If the big screen’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes leaves you with the urge to become one with nature then Go Ape! is your place.

I ‘de-evolved’ for the day and unleashed my inner primate at the adventure company’s Aberfoyle site in the Trossachs.

There was enough swinging, leaping and sliding amongst the vegetation to make me feel at one with our ancestors – if not at least with those other loveable furry creatures, Ewoks. Indeed, memories of being five years old and playing with my Star Wars figures and Endor playset were rekindled by the various rope bridges and treetop stations found on the Tree Top Adventure.

Before you are, quite literally, launched into the site – via one of Britain’s longest zip wires – there are health and safety lessons to be learned.

Our Go Ape instructor went through the dos and don’ts of the forest and ensured we were comfortable with the equipment.

One of the unique things about Go Ape is that when you’re up in the trees you are essentially on your own (albeit staff are a mere whistle blow away for assistance). I confess, while I like adventure, heights are not my strong suit, and there were a few nerves before the start.

Those were more or less dispelled when I first attached myself to the first zip wire.

You are either going to love or hate flying 400 metres along a zip wire 150 feet above the ground and over a 90 foot waterfall – I loved it.

It’s an exhilarating experience and gets the blood pumping and ready for the rest of the challenges.

Once over there, there are five sections and over 30 crossings – each getting that little bit trickier and a couple of ‘extreme’ ways to choose from – and water coolers where you can re-hydrate. Depending on how many are using the course, you will spend over two hours in amongst the branches.

From rope bridges and wooden tunnels, suspended 12 metres above the ground, to net swings that give you a taste of Tarzan (bar the loin cloth), it is adventurous stuff. Forest trails? Pah. This is how to explore a forest. As the treetops are that of Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, the views are always stunning.

To end your adventure there is another long zip wire back. Beginning higher than the first crossing, it is a journey you will savour, in no small part to the beauty of your surroundings.

While I tried out Go Ape’s Aberfoyle site, there are two other Tree Top Adventure courses located across Scotland. Glentress Forest near Peebles has the highest zip wire in the country, set above a magnificent reservoir, while Crathes Castle in Aberdeeenshire features the epic skateboard zip wire.

Prices range from £30 for a gorilla (aged 18 and over) to £24 for a baboon (aged 10 to 17).

To book a Go Ape adventure visit www.goape.co.uk or phone 0333 331 7264.