Day 2

Libreville – Lope National Park

Free morning in the hotel or to walk and bath in the beach, we can also arrange a small city tour if you wish. We will depart for the train station in the mid afternoon and then catch the evening train (departure is at 18:50) to Lope. We will arrive into Lope around 00:00 – 01:00, on arrival we will have a short (15 min) transfer to the hotel and then straight to the rooms. The wildlife watching will start at around 7-8am tomorrow.

If you are booked on the Ivindo National Park pre-trip extension you will meet the rest of the group and join this itinerary on the train to Lope.

Days 3-4

Lope National Park

Over the next two days the group will be most split into two, this is because the maximum group size that can track the mandrills is 4 people per day. So we will split the group into two and then after breakfast on day 3 half of the group will head out on a jeep safari into Lope National Park, the park is great for African forest elephants, bushbuck, forest buffalo and primate species (with 5 species commonly seen here) as well as many birds and other wildlife. They will come back for lunch as the temperatures rise and the wildlife starts to disappear into the forest.

The other group will be collected by the mandrill researcher (David Lehmann) and driven into the park, he will then use the radio telemetry to find the troop. You will then drive and walk as direct as possible to the mandrills and once you have found them, you will have around 1 hour with them. You will then come back to the lodge for lunch.

In the afternoon the whole group will meet up and have a jeep safari into the park once again and then after dinner we can go back for some spotlighting (if the park allows) and if not we can walk a little around the lodge grounds, which can be good for galagos, fruit bats and genets.

The morning of day 4 will see the groups revered with the same pattern of yesterday.

Day 5

Lope National Park

The train we have to catch from Lope to take us to Ndjole is not until around midnight, so we will have the room available in Lope Hotel until then and spend the day (morning and afternoon) exploring the park once again by jeep. There is also a possibility of a second mandrill tracking for 4 people (at extra expense) if there is availability today, this can be discussed and arranged with David whilst in Lope. When we leave Lope Hotel to catch the train we will then be on the train from around midnight to 3am. Once we arrive in Ndjole we will drive to the town of Lamberene (2 hours) and when we get there, breakfast will be ready for us and we can spend the morning resting.

Day 6

Ndjole – Lamberene

After the night drive you will arrive in Ndjole before dawn and then we have to wait here until sunrise (tourist vehicles are not allowed to drive the road in the dark) and then when it is light we continue our journey to the colonial town of Lambarené, a river island town famous for its many natural lakes with several endemic bird and fish species and the Albert Schweitzer Hospital and Museum. This unique hospital was established in 1913 by German Doctor Albert Schweitzer. Its Medical Research Unit is one of the leading scientific institutions in Africa working to end the scourge of malaria, and also serves as a highly-regarded training site for African physicians and scientists. We will visit the hospital, the house (now museum) of Albert Schweitzer and its beautiful natural surroundings. This afternoon we will leave the hospital to travel to a nearby mangrove forest along the banks of the rivers / lagoons which dot this part of Gabon. Our goal is to see the amazing and range restricted northern talapoin monkey and other species can be seen as well, including red-capped mangabey and possibly brief views of the endangered West African manatee. We will return to the hospital for dinner.

Day 7

Ogooue River / Loango National Park

Today is a long day of travelling, we will leave after breakfast and then take a speed boat trip with a motor boat along the Omboué town along the Ogooué River. The trip lasts around 5h and it is just amazing, we travel fast but it is still possible to see crocodiles, birds and primates along the way. You can get a real feeling of how the first explorers felt navigating along the Africa tropical rivers. We will reach to Omboue and have lunch there, before being driven (2h) to the Iguela Lagoon, in the Loango National Park and your lodge. After dark we can have a nocturnal walk through the savanna / forest mosaic which can produce galagos, anomalures, civets and genets.

Day 8

Loango National Park / Akaka River

Today after breakfast the group will be split again, as the gorillas can only be tracked with a group of 4 people maximum. We will take the boat across the lagoon and towards the gorilla conservation headquarters, along the way it is possible to see common hippos and red-capped mangabeys. So 4 people will do the gorilla tracking today, this will consist of a briefing and then a hike to the gorillas (usually this is 1-2 hours long) and then you will spend one hour with the gorillas before heading back and being taken to the Akaka camp in your own boat to meet up with rest of the group. The other half of the group will have a river safari down the wonderful Akaka river after leaving the gorilla headquarters. You have a great chance of seeing slender-nosed crocodiles, African forest elephants, primates, sitatungas, many birds and possibly manatees along the river. When everyone is together in the late afternoon we will have dinner and then an spotlighting cruise along the river.

Day 9

Akaka River / Loango National Park

This morning after breakfast the group who did the gorillas yesterday will have a morning boat safari around the Akaka river and the other group will go to the gorillas. After both of these activities everyone will meet up again and head back to the lodge. After dinner is can be possible to arrange a night walk again.

Day 10

Port Gentil – Libreville – Home

This morning we will have one more excursion into the park, and this time we will have a jeep safari into the savanna region of Loango and focus on the red river hogs around here. We will return for breakfast and then leave the lodge and drive to Port Gentil (~4-5 hours), we will have lunch in Port Gentil and then catch our flight to Libreville in the evening. It can be possible to make connections to international departures today, however in case of any delays with the internal flight we recommend spending the night in Libreville and arranging your departure flight for the next day. So on your arrival back to Libreville from Port Gentil you can either be escorted to the international airport to check into your flight home or be dropped at the hotel in Libreville.

Please note that the itinerary stated above is correct as our planned intentions for the tour. However adverse weather conditions and other local considerations can necessitate some modifications of the itinerary during the course of the tour; any changes will be made to make the best of the time and weather conditions available to us.

This tour is available on different date (subject to availability) please contact us for more details about running this tour on a date which suits you more.