Republic Of Congo Gorilla Safari

I visited the Brazzaville office of the Wildlife Conservation Society www.wcs-congo.org which has worked for the past 15 years with the Republic of Congo's government in managing wildlife and its habitat in the country's national parks, among other places.

I plan to soon make an exploratory safari to ROC's northern Nouabale-Ndoki National Park. I then offer to accompany guests in 2008.

Nouabale-Ndoki was created in 1993 to protect 4000 sq km of virgin old growth forest which had been previously marked for commercial timber extraction. To quote the WCS, Nouabale-Ndoki is a "rare example of an intact forest system in Central Africa, completely uninhabited by people, and with extremely low human population densities in the surrounding areas." Contiguous with protected forests in neighboring Cameroon and the Central African Republic, Nouabale-Ndoki is home to forest elephants, western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, De Brazza monkeys, sitatunga and bongo antelope, Yellow-backed duikers, and hundreds of bird species. During reconnaissance surveys in the 1990s, prior to the park's establishment, "naïve" chimpanzees were encountered which had never before seen humans. Nouabale-Ndoki contains 1000 plant species, including 100-year-old mahoganies, as well as the sources of three major river systems which drain the northern Congo.

Nouabale-Ndoki's ecotourism program was opened in 2000. It is one of the only places where western lowland gorillas can be observed in the wild. Mbeli Bai is a large forest clearing where gorillas come to feed on aquatic vegetation. Other mammal sightings at Mbeli are forest elephants, buffalo, sitatunga, and otters. Visitors observe from a raised platform constructed on the clearing's edge. Thirteen gorilla groups and nine solitary silverbacks are known to frequent Mbeli Bai.  All are habituated to the presence of observers and to the researchers who accompany guests. Visitors are therefore able to learn about the wildlife from the researchers who study them.

A group of habituated gorillas inhabit an area around Mondika, another park destination for guests. Habituation efforts took a period of seven years for local Ba'Aka trackers, expatriate, Congolese and Central African researchers. These are the only western gorillas to be habituated thus far. Seeing them in the wild is a comparable experience to seeing East African mountain gorillas. Finally, there is the large mammal viewing from a platform at a clearing in the park called Wali Bai. Here there is a scenic lake visited by forest elephants, buffalo, and many species of birds.

This is not an easy safari. Getting to Nouabale-Ndoki NP first involves a flight from Brazzaville's chaotic airport to the northern air strip of Ouesso. From there it takes anywhere from two to five hours to travel up the Sangha River by motorized pirogue (a dugout canoe) to a pick-up point where a vehicle can transport the remaining distance to Bomassa, park headquarters, where guests overnight. It is another two and a half hours to Mbeli Camp from Bomassa, first by truck along a forestry road and then by pirogue into the national park and along the narrow Mbeli River to camp. Access to Mondika Camp involves a three-hour hike through the forest as well as a river crossing of thigh to waist high water. In addition, walking is required in the forest around Mondika in order to find the habituated gorillas. Tracking can mean wading through swamps. You must be in good physical condition.

You should allow a week for this safari. Accommodation is basic but comfortable. Mbeli offers raised timber bungalows with attached bathrooms and terraces which overlook the forest. Mondika Camp consists of tents under thatch. Groups of visitors must be small. Mbeli Camp sleeps eight. Mondika Camp, where habituated gorillas are observed, only allows four people at a time. For this reason, reservations for these camps must be made many months in advance. August through October is the best time to visit.

Air France has direct flights to Brazzaville from Paris three times a week. The average cost of a return ticket from eastern Canada or the US is $2500.00 US. A ROC visa must be obtained in advance from the ROC embassy in Washington, DC. A confirmation of a tour booking can serve as your letter of introduction. Factor a per diem cost of $350 – $400 US a day for this safari.

The current limits of Nouabale-Ndoki were determined after a series of reconnaissance surveys and walks carried out by Wildlife Conservation Society researchers. One of these was Michael Fay, who you may be familiar with from a series of National Geographic articles since the 1990s. Mike Nichols was the NGS photographer who traveled with Fay. See Nichol's website at www.michaelnicknichols.com. Click on Ndoki: The Last Place on Earth and be instantly transported to deepest Africa.

This information about Nouabale-Ndoki, Republic of Congo is under Other Destinations on the website. Please contact me if you are interested in going August through October 2008.

05-10-2007