Gorillas
6 places to see and hear gorillas in the wild, in 4 countries from Cameroon to Republic of the Congo: when each one peaks, where to go on your own, what it costs and what you will hear. Wild animals only, no zoos.
Best time, place by place
| Spectacle | Country | Peak | On your own? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lobéké bais: elephants, gorillas and grey parrots at the clearings | Cameroon | 15 Dec – 28 Feb | Guide, ranger or boat needed |
| Monte Alén: the Río Muni rainforest dawn, elephants and the goliath frog rivers | Equatorial Guinea | 15 Dec – 15 Feb and 15 Jun – 31 Aug | Guide, ranger or boat needed |
| Langoué Bai: elephants, gorillas and red river hogs at the Ivindo clearing | Gabon | 1 Jul – 15 Sep | Guide, ranger or boat needed |
| Lésio-Louna: rewilded gorillas and the Batéké plateau | Republic of the Congo | 1 Jun – 30 Sep | Guide, ranger or boat needed |
| Ngaga: habituated western lowland gorillas in the marantaceae forest | Republic of the Congo | 15 Jun – 15 Sep | Guide, ranger or boat needed |
| Nouabalé-Ndoki: gorillas and elephants at Mbeli Bai | Republic of the Congo | 15 Dec – 28 Feb | Guide, ranger or boat needed |
Where to go, north to south
Lobéké bais: elephants, gorillas and grey parrots at the clearingsGrey parrot flocks whistling and screeching over Djangui, elephants splashing, rumbling and trumpeting in the mud of Petite Savane, gorilla chest-beats from the edge, forest hogs grunting, and the rainforest dawn behind it all.
Monte Alén: the Río Muni rainforest dawn, elephants and the goliath frog riversA Central African lowland chorus: hornbills whooshing overhead, the bubbling of greenbuls and the far pant-hoots of chimpanzees, mandrill grunts, elephant rumbles at the swamp edge. The goliath frog itself is nearly silent (no vocal sac) — its rivers are a night of other frogs and the roar of water over rock.
Langoué Bai: elephants, gorillas and red river hogs at the Ivindo clearingA bai at night is the best elephant listening in Central Africa: rumbles, trumpets, splashing and the squabbling of family groups at the mineral pools, with tree hyrax, frogs and owls in the forest ring. By day, red river hog groups of fifty, gorilla chest-beats and 'hoo' series from the edge, and the whistles of grey parrots in hundreds.
Lésio-Louna: rewilded gorillas and the Batéké plateauGorillas calling and feeding on the river islands seen from a pirogue, the wide, wind-swept quiet of the Batéké plateau at dawn with larks and cisticolas, and at night frogs and nightjars along the gallery forests.
Ngaga: habituated western lowland gorillas in the marantaceae forestChest-beats, hoots and the crashing of a silverback's display in dense marantaceae, the soft grunting and belching of a feeding family a few metres away, monkeys overhead and a night of tree hyrax and frogs from the camp's raised rooms.
Nouabalé-Ndoki: gorillas and elephants at Mbeli BaiA silverback's chest-beats and a family's contented feeding grunts in the open, from a platform 20 m above one of the Congo Basin's most-watched clearings; elephants splashing at night, sitatunga barking, parrots at dawn, and a rainforest with no engine within a day's walk.