Sitting on the equator, very much in the heart of central Africa.
The Republic of the Congo and Gabon are two countries that many dream of visiting yet few have the access to do so. Especially like this. The remoteness of the wildlife is almost unprecedented across Africa and through our teams on the ground in the proximity you can get without disturbing them is an experience you’ll remember forever.
Rob recounts his journey to the Congo
“I traveled to Gabon first and spent a week with The Aspinall Foundation working deep in the jungle on the northern border of the Republic of Congo, on a project to reintroduce lowland Gorillas into the forest.
The area has not had any tourism and this was an opportunity to really get under the skin of cutting edge wildlife research and species/mammal reintroduction. I traveled there with one of the experienced guides and ended up donating two pack-rafts to the scientific team there in order to further endeavour their research. We saw how much they appreciated the support first hand as the chief researcher there was in floods of tears (of joy) as the silent pack-rafts enabled her to get closer than she has ever been to the Gorillas and forest elephants. We are supporting great work there and continue to discuss the potential for adventure tourism to the Park – Bateke.
After Gabon, we met James and continued for an intense week in the Odzala National Park, in the Republic of Congo – staying in a series of 3 permanent camps, called Odzala.
Odzala is known for their research into Lowland Gorillas and as an organisation originally set up for conservation, their credentials in terms of Gorilla research, reintroduction and ecotourism is second to none. The area is accessed via an hour’s flight in a prop plane – flying over dense jungle.
We trekked, rafted and crawled through dense Maram grassland, rainforest and swamp to watch these incredible (and wild) lowland gorillas in their natural habitat.
It was one of the most special moments I’ve had on my travels, to see these incredible ancestors of ours in a habitat as untouched as this one is.
The three camps are all different and allow a series of contrasting activities. You have the sense you are right there amongst the work of the researchers and that the time you are spending at each camp is genuinely helping the wider conservation of the area.”