Monkeyland KZN – Durban Ballito – The world’s first free roaming multi-species primate sanctuary

The Tour

Approximately two hours in duration, it starts with a short drive via 4×4, stopping at the main gates to the indigenous forest and primate enclosure. Your guide gives you a briefing including rules that need to be followed to make this a safe experience for both you and the primates. The guides do have a wicked sense of humour and had us in stitches throughout the tour. My personal view is that the guides themselves really did add something special to the experience and there is a clear sense that they are passionate about what they do, knowledgeable, and determined to ensure you have the best experience.

You are taken through the sanctuary and if you’re lucky enough to have booked your tour at a feeding time, you are in for a real treat.

This is a truly eye-opening dive into how these primates are being threatened, the realities they face, and what is being done to protect them. Your guide will share tales of some of the residents in the sanctuary and how they came about being there. The Capuchin monkey is a naughty fellow but when you hear his story, you cannot help but love his cheeky nature and respect why he is the way he is.

But, it’s not a tour of doom and gloom and you’ll learn some interesting facts about these special primates, for example, the howler monkey can smell fruit from 2km away and it is said to be the loudest monkey (we can attest to that!). But we’re not giving it all away, you’ll have to make the visit yourself. We don’t want to spoil the fun.