Welcome to our tour in which we travel to two big parks in the Republic of Congo: Odzala National Park and Nouabalé-Ndoki National park. Our travel will start from the capital of Congo: Brazzaville, from where we’ll take the beautiful, yet ill-maintained road to the north, passing through Oyo and Etoumbi, before finally installing ourselves near the southern border of Odzala National Park, which will be our base for the coming days to go look for wildlife such as gorillas and elephants in Odzala. After our stay in Odzala, we’ll continue our travel to Ouesso, a beautiful town in the north of Congo-Brazzaville and closed in by magnificent forests and rivers. From Ouesso we’ll continue our programme to Nouabale-Ndoki, where we’ll go on gorilla tracking, observe wildlife from a viewing platform next to the bai and go search for mammals and birds in the rainforest. The park infrastructure at Nouabale-Ndoki is currently being restructured and will be ready somewhere in 2023.
Odzala National Park is one of the most known national parks in the Republic of Congo. It got its status of national park in 2001 and is managed by the WWF, WCS, African Parks and the Congolese government. While most of the park consists of rainforest with some clearings, there is also some savanna. There are over 20.000 western lowland gorillas in the park and a great variety of other mammals such as chimpanzees, mangabeys, pangolins, buffaloes, forest elephants, duikers, leopards and many others.
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.
Before you book this trip, it’s important to realize that you’re going to one of the least developed countries in Africa with little infrastructure. The camps are located deep into the rainforest and accommodation and infrastructure are very basic, as well as the meals which are local and simple. For this trip you will have to hike through the rainforest, through mud and shallow streams and will have to deal with annoying insects and others.
Remember that visiting wildlife is not without danger and you always should keep your distance from animals. We are not responsible for any accidents that might occur during this trip due to irresponsible behavior from our clients. Remember to bring your mouth mask when visiting gorillas and also bring mosquito repellent such as DEET, a torch, power banks, plenty of batteries, medicines, sunscreen, a hat, appropriate clothing and shoes, towels, bed sheets and some back up snacks and water. Also, remember to bring your yellow fever vaccination proof!
Have a few buffer days after this trip in case we encounter delays on the road. We are not responsible for you missing your flight due to bad planning!
Itinerary (please, have some flexibility as the programme can differ)
Day 1: Brazzaville - Etoumbi
Today we travel from Brazzaville to Etoumbi in a comfortable bus. We will stay in Etoumbi tonight.
Day 2: Etoumbi to Odzala National Park
We will continue our travel all the way to the southern border of Odzala National Park. We will install ourselves at the guesthouse and have our first exploration of the park.
Day 3 to 5: Odzala National Park
We will explore the forest looking for wildlife such as elephants, antelopes, gorillas and more.
Day 6: Oyo
We will travel to Oyo/Owando before continuing to Ouesso. We’ll stay here for the night.
Day 8: Ouesso
Today we have a buffer day in Ouesso, a charming little town in the north of Congo next to Cameroon.
Day 9: Transfer by boat from Ouesso to Nouabalé - Ndoki
Transfer over the river and then overland to the camp in Nouabalé-Ndoki today.
Day 10 to 12: Nouabalé-Ndoki
We will stay three days in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park looking for animals such as forest elephants and will go on gorilla tracking.
Day 13: Bomassa - Ouesso
Boat ferry from Bomassa to Ouesso passing today. We will stay overnight in Ouesso.
Day 14: Ouesso - Oyo
We’ll drive from Ouesso to Oyo by car today and overnight.
Day 14: Oyo - Brazzaville
Transfer from Oyo to Brazzaville. End of tour.
Includes:
- Professional local guide
- All transport as described
- Accommodation as described
- Meals at Nouabalé-Ndoki
- Park entrance fees
- All activities as described
Doesn’t include:
- Visa
- Flights
- Meals outside of Nouabalé-Ndoki
- Drinks
- Pcr-tests
"Hi Chris,
It was great! The airport hospitality is wonderful and was very appreciated. Waiting with us for hours to get our luggage on the entry, and taking us into the Vodacom place at the airport for a SIM card, and then giving us a drink and letting us wait in their office at the airport on the exit. They were great about getting our luggage through/on board, buying the go pass, and walking us over, and getting through. Thank you for arranging for the ease and stress-free part of that. Very professional and no funny business.Our guide Jeremie Ben was great. He graduated from academie des beaux arts so he made our visit there especially meaningful. It started to rain so we couldn't do the walking tour I hoped for. He also recommended and took us to the best Congolese restaurant in town, Chez Flor. Koen's recommendation for the best Lebanese restaurant was on the mark! We loved Le Palais. Niccolo said it was the highlight meal for him.The Bonobo Sanctuary was perfect - lucky for us the rainy season hadn't kicked in yet - there were deep trenches in the roads that only the expert driver and high 4-wheel drive could do. Our driver was great. We went to Lac de ma vallee too ! We were later told that it is packed on the week-ends, so we lucked out there too and had a lovely lunch and the place to ourselves with fun conversation.It rained on Wednesday, so traffic in Gombe was not so nice. The prime minister was in town so we didn't get to do the river walk I wanted to show Niccolo. But we still managed to buy fabric and have chocolate fondue at Nice Cream. I appreciated that later that afternoon they drove me to Ngiri Ngiri to see the young singers' rehearsal and the Opera Fellows we have been working with, and also the music school building developments. The driver and guide waited for me and got me back to MPH safely. That was very kind of them, I know it was not easy.Thank you again for wonderful trip arrangements !Best wishes,"- Joy Bechtler, Operanauts Princeton University and Orchestra Symphonic of Kinshasa Tour, Kinshasa and Princeton Orchestra Operanauts Tour
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