Visit the Congo for an experience that will change your perspective even if you believe you know Africa. Here, the world’s freshest air fills your lungs while the sheer enormity of the Congo Basin astounds you. You go on an amazing journey of Gorilla tracking, game drives, boating, kayaking, forest trekking, and river wading to discover rare and endangered animals amongst rainforests, savannahs, rivers, mineral-rich baïs, and swamps.

Total submission to the Congo Basin: Experience our most in-depth journey to Odzala-Kokoua National Park and harmonize with the rhythms of the forest.

Nestled in the centre of the Congo Basin, the world’s second largest rainforest after the Amazon, is the enormous 13,546 km2 Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo, one of Africa’s oldest national parks. The Congo Basin is one of the planet’s most biologically diverse and species-rich regions, covering more than two million square kilometres over six countries. It also makes up 18% of the world’s surviving rainforest. More than 75 million people receive clean water, food, and shelter from it as well.

Accompany us on a trek in search of iconic wildlife that roams the forests, plains, and river systems, such as vast flocks of African Grey Parrots and Green Pigeons, Forest Elephants, Bongos, Dwarf Crocodiles, and Western Lowland Gorillas.

Starts in BrazzavilleEnds in BrazzavilleDuration: 13 DaysNext group Departure: TBC
** This tour is available to book as private guided tour

Highlights

Odzala-Kokoua National Park

Western Lowland Gorilla trekking

Ndzehi Concession

Top Mammals

  • Western Lowland Gorillas
  • Forest Elephants
  • Forest Buffalo
  • Moustached Monkey
  • Crowned Monkey
  • Palm Civet
  • Bongo
  • Gray-Cheeked Mangabey

Top birds

  • Black-Casqued Wattled Hornbill
  • Great Blue Turaco
  • Green Pigeon
  • Malachite Kingfisher
  • Palm-nut Vulture
  • Hartlaub’s Duck
  • Spot-breasted Ibis
  • African Grey Parrot
  • Congo Serpent Eagle
  • Vermiculated Fishing-Owlv

Day to day summary

Day 1Arrival in Brazzaville
Day 2Onwards flight to Odzala-Kokoua National Park
Day 3-5Ndzehi Concession at Ngaga Lodge
Day 6Onwards to Lango Lodge
Day 7-9Exploring Lango
Day 10Onwards to Mboko Lodge
Day 11-12Mboko Lodge
Day 13Departure

Full day to day Itinerary

DAY 1:
Arrival in Brazzaville
– You will be taken to your hotel in the city upon your arrival at Maya Maya International Airport.

Brazzaville, a metropolis of two million people on the western bank of the Congo River, serves as the capital of the Republic of the Congo. The city is lively and colourful, a safe and entertaining area for you to visit before or after your trip to the Congo Basin. It is a major port for raw commodities destined for export. The architecture, wide boulevards, and the Corniche, a riverbank promenade dotted with eateries and cafés offering views of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital Kinshasa across the Congo River, are all reminders of the city’s French colonial past. (Interesting fact: These are only two national capitals facing each other across a river in one location on Earth.)

Depending on how much time you have to explore the city, you should stop by the Pierre Savorgnan De Brazza Memorial, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Poto Poto Market, St. Anne’s Basilica, and Mami Wata Restaurant. The latter is a popular spot for both locals and tourists due to its mouthwatering Congolese food (as well as Western cuisine) and cocktails while offering a view of the Congo River. Mami Wata Restaurant is conveniently located near your hotel.

DAY 2:
Onwards flight to Odzala-Kokoua National Park
– This morning, following a leisurely breakfast, you have a 2-hour flight to the Mboko airstrip in Odzala-kokoua National Park, which departs at 13h00.
Your adventure starts when you land at the airstrip and take a two-to-three-hour safari through the park’s rainforest and savanna to reach Ngaga Lodge, where you will spend the following four nights.
Join your guide this evening around the fire for a briefing on gorilla tracking and conservation to be ready for your early morning expedition in search of Western Lowland Gorillas.

DAY 3-5:
Ndzehi Concession at Ngaga Lodge
– Located next to Odzala-Kokoua in the Ndzehi Concession, Ngaga Lodge serves as the base for both exceptional primate interactions and superior primate research. The Western Lowland Gorilla research team stays in Ngaga and has been studying the forest’s patterns and paths for the past few decades. You are welcome to gain insight from them and see this untouched rainforest that is teeming with life.

Three habituated families are among the several gorilla groups that reside in the Ndzehi Concession around Ngaga Lodge and are viewable to visitors. The leader of each the family group, is a silverback that is curiously named after celestial beings.

In addition to tracking Western Lowland Gorillas in the three gorilla tracks that surround the lodge while at Ngaga, you will have the chance of going on a Conservation Walk with a Forest Guardian to discover how they deter poachers. Through guided forest excursions, night hikes, village visits (upon request), and breathtaking sundowners, you will get to know the forest and all its inhabitants. On top of that, you may have sightings of Forest Duiker, Galagos, Palm Civet, Moustached Monkey, Crowned Monkey, and Moustached Monkey.

DAY 6:
Onwards to Lango Lodge
– Before starting our two-hour road trip across the park to arrive at Mboko Lodge, we will have breakfast this morning and have one last excursion into the magnificent rainforest of Ngaga.

After arriving, we will have lunch, before embarking on a leisurely kayak safari down the Lekoli River, where you might come across Forest Buffalo, Monkeys, Elephants, and a vibrant variety of birds, like African Grey Parrots and African Green Pigeons, as you drift past and arrive at Lango Bai. We will walk the last part of the way and arrive in time for an enjoyable sundowner while you take in the amazing scenery.

With surrounding walkways and raised cabins to maximize the view, Lango Lodge, perched on the edge of Lango Baï, offers one of the most striking views of any camp in Africa.

DAY 7-9:
Exploring Lango
– We will delve further and fully immerse ourselves in this astonishingly unspoiled environment. At Lango, spending time in nature means following in the footsteps of Elephants as they walk through the forests, Baïs, and streams on well-traveled paths. Through wet and muddy hikes in the surrounding forests and Baïs, we will connect with this breathtaking landscape.

As you wade through the water in the Baï and streams in Lango’s mysterious forests, watch flocks of African Green Pigeons come to roost, Forest Buffalo grazing, and if you are lucky, we could encounter an elusive Bongo or shy Forest Elephant. Savor the freedom to explore and learn about the little secrets the forest conceals beneath its canopy.

Following in the footsteps of past explorers, you will discover the history and heritage of the region while taking hikes through the diverse biomes along the Baï, Lekoli River, and surrounding area during your stay at Lango.

DAY 10:
Onwards to Mboko Lodge
– This morning, we will rise early in preparation for our final walking safari at Lango Lodge. After breakfast, and packing our belongings, go across the wetlands on the raised wooden walkway, and get on the vehicle for a game drive to Mboko Lodge, which lies where the savanna and forest meet.

We could take a walk in the forest after lunch or spend a leisurely afternoon at camp on the river deck. We are going to take a river cruise in the late afternoon. We will make our way through the twisting canals of Mboko, which is situated along the Likeni River, which flows into a network of waterways with surrounding savannas. Every bend in the river offers an entirely new vista.

DAY 11-12:
Mboko Lodge
– Mboko Lodge is the adventurer’s home. It is a location of equal parts tranquillity and adventure, with its vast grasslands, soothing rivers, and towering trees. You will search for vibrant birds, Forest Elephants, Buffalo, Spotted Hyenas, gregarious Monkeys, and the timid Bongo Antelope while exploring riverbanks and forests with your guides. This area of Odzala-Kokoua National Park is home to Hippos as well.

Walking, canoeing, and kayaking through some of the most stunning environments in the Congo Basin are available activities at Mboko Lodge. The peaceful streams at Mboko offer the perfect place to cool down or swim, or you can indulge in a soothing spa treatment. While taking in the peace and quiet of the river meandering by, the river deck provides a special vantage point from which to search for birds. You might also spot monkeys or butterflies.

DAY 13:
Departure
Before our game drive to the Mboko airstrip via the savanna, we will have our final breakfast on the deck. Your connecting flight will be on a private plane from the airstrip to Brazzaville, where you board your international flight home.

If our 13-day Congo adventure does not suit you we do have a 9-day itinerary available on request.

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