Gabon wildlife
This challenging destination rewards intrepid travellers – not just with big and exciting wildlife but unique ways to see it.
In 1999 a group of researchers walked all the way across central Africa to document its rainforests. This unprecedented trip, called the ‘MegaTransect’, took 456 days, covered 3,220 km, and finished on Gabon’s Atlantic coast.
The research findings from this epic adventure were presented to the president of Gabon. Within a month, Gabon’s total number of national parks went from zero to 13. The USA pledged $53 million towards conservation.
What had they found that caused such a stir?
“Gabon has carved a unique niche for itself in African safari offerings,” says Martin Royle, director and guide at our partner Royle Safaris, who run our Gabon wildlife holidays. The country’s 88 percent forest cover is a refuge for most of Africa’s forest elephants. Its 885km-long coastline is the largest nesting site of leatherback turtles. Its waters shelter humpback whales. It is the best place in the world to see mandrills, and those intrepid enough to go to Lope National Park might see troops with over 1,300 individuals at once. Discounting us humans for a moment this is the largest primate gathering in the world.
Additionally, you can see western lowland gorillas, charismatic forest species like African forest buffalo, red river hogs, black colobus monkey, and there are three species of crocodiles. There are 659 recorded bird species. If you’re lucky, there are also chimpanzees, giant pangolin, leopards – our Gabon wildlife trips might focus on mandrills and gorillas, but you never know what else might come out of the woods.
In 1999 a group of researchers walked all the way across central Africa to document its rainforests. This unprecedented trip, called the ‘MegaTransect’, took 456 days, covered 3,220 km, and finished on Gabon’s Atlantic coast.
The research findings from this epic adventure were presented to the president of Gabon. Within a month, Gabon’s total number of national parks went from zero to 13. The USA pledged $53 million towards conservation.
What had they found that caused such a stir?
“Gabon has carved a unique niche for itself in African safari offerings,” says Martin Royle, director and guide at our partner Royle Safaris, who run our Gabon wildlife holidays. The country’s 88 percent forest cover is a refuge for most of Africa’s forest elephants. Its 885km-long coastline is the largest nesting site of leatherback turtles. Its waters shelter humpback whales. It is the best place in the world to see mandrills, and those intrepid enough to go to Lope National Park might see troops with over 1,300 individuals at once. Discounting us humans for a moment this is the largest primate gathering in the world.
Additionally, you can see western lowland gorillas, charismatic forest species like African forest buffalo, red river hogs, black colobus monkey, and there are three species of crocodiles. There are 659 recorded bird species. If you’re lucky, there are also chimpanzees, giant pangolin, leopards – our Gabon wildlife trips might focus on mandrills and gorillas, but you never know what else might come out of the woods.
Travelling on foot through the forest with a tracker, you come timidly, reverently: for an audience with animal greats.![]()
This isn’t just about big and exciting wildlife but how you’ll see it – which usually involves a fair bit of the kind of adventure typical of central Africa. “Gabon is a funny place because a lot of it is turned over to national parks, but in name only. There’s not the resources, the infrastructure, the rangers; they don’t have accommodation there. There’s only a few that you can realistically visit,” says Jim O’Brien from Native Eye, our expert partner. The easiest parks to visit are Loango National Park and Pongara National Park. The others require more determination – long drives, and perhaps some camping.
Some of your best experiences will be on foot, tracking with researchers wielding telemetry trackers (used to locate radio signals from collared animals) or with Bantu guides; sitting in the forest; or lying on the beach watching elephants, and hearing about surfing hippos – they have been seen paddling out and then using wave power to propel them back to the shore.
Some of your best experiences will be on foot, tracking with researchers wielding telemetry trackers (used to locate radio signals from collared animals) or with Bantu guides; sitting in the forest; or lying on the beach watching elephants, and hearing about surfing hippos – they have been seen paddling out and then using wave power to propel them back to the shore.
Africa’s last Eden
Why is it all here? Gabon is so well preserved that the tourist board calls it ‘Africa’s last Eden’. There’s very little agriculture or onshore extractive industry. “Offshore oil has made Gabon a country which can provide for itself without the need to exploit the forests and wildlife it has,” says Martin. “As a result around 80 percent of Gabon is pristine forest and so there are vast numbers of African forest elephants, western gorillas, chimps and a myriad of other Central African species which are declining or gone altogether from other countries.”In the 2000s, Gabon put itself on the tourism map, hoping to diversify from its reliance on its oil industry. So many leatherback turtles have been found off its coast that their conservation status was questioned. Then came reports of ‘surfing’ hippos, which took the world by storm.
When visitors came, some were disappointed – the reality is that Gabon is a difficult place to travel. “Despite it being quite a wealthy country Gabon is not really set up to receive tourists,” says Jim. There is very little infrastructure for international tourism, there are few English-speaking guides and very few hotels outside of main cities. Additionally, Gabon was wrestling with a serious poaching problem. Forest elephants were disappearing at a rate of nine percent a year; their ivory, harder than that of its savannah relatives, is highly prized. In the early 2000s the World Conservation Society stopped working in Lope National Park with serious consequences: “Mandrills were ‘lost’ to science and tourism for around 10 years,” says Martin.
In present day Gabon, whilst poaching is still a problem, new investments – including installation of electric fencing – are helping curtail it. Tourism can help – nascent though it is here: international tourists come to Gabon in the thousands, not the millions, meaning that every visit makes a tangible difference to wildlife research and conservation.
To see some of Gabon’s most famous wildlife, such as its mandrills, tours need to take place with researchers, so researchers rely on tourism, and tourism on researchers. “By visiting Lope National Park and tracking the mandrills you are directly helping the continued conservation and research of this iconic animal. And like with all gorilla tracking in various places, the high fees to do so are nearly all funnelled back into conservation,” says Martin. Going after mandrills means listening in with telemetry devices to locate the group’s collared individuals. On very rare occasions, you can also track pangolins – in order to help researchers change the batteries on their collars.
The pant-hoots, the screams, the tearing up and down the trees and general chaos was thrilling and awesome.![]()
Elephants on the beach
After all that bushwhacking, it’s a relief to come out into open space; for animals too. Patches of savannah are good places to spot mandrills, whilst the allure of fruit tempts elephants and hippos onto the beaches – to such an extent that they’re a very real hazard for researchers monitoring sea turtle nests in the sand.These openings can be very beautiful – Loango National Park has savannah and beach complementing its jungle and mangrove. Researchers recognise the very special nature of Bai de Langoue in Ivindo National Park – a forest clearing discovered by the ecologist Mike Fay who undertook the MegaTransect. Here, lots of wildlife has been seen emerging from the forest cover, and you can observe it from a custom-built platform.
Habituation is important – without it, it’s very hard to spot animals – because when they see you, they react. Martin Royle describes a memorable encounter with unhabituated chimpanzees (usually very hard to spot) in Gabon. “We ended up right in the middle of the troop as they were all in the trees above us. Somehow, they hadn’t noticed us and we watched, until one saw us and all hell broke loose. The pant-hoots, the screams, the tearing up and down the trees and general chaos was thrilling and awesome. What an experience to get so close to wild chimps.” Spotting Gabon’s social animals doesn’t mean they are social with you…
Gabon wildlife tour
Track mandrills, black colobus and gorillas in Gabon
From
£8195
10 days
ex flights
Gabon tour
Africa's last Eden, a paradise for wildlife enthusiasts
From
£4149 to £4499
10 days
ex flights
Cameroon and Gabon holiday
A pioneering journey through the heart of Central Africa
From
£8299 to £8499
13 days
ex flights
Gabon wildlife holiday, mandrills and gorillas
Track Mandrills, Gorillas, Elephants in the forests of Gabon
From
£8150
10 days
ex flights
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What does wildlife watching in Gabon involve?
Watching wildlife in Gabon is an adventure and it’s not a first-time traveller’s choice. Because you’ve got lots of forest to contend with, getting to the safari spots in the first place can be as intrepid as safari itself.
An organised tour is the way to go, “The infrastructure and lack of reliability is difficult to overcome if you don’t have good contacts in the country,” says Martin. “Things can break down or be cancelled last minute and so we spend a long time preparing contingencies. We always have a plan B, C and D ready when we take people to Gabon.”
“Honestly, Gabon is one of our hardest destinations to arrange tours in,” says Jim. “It would be an absolute nightmare to do independently. If you did, expect to spend a lot of money, for things to get cancelled, and to spend more time than you think you need.”
As tourism is not particularly developed there’s not much choice when it comes to accommodation and what there is can be expensive for what you get. However, there are some fantastic places to stay – in Loango National Park, you could be in a lodge dozens of kilometres from the nearest village: truly wild.
Gabon can be difficult to get around. There are few roads and there are often stops and checks from authorities. There is also a rail network which is handy for getting from Libreville (the capital) to Lope National Park.
An organised tour is the way to go, “The infrastructure and lack of reliability is difficult to overcome if you don’t have good contacts in the country,” says Martin. “Things can break down or be cancelled last minute and so we spend a long time preparing contingencies. We always have a plan B, C and D ready when we take people to Gabon.”
“Honestly, Gabon is one of our hardest destinations to arrange tours in,” says Jim. “It would be an absolute nightmare to do independently. If you did, expect to spend a lot of money, for things to get cancelled, and to spend more time than you think you need.”
As tourism is not particularly developed there’s not much choice when it comes to accommodation and what there is can be expensive for what you get. However, there are some fantastic places to stay – in Loango National Park, you could be in a lodge dozens of kilometres from the nearest village: truly wild.
Gabon can be difficult to get around. There are few roads and there are often stops and checks from authorities. There is also a rail network which is handy for getting from Libreville (the capital) to Lope National Park.
What wildlife can be found in Gabon?
Forest elephants
Gabon’s thick forest means that elephant numbers have to be estimated by the amount of dung they leave, rather than being able to count them. It’s magical to see these charismatic creatures, often fearful of humans because of poachers, though they are troublesome and can get in the way on walking safaris.
Lowland gorillas
Gabon’s lowland gorillas are smaller than their highland cousins, though you won’t be able to tell that when you’re sitting 30 feet from one. It’s less expensive to track gorillas in Gabon than in Rwanda or Uganda but there are fewer habituated troupes. See them in Loango National Park.
Mandrills
In Disney’s The Lion King, just one mandrill – Rafiki, captured the world’s imagination, but here they exist in troops hundreds strong. The males are coloured in stunning contrast, with red and blue faces. Gabon is the only place in the world where tourists can spot mandrills. See them in Lope National Park.
Which parks should you visit to see Gabon’s wildlife?
Loango National Park is the most visited and is known for its beautiful mix of habitats, including beach. Pongara National Park, also beach-fronted, is nearer to Libreville, and a good place to spot turtles. Both are easier to reach than some of the others, and well managed. Less visited parks include Lope National Park and Ivindo National Park.
When is the best time to see wildlife in Gabon?
People travel to Gabon year-round, but the driest season is May to September. Expect heat and humidity even so. If you make the effort to reach Lope National Park, visit in July for one big reason: this is when the mandrills come together in one big group to breed, so you have the opportunity to see hundreds of them at once – an experience unique to Gabon. Thanks to tireless researchers, you don’t have to make your own MegaTransect to see them.
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