Manatees
4 places to see and hear manatees in the wild, in 4 countries from Côte d'Ivoire to DR 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? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azagny: manatees, Palearctic waders and the lagoon canal | Côte d'Ivoire | 1 Nov – 28 Feb | Guide, ranger or boat needed |
| Bouche du Roy: mangroves, manatees and the Mono estuary | Benin | 15 Nov – 28 Feb | Guide, ranger or boat needed |
| Douala-Edéa and Lake Ossa: manatees, mangroves and the Sanaga mouth | Cameroon | 1 Dec – 15 Feb | Partly on your own |
| Mangroves of the Congo mouth: manatees, turtle beaches and the only marine park in the DRC | DR Congo | 15 Nov – 31 Jan | Guide, ranger or boat needed |
Where to go, north to south
Azagny: manatees, Palearctic waders and the lagoon canalA quiet lagoon soundscape: whimbrel and greenshank calls across the flats, herons and darters from the mangroves, kingfishers along the canal and, if you are lucky, the soft blow of a manatee surfacing at dusk.
Bouche du Roy: mangroves, manatees and the Mono estuaryA mangrove soundscape: kingfishers and herons, mudskippers popping at low water, whimbrel and terns on the sand at the river mouth, and, rarely, the blow of a manatee in a still channel.
Douala-Edéa and Lake Ossa: manatees, mangroves and the Sanaga mouthGrey parrot roost flights whistling over the mangroves at dusk, egrets and herons settling, the Sanaga estuary's terns, and at Lake Ossa the soft blows of manatees surfacing in the dark.
Mangroves of the Congo mouth: manatees, turtle beaches and the only marine park in the DRCA mangrove dawn: the drip and click of the Rhizophora at low water, kingfishers, herons, fish eagles, the blow of a manatee surfacing in a side channel (a short, sharp exhalation, easy to miss), hippos grunting in the back creeks; at night on the beach, surf and a nesting ridley's scraping — and the Congo's current audible against the sandbanks at Banana.