Promotional trip to Gabon in November 2022
We are going to make a promotional trip to Gabon in November 2022 at an adjusted price. We want to promote some of the country's great attractions in one of the best months to visit Loango National Park. Walking safaris on the beach in search of elephants, hippos and buffalo. In the evening we will have the opportunity to see turtles as it is the nesting season. We will also attend an all-night Bwiti ceremony. In Ivindo National Park we will hike to the Langoue Bai, a clearing in the forest that usually has an amazing concentration of wildlife.
- Departure: Libreville, Tuesday 15 November 2022
- End: Libreville, Monday 28 November 2022
- Duration: 14 days
- Group size: 4 to 10 passengers
- Price: 2.900€
- Countries visited: Gabon
- Transport: boat, taxi, 4x4, mini-bus
Trip to Gabon, in search of wildlife
Trip to Gabon in search of wildlife in its two most renowned National Parks. We will visit the Ivindo National Park on a 3 days and 2 nights route, where we will head to the Bai de Langoue, where we will spend two nights in this fascinating place, famous for its concentration of wildlife. We will continue to Loango National Park. It is November, the rainy season, and the large mammals concentrate on the Loango beaches. We will do two full days of trekking in Loango and have a good chance of elephant, buffalo and perhaps hippo sightings on the beaches. This is also turtle season, so if we are lucky we may also see turtles at night.
Bai de Langoue, the jewel of the Ivindo National Park
The Bai de Langoue is a clearing or open space located within a vast expanse of forest. Bai means in local languages 'a clearing through which a river flows' or 'where the animals eat' depending on who you ask). These clearings in the forest are used by animals to feed, drink, socialise and obtain minerals from the rich, nutritious soil. The Langoue clearing or bai sometimes sees up to 90 forest elephants but there are also multiple groups of gorillas, forest buffalo, huge herds of red river hogs and a resident population of sitatunga. We will spend two nights here.
Loango National Park
This is undoubtedly the leitmotif of any trip to Gabon and certainly one of the best destinations on the planet to see wild animals. Loango National Park is internationally known as Africa's last Eden. Savannahs, sandbanks and forests intermingle with rivers and lagoons. The western boundary is marked by the vast white sandy beaches where the famous surfing hippos have been photographed.
Loango National Park has two clearly differentiated visits depending on when you travel there: dry season and rainy season.
Trip to Gabon in the rainy season (November to February)
We are likely to have the opportunity to spot wildlife on the beaches. We will go on walking safaris with an expert wildlife guide in search of elephants, buffalo and hippos. Loango is also home to large concentrations of primates such as baboons, gorillas and chimpanzees, but these are more difficult to spot. November is also a great month to see turtles on Gabon's beaches.
Trip to Gabon in dry season, Akaka forest (August)
Loango's wildlife is concentrated in the hinterland of Loango National Park. A few hours' boat ride through lagoons and rivers, there is a very special place known as the Akaka Forest. In July and August, the height of the dry season, the waters recede considerably, revealing tasty grasses and numerous insects, which attract a good number of elephants, buffalo and many other herbivorous mammals. In the Akaka forest it is also possible to spot various primates such as chimpanzees, baboons and lowland gorillas, as well as crocodiles and even predators such as leopards.
In this natural paradise of the Akaka jungle we will spend two nights.
Loango Gorilla Project
Optionally on the trip to Gabon and depending on availability, you can visit the gorilla habituation project in Loango National Park. Led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the Loango Gorilla Project has successfully habituated a group of western lowland gorillas for tourist observation and is currently in the process of habituating a second group. If you want to know more about gorilla habituation processes visit our post on gorillas.
Lambarene and Albert Schweitzer
Lambaré is a pleasant and interesting town steeped in colonial heritage. It stretches along the Ogooue River, and part of the town occupies a large island in the middle of the river. It is famous for its hospital, which was founded exactly a century ago by Dr. Albert Schweitzer. We will visit and stay at the historic Albert Schweitzer Hospital, which is still in operation. This fascinating hospital complex dates back to the mid 1920s and the original buildings now house a museum. Albert Schweitzer, a Nobel Prize winner, was a German theologian, philosopher, musicologist and missionary doctor and above all provided a great medical service to the local population.
Bwiti ceremony
We will not leave this trip to Gabon without attending a Bwit ceremony. The Bwiti is an animist religion, officially recognised in Gabon and extending to parts of Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. Their beliefs centre on ancestor worship and forest spirits. Bwiti followers cultivate a plant known as iboga, a psychoactive drug that causes hallucinations. Iboga is sacred and is used for initiation ceremonies, spiritual growth and initiation rites. The various Gabonese peoples use iboga in Bwiti to communicate with the spirits of the forest and the ancestors, to heal the sick and to be able to know the future of the user.