Conkouati-Douli National Park

Conkouati-Douli National Park is a coastal park in the Republic of Congo, founded in 1999, and covers an area of ​​over 5.000 sq km. Conkouati is managed by the Congolese government together with the WCS. There are 36 rangers and during the nesting of sea turtles additional people come to guard the beach.  

The park has three zones: 

– An integral protection zone for ark staff, tourists and researchers who have permits. 

– An eco-development zone in which residents are allowed to use natural resources for their personal consumption as long as it’s sustainable and after getting permission. 

– A 5 km buffer zone around the park in which environmental education and awareness efforts and socio-economic activities are carried out.

In 2014, nearly 7,000 people lived in and around the park: 3,500 people spread over fourteen villages along the coastal road and the other half spread over fourteen villages along the forest road.
Conkouati is located north of Pointe-Noire, in the district of Nzambi and Madingo-Kayes and near the villages of Cotovindou and Louléma and is bordered by Gabon. There are several rivers in the park, such as the Ngongo, Noumbi and Niambia as well as two lakes: Lake Tchibenda and Lake Tchivok.

Conkouati National Park is known for its conservation of great apes. There are over 8.000 chimpanzees and 2.000 gorillas living in Conkouati-Douli National Park as well as more than 1.000 forest elephants and it is an important site for migrating wetland birds. It is also the nesting area for leatherback sea turtles. There are five species of sea turtles, humpback dolphins and whales who also visit the shores. We can also manatees, crocodiles, chimpanzees, leopards, buffaloes, sitatungas, mandrills and others.

We offer travel packages from Pointe-Noire to Conkouati-Douli National Park, starting from three nights, including transport.

Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park

Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park is located in the far north of the Republic of Congo bordering Cameroon and the Central African Republic. Nouabalé-Ndoki is around 4.000 sq km and consists mainly of pristine rainforest and was founded in 1993 and is of extreme importance for the conservation of wildlife such as forest elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, forest buffaloes and more. Nouabalé-Ndoki is part of the Sangha Trinational Park together with Dzanga Sangha in Central African Republic and Lobeke in Cameroon. The park is run by WCS and is currently being restructured with new tourist infrastructure coming up and should reopen in 2023, so then you’ll be able to book your safari and gorilla tracking at Nouabalé-Ndoki again together with your safari to Odzala.

Ntokou-Pikunda National Park

The Ntokou-Pikounda National Park is a protected area of approximately 4,572 km2, created on December 28, 2012 and extending into the Congo Basin, in the north of the Republic of Congo. Bordering the Sangha and Central Cuvette departments, it is best known as the Green Abyss of J. Michael Fay.

This park was created to preserve wildlife, the primitive habitat of 15,000 gorillas after the validation of the process of creating a protected area by the Congolese government in collaboration with WCS. Ntokou-Pikounda Park is home to a population of 8,000 elephants and 950 chimpanzees. The villages and towns near the park have a combined population of 25,000 to 30,000 people and few services exist for tourists.

Odzala-Kokoua National Park

In the north of Congo, we find Odzala National Park, probably the most most beautiful park in the Republic of Congo. Odzala consists mainly of pristine rainforest and savanna, and has several clearings (bais) which are rich in minerals and attract wildlife such as forest elephants, buffaloes and antelopes. We can also find other primates and predators such as hyenas and leopards in the park. During the ebola outbreak the park lost a lot of its gorillas and also suffered from poaching. Since African Parks took over, the situation has slowly been improving. The park is run by WCS, African Parks, WWF and the Congolese government.

Ogooué-Leketi National Park

The Ogooué-Leketi National Park is the fifth park in the Republic of Congo and was created in 2018. Ogooué-Leketi National Park covers an area of 3.500 sq km in the Lékoumou and Plateaux departments. The new protected area forms together with the National Park of the cross-border Batéké plateau of Gabon a protected area of half a million hectares.

The Ogooué-Leketi National Park sits in an awe-inspiring landscape, dominated by vast savannas to the east, with green ribbons of gallery forest linking up to a larger block of rainforest to the north and west. Within this forest is a constellation of marshy, mineral-rich areas that offer unique wildlife viewing opportunities. It contains the headwaters of the Ogooué River, Gabon’s main river, and the Leketi River, which feeds the Alima and ultimately the Congo River.

The park is home to forest species of gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, buffaloes, red river hogs, several species of monkeys including mandrills, and other endangered species such as the Grimm’s (or Bush) duiker, the striped jackal, three species of bustard, the Congo anteater, Brazza’s swallow, and a probable new species of Cisticola.