Chimpanzees & Elephants in Loango NP



Cooling the radiator


First thing the next morning, Ghislien and I picked up some Sardine tins, Manioc (Cassava), French bread and water…but we had a wicket surprise waiting for us courtesy of Jean Pierre, the tour operator who had offered the same package at an extortionist rate the previous evening. He despised the idea that a traveler could come to Gamba and find a local guide and visit the park on a budget. He did everything to scupper my park visit by first pressurizing Ghislien into backing out. Next, he pulled out the community development card by saying that my visit will not benefit the local community. He even tried to work his network with the park officials and finally forced the camp where I was going to stay to renege from allowing me to use their facilities. Since he is a big tour operator and has a significant influence over the people associated with the park he uses all if it to maintain his monopoly.

Duiker droppings

It was crystal clear at that point why it’s so difficult and expensive to visit Loango. Seems like there are just a select band of operators who have permission to operate in the park and they keep the prices inflated and sell the tour packages to wealthy tourists who want a unique experience and thus keep it out of reach of the common traveler. My guide Ghislien can’t get a permission to run an agency and make it more accessible to the common man because he is not from that region of Gabon. Call it discrimination, call it unfair trade practices but seems like the tour operators have found a nice way to stave off completion and maintain hefty profits. Surely that cannot be good for the community…I wonder what moral right people like Jean Pierre have to pull out the community development card.

Drying swamp

All his actions did however, was make me more determined and I had an able companion in Ghislien. In fact I will say that Ghislien was by far the best guide I have even had! He was a gentle giant, extremely helpful, spoke fluent English, had superb knowledge of the local plants, animals and birds, was great at tracking animals, always open for close encounter with wild animals and made me walk for hours (which was a good thing).

Walkway at the BBC Tree house

Spikey Spider...incidently after coming back
from Gabon i saw the same species right
outside my office in Liberia



Ghislien managed to get accommodation for us with the park rangers and after last minute change of the 4X4 to take us to Setta Cama, we finally managed to set off around 11am with a bunch of mechanics and a somewhat suspect looking pickup. The ride to the village of Setta Cama was through sandy tracks and coastal forests and we had to stop every 20 odd minutes to cool the radiator. Below is a short clip of the drive to Setta Cama.

By the beach before sunrise



Watching the sun start a new day in the Loango National Park

The driver who was a Nigerian was crazy with his driving…but he was a nice chap. At one instance when we saw an elephant crossing the track, instead of slowing down which would have given us a better opportunity to see it, he went after it like a Dakar rally driver. The poor elephant turned around and dashed off into the bush without even crossing the road :(

My foot print beside a civet



I did not see the elephant on the beach but this was a
fairly fresh elephant print on the sands by the beach....
Proof that large mammals on the beach in
Loango is not a myth



After getting to Setta Cama, we set off into the forest for the afternoon and evening and other than a few skittish monkeys we did not see a lot, though the signs of life were all around us with footprints and droppings.

The next day, I took an early morning walk on the pristine beach for an hour before returning back for breakfast and then a boat took us deep into the part of Loango that was made famous by a documentary by National Geography called Africa’s Last Eden”, and which was also the reason for my fascination with Gabon. We were going to walk through the forest for several hours and then emerge on to the beaches where elephants, buffaloes and other animals walk freely and also where the now legendary hippos surf in the ocean!

Red Cap Mangabey



Type of fungi


I was warned by some guides I had met at earlier parks that the best time to see them on the beach was during the rainy season which runs from September to February as the animals come to forage on the young and succulent grass by the beach. Perhaps, I was probably naïve in hoping against hope that I would see the sight of large animals on the beach but I was not going to leave without at least going to Loango.

Caterpillar ?

The legendary hippos of Loango surf on these
very waves by this beach

After five hours of walking in the jungle we broke cover from the coastal rainforest ecosystem to finally emerge on the beach. We had lunch and spent several hours on the beach but the only animal we say was a small crocodile half submerged. It was too far away to know which of the three species native to Gabon it belonged to. We did however; see a dead elephant but it was scant consolation.


Mangrove forest in the foreground and then coastal jungles in the background...typical of Loango

Monkey on beach

I am a firm believer that seeing wild and especially non-habituated animals is a matter of chance and I accept that…but even though I might have consoled myself with this reasoning, deep down I was extremely dismayed. Had I know this fact while researching about Gabon, I would have chosen a different season to visit Gabon. I was misled by several websites which suggested that the dry season was the best time to go to Gabon. Perhaps they were talking about a good time to visit from a weather standpoint and not from an animal spotting perspective.

A stroll on Loango's famous beach

An elephant that died (probably of natural causes)
by the beach

The following day was going to be my last one in Loango and up until then it had been a very disappointing trip but earnestly we set off one last time into the jungles. The boat dropped us off in another remote corner of the park by the Sounga Lake but this day was destined to be different. First thing in the morning we saw a family of red cap mangabeys as they lazed around the mangrove roots. They are critically endangered but in Loango they have a fairly healthy population.


Leopard footprint



If you can see...i am pointing at the Leopard footprint. Civet print also visable

Later that morning, as passed through a small forest clearing we came across a field of wild guava and stopped by to snack on some when we noticed an elephant in the distance snacking on some itself. Since the wind was against us and elephants tend to have poor eye sight we were able to approach it to within 10 meters.

We had to be very deliberate in our approach as the slight indication of a human and the elephant would run for cover or worse charge us. It felt as though the elephant was aware of something in its vicinity and regularly spread its ears wide to hear us but it had no clue who and where we were. After twenty minutes it finally smelt us and dashed into the bush. Below is a video of me and Ghislien trying to get close to it.

The day got even better a little later when we heard distinctive calls and we both looked at each other and whispered “Chimpanzee!”. We suddenly became more cautious with our footstep. Walking as it as on dry leaves was difficult but now we were taking extra care not to step on twigs and sticks as the sound of a twig breaking would indicate to the chimpanzees that a large creature was around.

Ghislien

Another species of Spider

After we finally managed to track a colony of chimps we were treated to amazing vocal calls of the chimpanzees that were totally oblivious about us. One of the chimps descended from a tree and nonchalantly walked straight towards us. The realization that it was so close did not hit the chimpanzee until it was as close as 5 meter and then all of a sudden it turned and hastily bolted into the thicket. It was so close I could feel the vibrations as it scurried away. Ghislien said that in his entire career that’s the closest encounter he has had with a chimpanzee.

Forest Elephant in the guava field

The elephant is trying to hear as we try to approach it

We were scheduled to emerge from the forest through a mangrove thicket where the boat was going to be waiting for us but there was one final piece of action that was still to happen. We were not far from our exit point in an area where the bush was thick and not a lot of huge trees when we heard a rumble right in front of us. Ghislien immediately said that it could be an elephant. Through the dense bush it was difficult to see the elephant so Ghislien asked me if I wanted to get a close look at it. Up for a close encounter I readily agreed so we stealthily got closer but perhaps we got more than what we bargained for.

Chimpanzee foraging

In reality the chimp was way up in the tree. I have zoomed
to max to show it more distinctly

This was a large male elephant and he either smelt or saw us as we were still making out way towards it and it suddenly charged at us. We scampered around and away from it but at one point it was probably as close and 6-7 meters from us and had it chosen it could easily have gotten to us in a few more strides since we had to jump across the dense bush while it could just bulldoze its way through it. It actually charged us twice after which it settled at a distance of probably 8 meters and for about twenty seconds or so stared straight at me as if not sure what to do with us fools.

We heaved a huge sigh of relief as it turned and ran away crashing through the bush rather than waste its energy on us. That was a phenomenal experience and probably my pick from Gabon but it had its share of thrill and silliness.

The only kid in the village of Sounga

Another species of spider

On the way back we stopped by the enchanting hamlet of Sounga consisting of just one family and 4 houses. Civilization for these folks was at least 4-5 hours away on their pirogue but seemed as though bar a school and hospital it was a pretty self sufficient community.

Returning back to Gamba through the lagoon and passing severals of these small islets

After returning to Gamba that night, the thought of the elephant still lingered in the mind. That moment, it seemed as though all my frustrations first with getting to Gabon and then spending two largely futile days in Loango was washed away. I will end this blog with a video of that truly wild experience.