Clementine Gent in Gabon
In December 2007 I was lucky enough to travel to Gabon in Central Africa. After a week in the fabulous Loango National Park I flew to Ivindo, a little visited park which is gathering a reputation as one of the best places to see the Western Lowland Gorilla. Ivindo National Park is situated in the centre of Gabon and is one of the 13 national parks created by President Omar Bongo in 2003.
I took the two hour Park Shuttle flight from Port Gentil. We passed over some stunning scenery. December is the flowering season, and so from the plane we could often see spectacular red capped trees interspersing the sea of green. Crossing savannas we saw a small herd of elephant and also many buffalo. Passing over the Lope region we saw signs of logging scarring the hillsides and the regular patterns of Oil Palm plantations. We passed over the confluence of the Ivindo and Ogouee rivers where black water mixes with pale brown and descended into Ivindo.
The drive from the airstrip to the end of the road took approximately two hours. We passed through the logging sessions and into the untouched rainforest where Great Blue Turacos screeched overhead. The walk into the research camp took another two hours and passed along a path cut through the forest with minimal disruption to the surroundings. We were warned that at any time you may come across Elephants in the forest but we were given a brief instruction on what to do if we encountered any and thankfully didn't run into any that day. The research guides have been in the area for many years and so know the forest intimately.
The research camp was set in a rocky clearing deep in the heart of the rainforest. Four double tents on wooden platforms surrounded the clearing with a large wooden building for dinning and relaxing. There are solar panels outside all the buildings which provided some lighting in the evenings. All meals are taken with the researchers and the camp is comfortable and the food wholesome. There is an Elephant, Thomas, who visits sporadically and a Civet who feeds on scraps behind the dining area.
The walk to Langoue Bai took about an hour along a narrow trail that wound through the forest before dropping quite steeply down to the Bai. In December it had rained quite a lot and so the path was slippery in some places and I was thankful for my good walking boots.
The hide is situated on the northern side of the Bai looking towards a watering hole where many elephant, buffalo, red river-hogs and sitatunga come to drink. There is also a hide on the southern side of the Bai which overlooks a small river. This hide is very good for seeing Elephant as they cross the river close to the hide but fewer Gorillas come to this side of the Bai.
On our first afternoon in the Bai we saw many Elephant, Buffalo and Sitatunga but no Gorillas. During the flowering season the Gorillas tend to feed in the forest rather than in the Bai. Also during the flowering season there are many more insects around and we found ourselves surrounded by bees which, although not aggressive, hummed around us constantly all afternoon.
On the second day at the Bai we had just settled in front of our telescopes when we spotted a dark shape coming out from the forest. We were thrilled to see it was a large silverback! Western Lowland Gorillas are slightly smaller than their Mountain Gorilla cousins and the silverbacks also have a russet-coloured head. This male was unfortunately not a fine specimen as he had an aggressive skin condition which left him with pink discolouration across his chest and half of his face. This however made him easy to identify and Moses, our guide, showed us his identification card with details of how often he visited the Bai, when he was first spotted, probable relations and approximate age.
He stayed in the Bai for nearly six hours while he ate, scratched, ate some more and had a few run-ins with sitatunga and a young bull elephant. The elephant proved too much for him and he ambled off back into the forest leaving us saddened by his departure but thrilled that we had been able to study him for so long.
That night we had arranged to stay overnight on the platform to experience the night life of the Bai. Jean-Pierre, one of the guides, was to stay with us while the rest went back to the camp. We were provided with tents, mattresses, sleeping bags and blankets as well as a warm meal of cous cous and stew. As the sun went down elephants appeared from the misty forest and gathered around the watering hole. As it darkened the fireflies came out in their hundreds and we tried to spot nocturnal primates with our torches in the surrounding forest.
Once the darkness had settled in, the night noises were incredible! It was hardly possible to hear yourself think there were so many noises. We had seen about fifteen elephants around the water hole before the sunset and as it got darker they became more and more vocal. At one point some of them were under the platform where we were camping and we found their spoor right next to the platform ladder the next morning.
Although we didn't manage much sleep due to the racket the elephants made all night we returned to the camp tired but happy.
Go to Gabon information.