Central African Safaris
Central African Wildlife:
One of the most densely forested regions of Africa, the Congo Basin is home to some of the continents most diverse wildlife. Saying this, it is often very hard to see it as as soon as you are anywhere near it it has already disappeared!
The principal reason for anyone to put themselves through the hardship of travelling in this region is to track and see the only habituated lowland gorillas. This is truly a fantastic once in a lifetime experience.
Bai Hokou and Mondika Wildlife Safaris
These areas provide the main attraction to visiting this region. Bai Hokou and Mondika are home to some of the best lowland gorilla tracking on the African continent. Dzangha Bai, located from Doli or Sangha Lodges, is also a fantastic forest clearing where you can wathc the comings and goings of forest life from a treeline hide. Dzangha Bai can have 100+ forest elephants excavating the soils of the forest floor at any one time; a breathtaking experience as you sit and appreciate the enormity of the environment that you are part of.
These two regions also combine well with Mbeli Bai. Mbeli Bai is home to forest elephants and one of the largest resident populations of lowland gorillas with up to 150 individuals living in the immediate vicinity. It is not possible to track the gorillas here as they are not habituated, however sitting in the treeline hide and watching them go graze in the Bai below is a true privilege. If you are lucky you may have the oppotunity to meet Vincent, Vincent is a semi-habituated silverback gorilla who is often found hanging around Mbeli Bai Camp...quite a friendly fellow but not really someone you want to meet on the way to the dining room!
BEST TIME TO VISIT CENTRAL AFRICA
Bai Hokou and Mondika are generally accessible throughout the year; the best months however to visit are between June and October, this is when the water levels are not quite so high and therefore areas such as Mbeli Bai are easier to access. Tracking the lowland gorillas is always difficult even in the driest weather and therefore World Primate Safaris recommends trying to avoid the wettest months as it is hard work!
GETTING TO CENTRAL AFRICA
Not the easiest part of Africa to access! Air France has a couple of flights flying into Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo every week. Once here, you then need to catch an internal flight north to the small logging town of Ouesso (very little to do here) and then from here you hvae a two day pirogue trip up the Dzangha River to Doli Lodge. It is a long journey however it is most definitely worth it but don't expect the luxuries of travel that you would get in Eastern Africa!
It is also possible to access this region from Bangui in the Central African Republic. From here you drive southwards by 4x4 for approximately 12 hrs; this is a long and arduous drive with many obstacles along the way including fallen trees etc.