All activities / Wildlife Safaris / Nouabale-Ndoki National Park
Wildlife Safaris in Nouabale-Ndoki National Park
A roadless block of pristine lowland rainforest in the far north of the Republic of the Congo, part of a UNESCO transboundary reserve, famous for the gorilla-filled clearing of Mbeli Bai and for chimpanzees that have rarely met humans.
Why here
Nouabale-Ndoki is about as close to untouched rainforest as the modern world still offers, over 4,000 square kilometres with no roads, no logging history and, in places, animals that show little fear of people. Its most famous window is Mbeli Bai, a marshy forest clearing watched continuously by researchers for decades, where western lowland gorilla families, forest elephants and forest buffalo come into the open and can be observed from a viewing platform. Deeper in, at Mondika, visitors track habituated gorillas on foot, and the Goualougo Triangle is renowned for chimpanzees so unhabituated to humans that they approach out of curiosity. The park was established in 1993 and forms the Congolese third of the Sangha Trinational UNESCO World Heritage site shared with Cameroon and the Central African Republic. Managed by a public-private foundation with the Wildlife Conservation Society, it keeps tourism deliberately tiny, which is exactly why the forest here still behaves as it did before people arrived.
Best months
The drier months, broadly June to August and December to February, are best for river travel and forest walking. Everything here is expedition-style: long transfers, walking and canoeing in hot, humid, insect-rich forest, camping or basic camps, and wildlife sightings that depend on the day. Capacity is extremely limited and access is on fixed arrangements only. A good level of fitness and a tolerance for rough, remote conditions are essential.
Getting there & around
The park is reached from Brazzaville by flight to the north and then long road and river transfers to Bomassa, the park headquarters; the current capacity to receive tourists is small and on specific dates only. Visits are arranged in advance through the park's management and its listed operators, and independent travel is not practical. Yellow fever vaccination and malaria prophylaxis are required. Check your government advisory for the Republic of the Congo before travel.
Skill levels: intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (1)
Fondation Nouabale-Ndoki
OrganizerThe Fondation Nouabale-Ndoki (FNN) manages Nouabale-Ndoki National Park under a public-private partnership signed in 2013 between the Republic of the Congo and the Wildlife Conservation Society. It runs the park's tiny tourism programme from the headquarters at Bomassa, coordinating visits to Mbeli Bai, the Mondika gorilla site and the Goualougo chimpanzees, and takes bookings for the limited visitor dates directly and through approved operators. The park was established in 1993.