Ngaga: habituated western lowland gorillas in the marantaceae forest
Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) — habituated groups studied since 2005; putty-nosed and moustached monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabey. Ngaga, Odzala-Kokoua National Park periphery, Republic of the Congo.
Best time: 15 Jun – 15 Sep (June to September). Where: Ngaga camp (Republic of the Congo). Time of day: Trackers leave camp at first light to find the group at its night nests.
- Guide, ranger or boat needed
- Paid trip only
- No binoculars needed
- Sound 4/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 15 Jun – 15 Sep. Mid June to mid September, the dry season with the easiest tracking; the gorillas are followed year-round
Active from 1 Jun to 28 Feb (June to February) in a typical year.
Time of day
Trackers leave camp at first light to find the group at its night nests; contact is one hour, usually between sunrise and 10:00; chest-beats and the silverback's displays carry to camp at dawn and dusk
- Gorilla contact: sunrise → 10:00
- Evening displays from camp: 1 h before sunset → last light
What will you hear?
Chest-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.
Binoculars?
No binoculars needed. Gorillas at the 7 m minimum in dense marantaceae; binoculars are useless in the thicket, ears do the work.
Where to go
- Ngaga camp — Research-and-tourism camp of the park's tourism concession, outside the park boundary; the Neptuno and Jupiter groups are tracked from here. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Gorilla tracking is only with the research trackers from Ngaga camp (habituation programme rules). There is no cheaper legal route than a stay at the concession camp, which includes the permits.
Cost: All-inclusive concession-camp stay, several hundred USD per person per night; check current prices.
Free or no-guide alternative: No legal way without the trackers; approaching unhabituated gorillas is dangerous for them and for you. Lésio-Louna, three hours from Brazzaville, is the low-cost gorilla alternative (see that entry).
Field-recording notes
Great-ape rules: mask on, 7 m minimum, one hour, no visits if unwell, maximum group size set by the researchers — the guides enforce all of it and will move you if the silverback objects. Marantaceae forest is so dense that the recording is mostly of sound, not sight, which suits the purpose. Dawn contact means condensation on everything; the forest is cool at 500 m.
Sources
Similar spectacles
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More: all spectacles in the Republic of the Congo · gorillas · mountain wildlife · June · the Republic of the Congo in July · the Republic of the Congo in August · the Republic of the Congo in September