Are any of you ROARers considering the hike to the Chacma baboon troop with the nonprofit company Baboon Matters? This is in Cape Town.

http://www.baboonmatters.org.za/

Len wants to do this, but I'm a bit hesitant. Any thoughts?

Andrea

FYI: I just found the following review of the baboon walks over at the Fodor's board:

Author: atravelynn (atravelynn@hotmail.com)
Date: 08/20/2008, 09:37 pm
Comments on the Baboon Walk with Baboon Matters I felt this encounter was right up there with the gorilla and chimp visits. The baboons are habituated to human presence in similar manner and you get a close glimpse of troop life for a couple of hours, with no set time limit for the visit.

Participation in this activity at 250 Rand/person (lots less than the $500 gorilla visit) supports two dozen local monitors who help keep the baboons away from the towns so they don’t raid these inhabited areas. It is a win-win-win scenario for the local citizens who want to be baboon-free, for those employed as monitors, and for the Cape Chacma Baboons—the only protected baboons in Africa.

* There were two troops you could visit, named for the dominant male in each, and I visited both George’s troop and Eric’s troop. Each troop had the whole spectrum of members and they were equally interesting as they went about their business of eating, grooming, mating, sleeping, nursing, playing, sparring, and climbing trees, in our midst.

* Six people go on the walk, so I’d reserve early, since this is popular (and reasonably affordable) for families, who can take up the majority of the 6 spots with parents and a couple of kids. I requested my walk dates and times through the Baboon Matters website about six months in advance.

* Walks require a minimum of two participants, but Baboon Matters agreed to take just me if no one else joined when I scheduled, since I was willing to pay for two under those circumstances.

* There are both morning and afternoon walks that spend about 2 hours with the baboons. My schedule allowed only afternoon visits, which seemed to be a great time to visit.

* The guide carries water that Baboon Matters provides in a backpack and you can stop for drinks any time.

* You meet at the Baboon Matters office, about a 10-minute ride drive from town. It is easy to get to by Rikki Taxi or even the train that runs frequently and stops in Simons Town, then heads down the tracks to stop across from the hotel and offices where Baboon Matters is located.

* From the Baboon Matters office, where the 20-30 minute orientation takes place, you drive to wherever the baboons happen to be and begin the walk. This drive component can be tricky because only certain staff members are licensed to drive paying guests. So you might end up getting a ride with other guests who drove there if you don’t have a car.

One of my scheduled visits even got switched to a different date because of this driving issue. I think more staff are in the process of getting the needed licenses.

*Jenny, the founder, and all of the staff are super people with very interesting lives and tales.

* The baboons were completely non-aggressive, in contrast to behavior that may be witnessed at the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. That’s because the aggressive baboons have been fed and have learned they can acquire food with hostile actions. Wayne of Take2 Tours even told me that the baboons in the reserve target children and people with gray hair because they offer the least resistance to attacks for food. In contrast, the baboons on the walk do not associate people with food and see the monitors and the guide as dominant.

* Unlike gorilla visits, you do not have to stay close together in a small group and remain still. You can venture out several meters in various directions for better views and photos during much of the approximately two-hour visit. We remained prepared to regroup or relocate ourselves at the direction of the guide if needed.

* For one of the visits, the climbing was rigorous, over rocky hill slopes. We felt like mountain goats. In addition, this area had been burned previously and had charred remnants all over. We all ended up with black clothes by the end of the walk, even the guide. Cold water was suggested for washing the charcoal stains out, and it worked, thanks to the complimentary use of the washing machine at Sea Spray.

* The Baboon Walks alone should make Simons Town a prime wildlife destination.

Andrea, If you do go out to Simons Town, make sure to stop at Boulders Beach and see the penguins. That is one of our favorite all time travel highlights! No comment from me on the Baboon Walk, other than we did see baboons on the road between Simons Town and the Nature Reserve. To me they are really ugly and scary and they were aggressive, stopping cars and trying to get in them, jumping, hitting, hooting, pulling and then just sitting on the cars and in the road. I did not like them at all and they even had little babies with them, which are usually always cute, but they still creeped me out! Good luck, Debbie

Debbie,

My initial feeling about the baboons is the same as yours...they seem a bit scary! The woman I spoke with at Baboon Matters says the animals near the Nature Reserve and used to people and view them as a meal ticket so they have become quite aggressive.

Supposedly, the troops that the walk visits do not interact with people in that role (seeing people as a conduit to food), but I'm still a bit up in the air.

We'll see. Len's so much more adventurous than I am!

Andrea

Andrea, this sounds fascinating to me....(but that's just me). We have spent 3 days in Cape Town and seen the highlights. This sounds like a once in a lifetime experience. How do you get to this, taxi ?? We're not on ROAR2 with you but will be in Cape Town for SAMBA in November.

If I can't get to China again to see the Panda santuary, I mights as well go see the Baboons!

Where's Len when I need him !! :D

Hi Marcie,

The woman at Baboon Matters told me that it's a quick taxi ride from the Cape Town Radisson. The office itself is in Glencairn, which is a bit north of Simon's Town.

The troops of baboons that you'd visit are near Glencairn, but you will need to drive to get there.

The one tricky part is that not all of the Baboon Matters guides are licensed to drive guests. So, if you book on a particular day, you may need to take a taxi to Glencairn and then ask the driver to wait for you while you hear the orientation talk. Then, the taxi will drive you to the area of the walk (which changes depending on where the troop is on that particular day). You'll also need to arrange to have the driver pick you up in the same location in two hours.

The excursion does sound interesting. I'll let you know if we end up doing this and I'll send you some photos so you can decide if you'd like to do this while on SAMBA.

Take care!

Andrea

PS - You may also be interested in the Drakenstein Lion Park. It's 30 minutes from Cape Town (near Stellenbosch). It's a lion sanctuary. We haven't been there, but it was recommended to us by several people over at the Fodor's board.
http://www.lionrescue.org.za/news10.htm