Gabon aims to be Africa’s emerging safari destination

Two buffalo saunter along white sands to splash in the Atlantic Ocean before disappearing into a thick forest stretching down to the beaches of Pongara National Park. In a country where an estimated 88% of the land is still primary forest, wildlife encounters like this soon become all too commonplace.

Welcome to little-known Gabon, the African country that’s home to two million people, 95,000 elephants and thousands of lowland gorillas and chimpanzees – and which is attempting to position itself as an alternative safari destination in 2023. Launching itself to the world in January as “The Last Eden,” Gabon is where the lush forests of equatorial Africa collide with the crashing surf of the Atlantic.

Look at a map of West Africa and you can pick out the large land mass of Gabon (which has some 100,000 square miles of rainforest, mountains and coastline) between Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. This former French colony is one of the most biodiverse destinations in the region, with 13 national parks protecting 11 per cent of the country’s nature and wildlife.

For the adventurous traveler looking to get off the well-trod safari circuit, Gabon delivers extraordinary wildlife to spot. Gorilla trekking is possible in Loango National Park (where permits, at around $900, cost less than in Rwanda or Uganda). Large troupes of mandrills (the world’s largest species of monkey) are found in Lopé National Park, while Gabon’s unusual “surfing hippos” can be spotted on the Atlantic Coast. (The creatures quite literally…run into the ocean’s surf.) 

Forest elephants and buffalo are everywhere, and they’re easily spotted in Pongara National Park. Just a 30-minute boat ride away from Libreville, the capital city, Pongara also offers unique opportunities for a coastal safari, where buffalo can be seen on the white sand beaches and hippos spotted among the dense mangroves. Whales can be spotted off the same beaches between July and September, while leatherback turtles nest here in December and January.

Visit Gabon in 2023 and you’ll be seeing the nation in a raw state. Historically, Gabon hasn’t pushed for tourism due to its economic reliance on fossil fuels like oil and gas. Today, the…