ZECO TRAVEL TALK

With its combination of spectacular but elusive forest wildlife, challenging logistics and the uncertain future of its ecotourism establishments, it remains to be seen whether “Africa’s Eden” ever reaches its much-vaunted objective of becoming the continent’s “Rainforest Mecca”. What is certain is that we experienced, first-hand, the best of this remote, largely unspoilt and truly unique travel destination.

Traversing the extensive coastal savannas and waterways of Loango National Park, criss-crossing (slowly) the mosaic of gallery forest and savannah in Lope National Park, and even reaching the remote bai in the heart of Ivindo National Park’s virgin rain forest, our expedition was designed to explore the scenic and wildlife highlights of this little-known corner of the continent.

In the coastal lagoons and termite mound-studded grassland of Loango, our explorations revealed everything from noisy flocks of screeching African grey parrots to quiet rain forest waterways frequented by basking, slender-snouted crocodiles, from distant forest elephants to intimate encounters with spy-hopping and breaching humpback whales.

Just getting to Langoue bai in Ivindo National Park proved to be an expedition in itself, from the flight over endless miles of unbroken rainforest, to the bumpy, four-wheel drive track overgrown with thickets of wild ginger and the final, humid hike into camp. Langoue bai provided most of us the very rare opportunity to witness the behaviour of western gorillas in the wild.

Mandrills are aberrant baboons restricted to rain forest flanking the coasts of the Gulf of Guinea, and Lope is the only place on Earth where one stands a reasonable chance of glimpsing these elusive forest sprites. We all managed (with varying degrees of difficulty!) to witness these peculiar primates in their natural environment. Lope also provided the opportunity of stalking, on foot, a variety of smaller primates, such as the noisy grey-cheeked mangabey and scruffy-looking black colobus; duikers; forest buffalo and even forest elephant.

Along the way we experienced the full spectrum of Gabon’s rich diversity of habitats and encountered a varied pageant of birds and beasts, some of widespread occurrence, others known only in this corner of the globe.

Excerpts from the Welcome Home Letter written by Expedition Leader Jonathan Rossouw for our July - August 2008 Gabon: Africa’s Forest Eden