Worldnature55

Gabon

Libreville
Gabon may be home to spectacular wildlife but its capital city, Libreville, is no less of a must-visit spot in the country. Museums, restaurants, casinos, and colorful markets are plenty to keep travelers busy for a few days before heading out to enjoy the outdoor adventures.

Lopé National Park
No other region in Central Africa is considered more vital for primates than Lopé National Park, the oldest and one of the most astounding biospheres on the African continent.
A vital refuge to over 1.400 endangered mandrills as well as 420 bird species, the national park is equally a stronghold for western gorillas, sun-tailed guenon, black colobus, chimpanzee and forest elephants who thrive in the forest gallery and fingers of lush, misty savannah — interacting landscapes that were created at the end of the last Ice Age almost 12.000 years ago.
Bordered by two tributaries of the Ogooué — one of Africa’s legendary African rivers, Lopé also served as an ancient trade and migration corridor along the Congo Basin for pygmy tribes. Today, the Ogooué River Valley’s deep ridges and forest gallery is a veritable hotspot for prehistoric antiquities and rich, tribal culture.
So much, the recent discovery of over 1.800 Iron-Age petroglyphs and scant traces of Stone-Age and Iron-Age settlements and artefacts revealed just how significant the region was to Africa’s human evolution over the past 400.000 years.

Lambaréné
Located on an island in the Ogooué River, you will find the city Lambarené. Lambaréné is characterized by shiny lakes, fast-flowing rivers and the famous Albert Schweitzer hospital.
Founded in 1913, he ran the hospital until 1965. A pinnacle hospital that had provided healthcare services while he ran the hospital. It is still a functioning hospital now.

Lake Zilé
Surrounded by dense rainforest, beautiful Lake Zilé is dotted with some 30 islands and is home to loads of birds (white cormorants congregate on one of the islands). It's the smallest of the series of lakes around Lambaréné. Hippos, crocodiles, and bats are just some of the other wild animals that can be seen in the wild here.

Lake Onangué
Lake Onangué is one of the top attractions in the area. This stunning freshwater lake is a paradise for nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts.
The lake offers breathtaking views and a serene atmosphere, making it the perfect destination for a peaceful get away. The lake is surrounded by lush greenery and dense forests, providing a picturesque backdrop.

One of the main highlights of Lake Onangué is its diverse wildlife. The lake is home to a wide variety of bird species, making it a paradise for birdwatchers. Visitors can spot colorful birds such as herons, kingfishers, and parrots, among others. The tranquil waters of the lake also attract other wildlife, including various species of fish, turtles, hippopotamus and otters.

Loango National Park
There are very few places left in Equatorial Africa where you embark on a safari and experience ‘Big Five’ game yet Loango National Park’s remarkable range of biodiversity and pristine ecosystems provide nature lovers and intrepid travellers with such extraordinary occurrences.
Famous for its beachcomber forest elephants and surfing hippos that roam its wild coastline, the national park is also brimming with other resplendent guises; mangrove forests, mirrored waterways, speckled tidal lagoons and a vast track of savannah — epic locations that are always picture-ready for thrilling wildlife viewing.
Vast herds of forest elephant, forest buffalo, monkeys, chimpanzee, red river hogs, hippo, sitatunga, duiker, crocodile and hundreds of bird species that sweep across the landscape. On a gorilla trek, you will also have a breaktaking introduction to a troop of habituated western lowland gorillas that thrive in what is considered one of the world’s most intact primate habitats.

Akanda National Park
The national park spills across two bays in the northern reaches of Gabon and comprises protected mangrove swamp forests, tidal estuaries, and beaches flanked by wet evergreen coastal forests. The environment gains plenty of moisture from the river basin and the sea, giving rise to an exceptionally lush coastal landscape. Visitors are treated to sightings of palm trees, rare orchids, region-specific flora, and endemic birds such as the Gabon Boubou
The national park is best explored by boat, a way of introducing visitors to the shorebirds and wildlife of the river. Ocean safaris are popular and offer opportunities to spot dolphins, manatees and other marine life.

Trip Report

This trip was made 7 september - 19 september 2024. There was a mixed focus on Birds and Mammals of wich i found 49 new species, and i also found 59 new species of Butterfly/Dragonfly/Reptiles/Arthropoda and Plants.
It's a long way to Lopé (about 350 km), with partly very bad road-conditions, so we got away early meaning 08:00. But, well like other west african countries, there were a lot of vaque things to do first (tanking/shopping etc) so it was alread 10:30 before the real departure started. After about 4 hours we reached Ndjolé, where we had lunch and the first african bird species where seen (African Harrier-Hawk, Rock Pratincole, African Palm Swift and Village Weaver). The road from Ndjole to Lope is very bad, so it took us 4 hours to make the final 125 km. On the way, there were some stops with very nice bird species (Cassin's Flycatcher, White-bibbed Swallow, Bat Hawk).
The Mandril-group in Lopé National Park consists of around 750 individuals, of which some of them where aided by GPS trackers which enable the researchers to easily find the group. Still it's a hard way to see them, course they are on the move all day long mainly moving in dense vegetation. With the assist of the guides i managed to get a good view of around 40 of them. The Mandril trekking was one off the highlights of this trip.
A visit to the Lopé National Park Ecomuseum presents some of the prehistoric remains discovered throughout the park during the numerous archaeological expeditions carried out in recent years, as well as cultural objects representative of the local communities.
In the afternoon we made a safari drive wich gave me good picture's of Congo Pied Hornbill, African Green Pigeon, African Forest Elephant and Red River Hog.
An early morning rise gave sight of Black-casqued Hornbill, Orange-cheeked Waxbill, Blue-throated Brown Sunbird and Lesser Striped Swallow.
A hike up Mount Brazza (400m.) takes around 1 1/2 hour. The top offers great views of the forest-savannah patchwork of the Lope National Park and also great views of the Ogooué River. On the way up i saw a couple of Yellow-throated Longclaw's, some Johnston's Mangabey's and a very nice small yellow flower called Curculigo pilosa. After luch i made a tour around our bungalows finding some butterflies (African Grass Blue, Broad-bordered Grass Yellow, Liodes Hairtail) and some insects (African Mantis and a longhorn beetle called Mallodon downesii) In the afternoon safari we saw Black Sparrowhawk, African Forest Buffalo and a group of Forest Elephant's with a joung baby who nearly get drowned in a mud-pool.
The road trip to Lambaréné (about 270 km) took about 10 hours. On the way we saw Grey-chinned Sunbird, Speckled Mousebird and Bates's Swift.
The next morning we took a motorised piroque for a day trip to Lake Onangué (about 45 km south of Lambaréné). The first part was on a side-branch of the Ogooué River downstream to a little village called Ndjambalika. In the forest on the banks off the river i had great views of Johnston's Mangabey's and Gray-tailed Mustached Monkey's. At Ndjambalika we took a smaller river heading to the lake. On this part of the river i made pictures of African Woolly-necked Stork, Hamerkop, loads of Pink-backed Pelican's and a Great White Pelican, which is rather rare for inland Gabon. On the mammal front it remained very successful; Angola Hippopotamus, Red-capped Mangabey and three groups of Eastern Putty-nosed Monkey's. When the river flows into the lake there is a large sandy plain, where was place for African Skimmer, Striated Heron, Little Tern and Pied Kingfisher. It took about an hour to cross the lake back to the banks of the Ogooué river, where there is the small Ngomo Protestant Mission where we had a late lunch.
During the time there i took the opportunity to look for butterflies (Dark Blue Pansy), dragonfly (Violet Dropwing, Stout Pintail, Pied-spot) and a broad-headed bug (Mirperus jaculus). The way back to lambaréné reveals Caspian Tern, Grey Parrot, White-thighed Hornbill and another great view of the Eastern Putty-nosed Monkey. Slightly unexpected, this was one of the best day of the trip.

Gabon

This list, give's you a nice idea of the things I h've photographed. So explore the list, to see nice picture's of different familie-goups; there are also detailed list available of the different species.

Trip List

• Birds
• Mammals
• Butterfly & Moths
• Arthropoda
• Others

• 115
• 014
• 027
• 016
• 039

There are also some pictures available of the

• scenery.

When you want to know more about Gabon, you have to visit my travelpages.

This trip is made possible by

The trip to Lake Zilé (about 2 km north of Lambaréné ) starts near the Albert Schweitzer hospital. The Ogooué River here is about 1.700 meters wide and, as we where at the end of the dry season, dotted with huge sandbanks. On these banks we found Reed Cormorant, Kittlitz's Plover, Grey Pratincole, White-crowned Lapwing and Water Thick-knee. In between there's a small forested island, cald Birds Island where thousands of herons breed. Here we found Great Egret, Little Egret, African Darter, Black-crowned Night Heron and Purple Heron. Unfortunate we did not make Lake Zilé course the waterlevel was to low and we got stuck in the mud, but we did visit Pont d'Adouma, one of the great bridges in Lambaréné, where thousands of Egyptian Fruit Bats hang out.
After luch we paid a visit to the Musée "Albert Schweitzer Hospital". It's quite impressive to see what he achieved in the early 20th century. A afternoon walk in the hotel garden delivers me Speckled Tinkerbird, White-throated Greenbul, Orange Weaver, Black-necked Weaver, Vieillot's Black Weaver, Little Swift and Reichenbach's Sunbird.
The boat ride to Omboué (distance 210 km) took about 4 hours. Unfortunately with little of note seen (we were going fast). After lunch we made a road ride (50 km) to the Lagune Iguéla, witch took 2 hours, after which it's a small boat ride to N'dole.
The next day an early morning ride across the savannah was good for: Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Long-legged Pipit, Palm-nut Vulture, Red-chested Cuckoo, African Forest Buffalo and African Forest Elephant. After lunch i made a walk around the camp finding butterflies (Wandering Donkey Acraea, Common Creamy Glider, Vulgar Bush Brown, Fashion Commodore), spiders (Gasteracantha curvispina, Hyllus dotatus), longhorn beetle (Macrotoma serripes), lizards (Peter's Rock Agama, West African Striped Lizard) and some molluscs (Droppings Cowry, Great Ribbed Cockle, West African Mangrove Oyster)
In the afternoon we left for Akaka Bush Camp The first part was an hour bumpy boat ride across the Iguéla lagune, the second part a slow ride across the Rembo Ngowe River. On the river we saw Rosy Bee-eater, Giant Kingfisher, Winding Cisticola, African Fish Eagle, Black Spinetail, Gray-tailed Mustached Monkey , a couple of Elephants and some Central African Slender-snouted Crocodile's.
The next morning we left for Yatouga Research Camp, the starting point for encountering a habituated Western Lowland Gorilla family. After doing a medical test (corona check) we where given permission to go. It took about a half hour walk reaching the edge of a swamp, which we had to cross to see the gorillas. Unfortunately I stepped next to a reed clump and sank into the mud up to my waist but in the end we made it. It's a family of nine gorillas known as the Atananga group and we were allowed to spent about an hour with them. Another highlight of this trip.
In the afternoon we did another boat trip on the river, seeing Great Blue Turaco, African Cuckoo-Hawk, Red-headed Quelea, African Finfoot, Hartlaub's Duck and Shining-blue Kingfisher along with some mammals (hippopotamus/elephants) And after sunset we managed to find a Vermiculated Fishing Owl.
On our way back to N'dole, the next day we saw some nice birds on the river; Blue-headed Coucal, Yellow-billed Stork and again some hippo's/elephants.
In the middle of the Lagune Iguéla is a small island, which is famous for holding the Loango Weaver. They are very shy so it took about half an hour waiting till i found a female overthere. In the meantime there were sightings of a African Paradise Flycatcher, Brown-throated Wattle-eye and some resting African Straw-coloured Fruit Bat's. In de afternoon we made a walk on the beach near the N'dole campsite seeing lots of terns (West African Crested Tern, Common Tern, Caspian Tern and Damara Tern), some waders (Little Stint, Sanderling, White-fronted Plover and Eurasian Whimbrel) along with lots of Tufted Ghost Crab's. Then suddenly we saw a black spot on the beach, which upon closer inspection turned out to be a African River Martin. What a good day, with two highly wanted bird-species (african river martin and loango weaver).
Beside seeing a Square-tailed Nightjar, African Woolly-necked Stork and a Copper Sunbird, the game drive the next morning wasn't really rewarding so we left for having lunch at Omboué. Here i found Slender-billed Weaver, Woodland Kingfisher, Carmelite Sunbird, some butterfly (Common Pathfinder Skipper, Smoky Bean Cupid, Purple-brown Hairstreak, White-tipped Blue), a dragonfly (Navy Dropwing) and a Nosey Cone-headed Grasshopper. It took about 2 hours to reach Port Gentil, where we had our evening meal and then a short flight to Libreville.
The first island we visited in the Akanda National Park (Île Nende) was good for fish (Atlantic Mudskipper), butterfly (Widespread Forester, Elegant Acraea) and a dragonfly (Tree-hole Jungle-skimmer). Then we went for lunch on Île Assimba, a small island home for the rangers overthere. On a walk around the island i found some molluscs (Giant Melongena, West African Mud Creeper and Senilia senilis) We ended our visit with a boat ride on the Moka River, where there were some Nile Monitors and a lonely Western Reef Heron. I tink there are possibility for tourisme in Akanda, but it has to be beter organised. Libreville is Gabon's largest city and capital that is home to one third of the country's population (820.000). It is a place where people are very laid back and take things slowly. Libreville's greatest asset is, probably, the seafront where people gather daily to relax by the Atlantic Ocean. All along the seafront you will find some Gabonese sculptures looking over the beach. Beside a lot of impressive modernist structures the Église Sainte-Marie, built 1864 is among the oldest. After a late lunch we went to the airport to fly home
Gabon is surely a very good place to go, with very rare species but be aware the density of wildlife is low and the animals are very shy. So you have to work hard to see them