, if we are still missing any primates or other key diurnal targets, we’ll make an early pre-dawn start to position ourselves in the best areas for morning activity. Around mid-morning, we’ll return to our accommodation for an early lunch before departing Phong Nha-Ke Bang and heading north to visit the Hatinh Langur Conservation Community (Cộng đồng bảo tồn Voọc Gáy Trắng). Here we’ll have the opportunity to observe this remarkable species ethically while directly supporting local conservation efforts. This visit is regularly one of the major highlights of the tour, and Next Continent is grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such a passionate and dedicated group of local conservationists. Along the way, we’ll also visit several private sites that provide access to a number of bat caves. Great Roundleaf Bat is the principal target here, though other possibilities include Intermediate Roundleaf Bat, Pomona Roundleaf Bat, Ashy Roundleaf Bat, Eastern Bent-winged Bat, Wrinkle-lipped Bat and Horsfield’s Bat, among others. After what will surely be a memorable afternoon observing Hatinh Langur along the conservation community, we’ll continue north to Vinh for our overnight stay.

Days 12–13: Cuc Phuong National Park
After transferring from Vinh, we’ll spend the next 2 days and 2 nights inside one of Vietnam’s most spectacular wild places, Cuc Phuong National Park. This is one the titans of mammalwatching locations in Vietnam, with many specialist targets and great opportunities. Most of our work will be out at night targeting some of the biggest target species of the trip including Hairy-footed Flying Squirrel, Indochinese Flying Squirrel, Northern Pygmy Slow Loris, Large Indian Civet, Owston’s Civet, Sunda Pangolin, Mainland Leopard Cat, and Great Hog Badger, amongst many more. Among this is a strong supporting cast including Northern Palm Civet, Masked Palm Civet, Greater Short-nosed Fruit Bat, Greater Long-tongued Fruit Bat, Lang Bian White-bellied Rat, Mekong White-bellied Rat, Edward’s Giant Long-tailed Rat, Sikkim Mouse and Indomalayan Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse, among others. Typical diurnal targets include Perny’s Long-nosed Squirrel, Vietnamese Sika Deer, Round-eared Tube-nosed Bat, Inornate Squirrel, Sambar, and rarities such as Yellow-bellied Weasel and Stripe-backed Weasel. Cuc Phuong is also known for its considerable caves and bat watching opportunities. Regular highlight species include Intermediate Roundleaf Bat, Stoliczka’s Trident Bat, Exotic Roundleaf Bat, Allen’s Leaf-nosed Bat, Ha Long Roundleaf Bat, Pearson’s Horseshoe Bat, Great Evening Bat, Lesser False Vampire Bat, and the mega rarity KingHorseshoe Bat.

Day 14: Cuc Phuong > Ninh Binh
After a final morning in Cuc Phuong, we’ll transfer to Ninh Binh, where our focus shifts to the striking limestone landscapes that are home to two key species: Assam Macaque and the critically endangered Delacour’s Langur, a major highlight for many on the tour. We’ll spend the afternoon searching for them, with further time planned the following morning if needed. Our final night will be spent adjacent the wetlands, where we’ll enjoy our final group dinner and take an opportunity to review our trip lists. Amongst the limestone makes for a nice final opportunity for Japanese Pipistrelle, Lesser Ricefield Rat, Asian House Mouse and Asian House Shrew around the accommodation.

Day 15: Van Long Wetlands > Hanoi
Our final morning begins at dawn with a visit to Van Long Wetlands, the last stronghold of the critically endangered Delacour’s Langur, with fewer than 200~ individuals remaining in the wild. This stunning primate is one of the tour’s major highlights, and we’ll search for family troops by private boat, gliding through serene wetlands surrounded by towering limestone karst. With the Delacour’s Langur in the bag, we’ll give Assam Macaque a final shot (if still required), before having lunch and returning to Ha Noi where the tour concludes with either drop off a local hotel or we can take participants straight to the airport.