Brazil has over 100 species of primate – more than any other country on Earth – but in common with primates elsewhere, not all of them are doing so well. At particular risk are the species found in Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest. Once the size of Alaska, this miraculous forest, older and more biodiverse even than the Amazon, is just 7% of its former size. Worse, much of what remains is highly fragmented, meaning the long-term viability of countless species is imperilled.
This journey offers a particularly attractive way of inspiring young minds to engage with conservation issues. It takes you to two areas of Atlantic rainforest—an inland patch of forest in Minas Gerais and the coastal forests of Bahia. Here you’ll meet two of its most charismatic and vulnerable primates, the critically endangered northern muriqui—the largest primate in the Americas—of whom fewer than 1000 individuals remain in the wild, and the golden lion tamarin whose population is only a little higher.
"A stay at the sensational Ibiti Project will allow you to meet one of the Atlantic rainforest’s most charming monkeys, the critically endangered northern muriqui."
One of the best-protected areas of Atlantic rainforest is an inland patch of forest in Minas Gerais. A stay at the sensational Ibiti Project will allow you to meet one of the Atlantic rainforest’s most charming monkeys, the critically endangered northern muriqui–the largest primate in the Americas. Fewer than 1000 individuals remain, and the forests around Ibitipoca are one of the muriqui’s last strongholds.
Affectionately called the hippie monkey, these gentle creatures are placid and non-hierarchical, and spend a lot of time hugging each other and avoid fighting over food, sleeping arrangements or mates. By private arrangement, you’ll be joined by the world’s foremost muriqui authority, Karen Strier. Her tireless work has given these friendly monkeys an inkling of hope, and coming upon a troop in the forest with Karen is an almost indescribably moving experience.
Decamping to Bahia’s Cacao Coast, immortalised by Brazil’s great writer Jorge Amado, you’ll have a gorgeous staffed private beach house in which to hole up and enjoy all the seductions of Brazilian beachfront living from surfing to lobster and caipirinhas on the beach. Enticing you inland, though, are sleepy cacao plantations and the cool-scented breezes of the coastal Atlantic rainforest—final redoubt of the golden lion tamarin.
Two projects in particular are worthy of your attention: Serra Bonita, a pioneering private reserve that is restoring the forest home of the tamarin and other endangered wild primates; and Fazenda Ararauna, an ecological and conservation-minded plantation that will open your eyes to how the human primate can happily coexist with its threatened wild cousins.
