For sure, apes are very intelligent. I've seen a few clips where orphaned apes have recognised humans years after they last met. I've also seen a case where an orangutang was spotted using a 'spear' to catch fish.
I heard a scientist telling about one of his colleagues that was showing towels of different colors to an ape, to see how the ape could point to an image or word (don't remember) corresponding to its color. At some point he presented him with a blue towel, and the ape kept pointing at "red". After a few retries from the scientist, the ape pointed to the little red tag of the towel, and went laughing.
