Northern Africa and the Middle East - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 142

trips to Loango, Lope and Ivindo national parks;
for rates, bookings and itineraries see W www.
wildlifeworldwide.com; T [phone].

180 SEE wIldlIfE In gABon

Gabon is Africa's wildlife destination of the
future. Some seventy percent of the country
is covered in forest, yet only recently has it
been given any kind of conservation status.
Thankfully it now has thirteen national parks,
protecting a huge range of animals including
western lowland gorillas, forest elephants and
chimpanzees.
The jungles in Gabon have the highest
diversity of tree and bird species anywhere
in Africa (over 670 bird species have been
recorded). It's also a place where the wildlife
of the equatorial rainforests tumbles out onto
its Atlantic beaches: you're just as likely to see
hippos playing in the surf as you are elephants
and buffalo roaming along the beach or
humpback whales cavorting offshore.
Although Gabon is one of the most stable
countries in the region, transportation and
infrastructure are still developing and not all
the parks are easily accessible yet, so you'll need
to do your homework before you go. Only three
national parks - Loango, Lope and Ivindo - are
currently geared up for tourism and realistically
accessible, but others are bound to follow.
An innovative pilot project known as Operation
Loango has helped to establish ecotourism in
the Loango National Park, a diverse ecosystem
of forest, savannah, rivers, lagoons and beaches.
The success of the project has led to the
foundation of the travel company Africa's Eden,
which leads guided tours into the forest to see
lowland gorillas, as well as operating humpback
whale-watching trips from July to October. Trips
into the forest are based from several lodges,
such as Tassi Savannah Camp, a small tented
camp by the beach, from where you can see
green, olive ridley and leatherback turtles. The
choice, then, is yours: hippos, lowland gorillas,
elephants, turtles or the best birdlife in Africa.

181 EASy ACCESS To THE BwIndI
IMpEnETrABlE forEST

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in
western Uganda lives up to its name. Unless
any of the three groups of habituated gorillas
have ventured near to where most of the
accommodation is near Bohoma, you usually
have to jump in a jeep and endure a ride of
several bumpy hours to the trailhead. But in
the south of the park (home to one habituated
group), guests staying at the new Clouds
Mountain Gorilla Lodge need only walk a few
hundred metres from their private cottage to
the Ugandan Wildlife Service hut - the starting
point of the trail that leads into the park.
The lodge is a partnership between The
Uganda Safari Company, the Africa Wildlife
Foundation ( W www.awf.org), the International
Gorilla Conservation Programme ( W www.
mountaingorillas.org) and the local Nkuringo
community, who receive a share of the lodge's
income to fund community projects. The lodge
caters for the luxury traveller - there are ten
en-suite cottages with private verandas as well
as a dining room and a lush botanical garden.
But don't expect the trek into the forest to be
quite as cushy; it can take up to three hours of
strenuous uphill climbing - sometimes through
slippery terrain - to reach the gorillas in the
dense jungle. But then that's all part of the
appeal.

Need to know The drive from Kampala to Clouds
Mountain Gorilla Lodge is an arduous eleven
hours; alternatively drive to Lake Mburo National
Park (4-5hr), from where it's a 6hr drive to Bwindi.
Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge can only be
booked through The Uganda Safari Company; for
prices and reservations see W www.safariuganda.
com; T [phone]. For more information
on gorillas in Uganda see W www.uwa.or.ug.

Need to know For prices and itineraries of
Africa's Eden's trips see W www.africas-eden.
com. UK-based Wildlife Worldwide also organizes