Days 1-5: Libreville & Loango National Park
Day 1: Arrive Libreville. Orientation and welcome dinner. Overnight Libreville.
Day 2: Fly to Port-Gentil, transfer to Loango National Park. Settle into Loango Lodge. Afternoon lagoon walk. Overnight Loango Lodge.
Day 3: Full-day gorilla tracking—western lowland gorillas in the coastal forest. The experience of sitting within meters of a silverback and his family in the wild is life-changing. Overnight Loango Lodge.
Day 4: Forest elephant tracking and ‘surfing hippo’ beach safari. Boat through mangroves for red-capped mangabeys and coastal birdlife. Overnight Akaka Bush Camp.
Day 5: Second gorilla tracking with a different family group. Afternoon return to Libreville for the night.
Days 6-8: Lopé National Park — Mandrill Country
Day 6: Take the Trans-Gabon Railway from Libreville to Lopé National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the last remnants of Pleistocene savannah meet the Congo Basin rainforest. The train journey (7-8 hours) is an adventure in itself. Settle into Lopé Hotel. Overnight Lopé.
Day 7: Pre-dawn departure to track mandrills—Lopé is home to the world’s largest troops, with aggregations of up to 1,300 individuals. The sight of hundreds of these spectacularly colored primates moving through the forest is one of Africa’s greatest wildlife spectacles. Afternoon forest walk to ancient rock carvings (petroglyphs) dating back thousands of years. Overnight Lopé.
Day 8: Morning in Lopé’s forest clearings (baïs) where forest elephants, buffalo, and sitatunga gather at mineral-rich mud wallows. These open areas in the rainforest are natural wildlife theaters—you can sit quietly and watch the parade of forest wildlife. Afternoon train return to Libreville. Overnight Libreville.
Days 9-11: Ivindo National Park — Kongou Falls & Langoué Baï
Day 9: Fly from Libreville to Makokou, gateway to Ivindo National Park. Transfer by 4×4 and boat to Kongou Falls—at 50 meters high and 3.2 kilometers wide, this horseshoe waterfall is one of the most spectacular in Africa, surrounded by pristine rainforest. Overnight Kongou camp.
Day 10: Full day exploring Ivindo’s wonders. Morning hike around Kongou Falls through rainforest echoing with the calls of grey parrots and hornbills. Afternoon boat safari on the Ivindo River, one of Gabon’s wildest waterways, watching for forest elephants at the river’s edge, sitatunga in the papyrus, and the remarkable African finfoot. Overnight Kongou camp.
Day 11: Excursion to Langoué Baï (where accessible), one of Central Africa’s largest forest clearings. This natural opening in the rainforest attracts an extraordinary concentration of wildlife: forest elephants, western lowland gorillas, red river hogs, and an astonishing variety of birds. Afternoon return to Makokou. Overnight Makokou.
Day 12: Return to Libreville & Departure
Morning flight Makokou–Libreville. Day room available before evening international departure.
