Loango National Park - 7 days- price start from 4300 USD pp based on two persons sharing ex international flights (prices can fluctuate due to seasonality and availability)
Day 1: Friday – Arrival in Douala (Cameroon) - transfer to Loango Lodge in Gabon
Upon arrival at Libreville Airport, a representative of Africa’s Eden will meet you and will take youAkaka to hotel Tropicana for breakfast. Depending on your arrival flight and the time of departure you will have a dayroom. The half hour flight to Port Gentil gives you an impression of the forest, savannah and incredible beautiful vistas. After arrival in Port Gentil your flight to the lodge is about 25 minutes. Luggage will be taken to your room or suite and ice cold drinks will be served at the veranda.
Accommodation: Loango Lodge is situated on the lagoon and offers uninterupted views over the national. The lodge has 10 bungalows and 3 suites with ensuite bathrooms, fan and airconditioning and is completed with a pool. The lodge has a large library on birds and mammal books of the Loango area.
Tassi: A driver with a guide will take you south-west to the Tassi area. Preprare to see Tassi elephants, red river hogs, buffalos, birds and sitatunga under way. Tassi Camp is situated on the savannah, surrounded by primary and secondary fores and is a very basic camp nearby the research camp of the Max Planck Institute. The researchers carry out studies amongst the shy, elusive gorillas and chimpanzees in the area. From Tassi, Louri can easily be reached, where the rare phenomenon of buffalos and elephants on the beach can be seen. And if you are lucky surfing hippos.
Accommodation
: Tassi savanna camp is a basic savanna camp with 5 meru tents under a palmleaf roof. Tents are placed widely from each other to ensure the maximum of privacy. The camp is situated in a gorilla and chimpanzee area with a view on the glittering ocean.
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Akaka: A 4-hour boat journey southwards will bring you to Akaka. This fabulous trip over Akaka large lagoons encounters birds, elephants, buffalos and sitatunga (swamp-dwelling antelopes), possibly even bathing in the river. Akaka is one of the most remote parts of the Park. The camp is situated on the riverbank in the heart of the tropical rainforest and the wetlands. At times, the wildlife, especially elephants, passes right through the camp. At night you will hear apes high in the canopy. This camp is fabulous for forest walks or trips by kayak or motorboat along the Rembo Ngowe and Rembo Echira rivers.
Accommodation: Akaka bush camp is situated 3 hours by boat from Loango Lodge in a very remote area of the park. The camp is rustic, very basic and has five tents that are pitched on a covered platform along a narrow forest clearing leading uphill from the river.
Day 4: Monday - Loango National Park
Loango Lodge view from river After returning from Tassi / Akaka around lunchtime, you can refresh from the adventurous trip and relax at Loango Lodge, dip into the refreshing pool or lounge in the library for some relaxing time. Or you can discover some other parts of the park by car into the savannah, on foot into the mangroves, or by ‘houseboat’ along the shore. We certainly recommend going by foot into the forest behind the lodge where a traditional village can be visited. Or you can have a chat with the researchers of Loango's numerous research projects. At night, crocodile tours might be conducted or, season prohibited, turtle walks to the research sites can be organized.
Accommodation: Loango Lodge
Day 5: Tuesday - Pt. St. Cathérine
In the afternoon, a 20-minute boat tour over the lagoon takes you to the Pointe St. Catherine beach camp Pt St Cathérine Beach Camp. This basic camp is situated at a beautiful spot on the beach in the north of Loango National Park. Beach walks, collecting shells and fishing are amongst the possibilities. You can also simply relax here, with one of the most beautiful beaches on earth all to yourself. As the sun sets, dine in the restaurant, on the lounge deck, or enjoy a feet-in-the-sand beach barbeque.
Accommodation: Pt. St. Caterine beach camp has five thatched tents with classic wooden flooring and ensuite bathrooms with bucket showers and flushing toilets. The camp is very basic but the area is fantastic and cannot be found anywhere else.
Day 6: Wednesday – Evengue gorilla island
Upon return from Pte. Ste. Cathérine, a 4x4 jeep will drive you within 45 minutes to the start of theGabon gorilla Mpivié River. From here, you will start the boat trip on the dark waters of the Mpivié to Evengué Island, a small island just outside Loango National Park where the Gorilla Project is situated. This tour over Gabons famous blackwater river shows monkeys, crocodiles and all kinds of birds such asHartlaub’s ducks, finfoots and fishing owls. After approximately 2 hours, you will arrive at the small town of Ste. Anne, where Gustav Eiffel built an iron church in the late 1800s. Later in the afternoon you will visit the famous gorilla family that is housed at the island.
Accommodation: Evengué Lodge is a sattelite camp of Loango Lodge. The island is a gorilla sanctuary and houses a family of 5. The island has 2 wooden bandas and 3 tents under canvas, one of them floating on the water. The island is a miniature version of Loango National Park with forest, savanna and, nearby, a beach.
Day 7: Thursday - Flight to Libreville
In the afternoon, the Africa’s Eden private charter plane will fly you to Port Gentil. From Port Gentil, your connecting flight to Libreville where you can have a few days on the beach or in the lively city -- or head back home.
