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Road Trip Around Gabon. Part 4: Poubara and Lekedi Park

continued from road trip around Gabon part 3

On Day 9 we left Leconi and headed west to Franceville (supposedly the 3rd largest city in Gabon) in route to Poubara and then Lekedi Park. After reading though the Bradt Guide we learned that there were 2 roads leading to Poubara Bridge, so we hoped that might be able to take the one road there and then cross the river (somewhere) and take the other road further west to Lekedi, instead of just taking the main road that would require us to back track. With that plan in mind we drove around Franceville looking for this secondary road and with the assistance of several locals we found it.

Remember when I said the Bradt book isn’t always correct or it seems the authors didn’t actually test out all the advice they put in there…here is the best example….

Is this the turnoff to the lesser used entrance to Poubara Bridge?

Yes that secondary road does take you to, or rather close to, the bridge, but not in a way you will ever find it or will be useful to you…

We decided to try and take the back way to Poubara – there was even a sign
The easy part of the road, it got much worse…
checking the depth of the water on the road before we drive through it

Please do not take the back way to the Poubara Bridge! You will end up on a terrible dirt road that become a serious 4 wheel drive experience  (and we drove it in the dry season, I can only imagine what it looks like in the rainy season) and you will dead end at a gate (probably part of the Poubara Dam). On the drive there we noticed quite a few steep downhill “tracks” (even worse than the road we driving on) to our right. I’m sure one of these will take you to the trail near the backside of the bridge, but good luck deciding which one it would be and getting down it.

 

This is not Poubara Bridge. We didn’t end up where we wanted to – had to back track the whole way

So after that, we turned around and back tracked to Franceville and took the main road to Poubara

Updated Map with a red X on the road you should not take to get to Poubara
Finally got to Poubara

The Poubara Bridge is a suspended bridge made of liana vines and is quite impressive.  There is a small fee to go over the bridge and then a guide will also take to some waterfalls and rapids nearby if you like. The bridge is made by hand by members of the local tribe, popularly known as pygmys. Only one person is allowed to cross at a time (the bridge is not super stable, as you might imagine) and sometimes there are quite large gaps between where the vines are woven together, making the whole experience a little nerve wracking as the wild river water is flowing beneath you towards a waterfall….

Time to go over the bridge

After crossing the bridge we walked to a nearby waterfall
and the rapids
heading back over the bridge

After leaving Poubara we headed further west to the town of Bakoumba from which we visit Lekedi Park.

We decided to stay at the hotel associated with the park, which is actually old hotel rooms from the expat camp of the old mining company that used to be there. There was a “conveyer” system that transported manganese to the port of pointe noir. Bakoumba was one of the stops along the route and the company had set up a town to coordinate operation of this system. When this site of the mining company closed down, an initiative was started to start up a private park there, to help provide jobs for some of the workers and keep the town afloat. This happened about 20 years ago and I’m pretty sure none of the buildings or accommodations have seen any maintenance since. It was pure luck as to which of us got a semi-decent bed or a working shower.

entering Bakoumba
The camp at Bakoumba by Lekedi – another yenzi
Day 9 – we arrived in Bakoumba and Lekedi Park

After a nice meal (it was very tasty, fairly basic like most meals in Gabon, but tasty!) we played a game of cards and headed to our (rather uncomfortable) beds.

The next morning was our first excursion into the park. The park is very large and they have a wide variety of animals, either on islands or separated by several sets of fences. There are two different groups of chimpanzees, a few gorillas, a large group of mandrills, some forest buffalo and antelopes, red river hogs, etc. Most of the animals were either rescued from bushmeat traders or were previously housed a the research university in Franceville before they banned primate experiments, and thus could not be released back into the wild. You pick what you want to see for the morning and afternoon excursions (each of which takes about 3-4 hours including travel time to get there). For the first morning we decided to see the chimpanzees, one of the main draws being that you can walk over one of the chimpanzee areas on a long suspension bridge.

The first group of chimpanzees (the larger ones) lived on an island and you take a boat to go see them. Chimpanzees are our closest relative, they’re extremely intelligent, and they exhibit very similar facial expressions to humans. If you’ve ever seen chimpanzees you’ll know this can sometimes be quite disconcerting. They are also notoriously aggressive and some groups have been known to use tools and will hunt an kill other animals. Getting on the island with the chimpanzees is forbidden 🙂

Approaching the island by boat this was our first glimpse of the chimps:

The next morning we visited the chimpanzees! Don’t they look friendly?! *sarcasm*
chimpanzee on lookout duty

They were clearly keeping a good eye on us. Soon after we got close the dominant chimp went a little crazy and started screaming and chasing two of the other around and two of them got into a fight.

Soon after we got close to the island the chimps went kinda crazy, screaming and fighting with each other results one of them getting his hand bit
injured chimpanzee putting its hand in the water

Then everything settled down and we enjoyed watching them.

 

One of the females even had a very little baby!

I understand, buddy

After visiting the crazy chimps on the island, we went to see the smaller, more docile chimpanzees.

Adrienne looks like she was having fun…trying not to flip over the bridge

The are in a very large enclosure, above which a very long (300m) steel cable suspension bridge hangs. This allows you to have a birds eye view of the chimps and tree tops from a safe distance. Sounds great, right?! Remember when I said the Poubara vine bridge was kind of nerve wracking? Well that was nothing compared to this bridge of death…. Being so incredible long (and high off the ground) means that the bridge has a nice swing to it when you’re walking on it that get more exaggerated the further towards the center you are. Now imagine 7 full size adults all walking (at different paces) and all leaning to look for chimpanzees/take pictures/selfies while moving across this monstrosity. I consider myself a pretty adventurous person and don’t have a fear of heights, but when you’re in the middle of a 300 meter long steel cable bridge that may or may not have had any maintenance work done on it in the last 20 years (it’s Gabon, so probably not), maybe 20 meters above the ground where chimpanzees are roaming, and every time someone else move it feels like the bridge is likely to flip over, you get a bit rattled.

walking over the tree tops (and chimpanzees)

As I was walking across the entire middle portion of the bridge I was not thinking oh what a beautiful sight this is, I was gripping onto those steel cables and thinking how on earth am I going to hang onto this thing WHEN it finally flips all the way over. I didn’t take any photos as I was in the middle of the bridge (as I was too busy hanging on for dear life and yelling my friends behind me to stop walking), so you’ll have to take my word for it when I say at certain points that bridge was leaning over 45 degrees to the right and left. But don’t take my word for it, please go and check it out yourself, I highly recommend it! 🙂 No really, I do recommend it, it’s really cool to walk above the trees and on the far end of it some of the chimps came out to take a look at us. One climbed up a nearby tree so were at equal eye level, a second lay on the ground practicing his yoga moves, and another watched us for a while before grabbing some rocks and sticks to throw at us. Good times.

I assume Teun is smiling because he made it across the bridge of death
Who is watching who?
ready to throw stuff at us

We then went back to the hotel for lunch and had a chance to walk around and explore the town a bit. A few hours later we headed out to see the mandrills. The park has a large group of mandrills (about 40) that came from the university in Franceville. Several have radio collars and researchers now come out sometimes to study their natural behavior. Because they came from the university they are fairly at ease with people, so for this excursion we would roughly locate where the mandrills were using the radio collars and then get close to them on foot. We were given a safety talk before entering the forest and were told to walk in a single file line, close together, behind the guide and not get closer than 8 meters to the mandrills.

The mandrills did not get this message. After a few minutes of walking into the dense forest we started to see some monkeys darting about on the ground maybe 10-15 meter in front of us. Then we start seeing more, there was a whole group just in front of us! Then the large and very brightly colored male appears. He starts walking towards us. I was super excited, thinking

Beautiful male mandrill!

“OMG they are so close, this is awesome!” Apparently not all my friends shared my same insane feeling of enjoyment being super close to dangerous animals because soon that very large, armed with 3+ inch canines dominant male decided to come aggressively walk towards us and the 3 friends that were at the front of the single file line jumped and went running backwards. Perfect for me, now I was just behind the guide 😉 I glanced at the guide and he indicated to keep walking forward, so I did as the male huffed and puffed and jogged back and forth between us and his ladies. We walked into a small clearing and were surrounded on all sides by mandrills of all sizes and ages. I was loving it. We soon realized why the mandrills were so drawn to us…the backpack the guide was carrying was full of bananas which he began throwing out the mandrills. The excitedly ran around us, some heading up the trees and into the branches above our heads. The guide made sure to keep the big male happy and distracted by throwing bananas in his direction. I was in heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning we headed back into the park for one last viewing….to see the gorillas.

the ride into Lekedi park from Bakoumba

He had another bumpy, dusty drive in, but after about 30 minutes we arrived at a spot along the lagoon where we would take a boat to go view the gorillas. Our guide grabbed his electric motor, attached it to the boat and we all piled inside. The lagoon we glided across appeared to be man made as there were large numbers of cut tree trunks that we had to the dodge. About 3/4 of the way (10 minutes) to the gorillas we heard a loud “thunk” and I looked back to see the guide scrambling to try and grab the motor that had just hit a tree stump got dislodged and was sinking down into the water. He had no luck. We looked at the bubbles coming up from under the water where the motor was still spinning. Not good! Our guide starts panicking and jumps into the completely murky water (containing who knows what in it) and with one hand on the boat (it didn’t appear he could swim well) he tries to start searching for the motor. He’s having no luck, and it probably doesn’t help that the ground is well below his dangling feet. He climbs back into the boat. We continue to stare at the bubbles. A minute later the bubbles stop. The guide grabs a paddle and paddles us to the the steep bank and without saying a word to us climbs out of the boat and wanders into the forest.

waiting for our guide to return to us after he jumped out of the boat and ran into the forest

Ummmmm….ok….we are now sitting in a boat in the middle of a wild animal park without our guide and have no idea when he’s coming back. This led to a discussion in the boat about what happening and how we could find the motor, how dead the motor probably was by now, and whether or not the guide was going to get fired. Should we jump out of the boat and go looking for him? Or look for the motor? Should we all put together money to pay for the lost motor? After about 10 minutes our guide comes back down the hill carrying a long stick. We paddle back out to where the motor dropped into the water and he tries to feel for it with the stick. After several minutes of this he jumps back into the water and tries diving to locate the motor. A few seconds later he comes up, coughing and sputtering, no motor in hand. This went on for several minutes before he climbs back in the boat looking defeated. We all stare at the water, it’s as if we’re mourning the drowned motor. Ok, time to give up and go see the gorillas. Without the motor we now are recruited to paddling through the swampy water. We switch off paddling…it gives us a break from thinking about what’s going to happen to our guide when we return to camp.

We arrive at the gorillas and see a young silverback sitting near the water.  Upon seeing us get closer, he retreats closer to the tree line. Then a female and juvenile appear. Some caretakers were standing near a fence and threw food to the gorillas to entice them closer to the water. Opportunistic monkeys joined in, stealing any food the gorillas left behind.

 

Gorillas are magnificent and shy creatures, it’s always wonderful to be able to observe them; however, this moment felt more somber than normal with the uncertainty of the fate of our guide weighing on our minds.

mustached monkey

putty nose monkey
juvenile gorilla

After about 30 minutes we needed to head back to the car. This trip should have taken 10-15 minutes with the aid of the motor, but our manpowered boat moved a bit more slowly. After about 45 minutes we reached the car and all piled in the the back for the dusty ride back to the hotel. As we neared the hotel our guide saw one of his friends walking near the road. He pulled over and told his friend that he lost the motor. His friend started laughing and then replied back, “Again?!”

 

Next up…Road Trip Part 5: heading back to Gamba and my final thoughts on traveling around Gabon

Road Trip Around Gabon. Part 2: Lope National Park

continued from Road Trip around Gabon Part 1

The forests of Lope National Park have some of highest densities of gorillas and chimpanzees in all of Gabon, so we decided instead of staying at the Lope Hotel and doing short visits from there, we would camp inside the forest where we could more easily try to search for gorillas. So, the next morning we met with our guide and host that would take us into the Mikongo Forest of Lope National Park, Ghislain Ngonga Ndjibadi, who I can not recommend more highly. Ghislain is truly passionate about what he does and is extremely knowledgeable. If you have looking to visit Lope I would highly recommend that you use his services to tour the park, either with half day full day trips or staying at his camp deep in the forest as we did. You can get more information about him and his services on his website Mikongo Vision http://mikongo-vision.info/

On our way there we observed a family of elephants grazing on the edge of the forest

Heading into the Mikongo forest of Lope National Park – 1st stop, Chief’s house

We also needed to stop at the house of chief of the village in which the entrance to the Mikongo forest lies. We had to ask for his permission to enter and pay… Mostly it was just us sitting in his living room while Ghislain talked to him. Then we headed into the forest and after a bumpy, windy road through the trees we arrive at the camp.

Ali at the Mikongo Forest Camp

We set up our tents, had lunch and then laced up our hiking shoes for our first trek. The forest is gorgeous! There are small streams and creeks feeding though lush trees and bushes and you’re surrounded by the calls of birds and monkeys.

searching for gorillas

No signs of gorillas the first day, but our spirits were still high.

The next morning we set off at the crack of dawn to begin our search. We soon came upon a pair of black colobus monkeys that kept us entertained for quite some time.

Black Colobus Monkey
Black Colobus Monkey

large millipede
small snake eating a frog

After several hours of hiking we stopped by a creek for lunch.

a well deserved lunch break
no gorillas yet, but we did see a large, creepy spider during lunch

Back on the train Ghislain started seeing signs of gorillas

We found a knuckle and foot print near one of the streams.

gorilla knuckle and foot print

We were on their tracks, but the sun was getting lower, so we had to head back to camp.

When we came back to camp Ghislain asked if anyone was interested in a small hike, to a nearby former camp. This tented camp fell in disrepair after investors pulled out of the project. While roaming around Ghislain found tracks of gorillas, very fresh tracks, and fresh dung. He was in utter unbelief as we spent all day finding them and apparently they were very close to camp. We tracked them for a bit but had to head back as the sun was setting. As most guides, Ghislain doesn’t want to be in the forest at dark, when elephants are roaming around, but are difficult to spot.

The next morning we headed out for a short hike as Ghislain had a feeling they were close.

mongoose swimming

We found some interesting things, but unfortunately the gorillas evaded us.

 

Next up….Road Trip Part 3: Assiami Vineyards and Leconi

Our First Visitor…Ariana Visits Gabon…Trip to Loango National Park

20151029-IMGP7648At the end of October we were very happy to have our first visitor to Gabon, my best friend Ariana! After spending a few days in Paris to celebrate her 35th birthday we flew altogether back to Gabon. We eased her into her first African experience by spending the first few days doing a bit of relaxing, visiting the beaches nearby our house, 20151029-IMGP7653watching the elephants coming through camp to eat all the ripe mangos, and kayaking around the lake.

 

 

20151030-IMGP7691 But over the weekend we took a boat and headed up north through the lagoon to Sette Cama where we stayed in the Shell Hut and arranged for a guide to take us for a couple of hikes into the amazing 20151030-IMGP7708Loango National Park. Before arriving at the hut we of course had to stop at the newly semi-improved BBC Treehouse. I was really impressed that Ariana, who is extremely scared of heights, actually climbed all 20151030-IMGP7712the way to the top and even crossed the rope bridge! That night we enjoyed some drinks on the beach, just steps behind the hut, while watching the sunset.

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all smiles at the start of the hike

The next day we picked up our guide in Sette Cama at 6:30 for an early morning walk in Loanga. We decided to start with an easy 2 hours hike that takes you through the forest and 3 separate savannas. We came across several groups of monkeys (mostly red capped mangabeys), a massive snail, and some fairly 20151031-IMGP7736impressive spiders. I found walking through the forest was really magical; Ariana, who lets just say isn’t the most outdoorsy person, may have found the experience slightly less magical. 20151031-IMGP7749Or at least that the impression I had as she asked every 10 minutes if we were almost back to the boat yet and continuously tried to in vain to swat invisible insects away from her face. This probably wasn’t helped when at one point, after our guide pointed out a large spider web and then demonstrated where to walk around it, Ariana then walked through the side of it 🙂

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Giant snail, it was bigger than my hand!

 

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We all survived the hike and to our surprise Ariana even raved about how much fun she had! After a bit of relaxation at the hut, we dropped the boys (two of our 20151031-IMGP7823friends arrived that morning) off on the beach near the lagoon mouth and we went in search of hippos in a little river off of the north side of the lagoon. 20151031-IMGP7802It was a successful search and we spent about a half an hour watching a fairly relaxed group of hippos bob up and down in the water checking us out. We also spotted some rosy bee eaters, pelicans, and a red capped mangabey monkey hanging out in the mangroves.

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After meandering up and down the river for a couple of hours we headed back to the beach to see what the boys had caught (unfortunately nothing this time) and then all headed back to the hut for a (fishless) dinner

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The next day we had another early wakeup call and tried to mentally prepare ourselves for what was to come….a 6 hour hike through the heart of the Loango National Park!

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Getting from the boat onto dryish land
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more spiders
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giant monitor lizard
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our guide Kasa
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lovely scenery
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massive trees, small people
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yet more beautiful trees
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We finally made it out of the forest an onto the beach
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Herd of buffalo on the savannah next to the beach
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Herd of buffalo on the savannah next to the beach
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Cute!
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Pure Beauty! The only thing we’re missing is a surfing hippo…

We were all pretty exhausted after the long, hot hike, but everyone agreed that it was an amazing experience.

Part 2 of Ariana’s visit to come in the next blog post

The BBC Treehouse in Sette Cama, Gabon

20151011-IMGP7546With Ariana coming we decided to do some maintenance on the BBC treehouse. Floorboards were bad, the ladder was missing some steps so it was becoming quite an adventure just to go to the top. 20151011-IMGP7548Not to mention the safety hazards while climbing up…At the top there is a bridge, a big rope with some side netting, leading to the other side where another platform is. All providing a great view over the jungle. Just as it was designed by the BBC. 20151011-IMG_5536The hut was build some 8 years ago by the BBC and featured in their tv show. The goal was to provide a place for researchers to study the red capped mangabeys, which apparently are a rare species if you consider the world. To us they are quite normal as they roam the trees around our house quite frequently….anyways Ariana was coming and the hut needed some repairs, after years in the jungle 20151011-IMGP7568being exposed to the elements this was needed very much….we wanted to show her the hut so some upkeep was required. We went up there for the day, brought some wood, nails and elbow sweat…all worked out well and the hut was safe again to climb up…at least for a couple of weeks…20151011-IMGP7573

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Monkeying Around in Yenzi – Gamba, Gabon

One of the best parts about living here is all of the wildlife we get to see on a regular basis. As you’ve noticed from all of our previous posts, we see A LOT of elephants (most likely we see a few elephants over and over again…), but monkeys are also abundant around Yenzi (and Gabon in general). The most common type we see are red capped mangabeys. They’re pretty funny and really curious, sometimes they’ll even come sit on the tree branches closest to where I am and watch me watching them. Here are some of the pictures I’ve managed to take of the red capped mangabeys around camp.

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