Gabon: Where Hippos Surf, Elephants Beachcomb & Leatherbacks Hatch

A Customizable Trip to Gabon

Highlights

#SafarisWithSangeeta

• Visiting Lekedi Park for its habituated mandrill troupes;
• Walking, quad-biking, game driving in Pongara NP for its nesting and hatching leatherback turtles;
• In search of forest elephants, red river hogs, chimps, African grey parrots, Central African buffalo and sitatunga on the beaches of Loango;
• Habituated gorilla tracking with the gorilla project in Loango National Park;

Starting from
EUR 8,425
per person sharing

Duration
10 days / 9 nights

Transport
Escorted Safari

Accommodation
Hotels, Lodges & Tented Camps

Exploring
Libreville, Loango National Park

About this Safari

Exploring Lékédi, Loango & Pongara National Park

Dear Adventurers & Explorers,

We thought we had discovered what Gabon had to offer with our annual tri-park trips there in July and August, but boy oh boy, were we wrong! This multi-faceted country does not cease to amaze with its different hues and shades and completely different safari experiences, depending on the time of year you visit. One of the enduring images of Gabon is of large charismatic animals foraging on its pristine coastal beaches. This is not so common in the summer months of July and August, but very common during the wet months (most of the rest of the year). While wildlife safaris in pouring rain can be a challenge, Gabon provides us with a brief ‘dry’ season in the middle of its ‘rainy’ season, and this is the time we want to be here for hippos that surf, eles that beachcomb and massive leatherback turtles that nest and hatch on its many powdery beaches.

Lopé NP, home to huge groups of wild mandrill, is not very good for mandrill sightings at this time of the year, so instead, we’ve chosen to incorporate our mandrill sighting – so unique to Gabon – at Lékédi Park, where you will be able to see semi-wild mandrill as they enter and exit the park enclosures at feeding time. These are habituated mandrill, but they are free to come and go at will, and we believe that this is a good opportunity for keen photographers to get their colourful mandrill shots, which are otherwise extremely hard to come by in the gallery forests of Lopé.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Gabon will compel us to create at least 2 more itineraries by the time we are done with it – there are the gorillas and chimps of Moukalaba-Doudou and their stories of murder and mayhem, the elusive bongo hiding in the high plateaux of Haut-Ogouée, not to mention the tantalizing glimpses of wild dogs and a solitary male lion in the Batéké plateau that also deserve special attention. This really is an extraordinary country that truly reveals itself slowly with each ensuing visit.

Sangeeta

Gabon is still an enigma. A wild place of pristine old-growth rainforests where there are almost no human settlements, and where wild animals live protected within the thick foliage of the Congolese rainforest spilling down to the coast, and nestled between the many rivers that traverse this west African country. This is a trip for those of you who want to see something new, something different. It is a place for the intrepid Africa enthusiast who will be thrilled by the sight of a red river hog in a wallow, or a wary lowland gorilla in a forest clearing, or a hippo looking to catch the waves. On this trip, timed to coincide with the appearance of charismatic mammals on the beaches of Gabon, we will enjoy a comfortable African adventure in a remote part of Africa. And if at least 6 of you are curious to learn about Gabonese culture, we have the potential to experience an authentic 2-day Bwiti ceremony on this trip as well.

The cost of this 10-day Gabon trip is:
EUR 10,525 per person based on 2 guests
EUR 8,700 per person based on 4 guests
EUR 8,425 per person based on 6 guests

Details –
DECEMBER 2022-2023 OR JANUARY 2023-2024
Dates are customizable & Costs remain the same
2/4/6 PERSON DEPARTURES

Request for the Full Itinerary

or call our African safari specialists at
+1 703 220 6393 or +91 9717 275237