I am constantly researching new and emerging safari locations for two reasons.  First, as a safari planner I have made it a focus to identify special wildlife viewing opportunities and wilderness areas.  There are many experienced safari goers who long to discover new safari frontiers and recapture that explorer feel that they had on their first safari, a wildness that has decreased in some of the more popular traditional safari areas.  Secondly, as a conservation biologist it has become clear to me that sustainable conservation of wildlife and habitat can only occur when sufficient economic benefits accrue to the local community.  Currently ecotourism that provides jobs, and ideally business ownership ventures, for local people is the best way to derive sustainable value that will shift communities from consumptive use of wildlife and habitat such as poaching for bushmeat and logging to protective stewards who have a future tied to conservation of these valuable natural resources.  This phenomenon has been demonstrated successfully many times in the traditional safari areas of East and Southern Africa.  There are many rich areas in Central and even West Africa that need to establish tourism to achieve lasting conservation.

 
Western lowland gorilla ©Michael Poliza, Africas-Eden 

The western lowland gorilla is the sexy flagship species being used to draw tourism into Central Africa.  Gabon has been the first Central African country to really establish safari tourism and has been selected as one of the Wild Places we arrange safaris.  Gorillas are frequently sighted in Gabon but they are not habituated and it is far from guaranteed, certainly nothing like the near 100% success rate for mountain gorilla trekking in Rwanda and Uganda.  Thus, it is great news that we can now offer a combination safari of Gabon, which has so much more than just the gorillas, and a visit to the Dzanga-Sangha Reserve in the Central African Republic, one of Africa’s best kept secrets.  In this reserve there are habituated western lowland gorillas and the daily success rate for tracking and observing them is 75% meaning on a multi-day stay you are very likely to see the gorillas.  Much like Gabon this reserve has large saline bais (clearings in the forest) where up to 100 forest elephants, forest buffalo and rarely sighted antelope species can be observed.  There are also many other primates such as the very charismatic mangabey.  It is wonderful that the tourism success in Gabon is spreading to the Central African Republic and it will likely continue to spread within the region to the Republic of Congo (not to be confused with the embattled Democratic Republic of Congo) and Cameroon.  Just recently there was a stunning discovery that a remote area of the Republic of Congo contained 125,000 gorillas, a figure which exceeded the previous estimate for the continents entire gorilla population.  It is encouraging to know that such amazing discoveries are still possible.  A Gabon/Central African Republic safari is ideal for those who can rough it a little bit and crave to explore wilderness, this is an opportunity to be both a safari and conservation pioneer.

 
Red river hog ©Africas-Eden

West Africa is known more for its stunning cultural destinations but wildlife experiences are growing.  I recently found a nice piece on a national park in Benin.