Natural touristic resources
Middle-Africa has observed an increasing interest for Gabon and its National Parks and we have realized several exploring expeditions with different clients. In 2009 only 4 of its 13 parks can be visited, even so it Is worthwhile. We must take into account that Gabon only opened to tourism in 2003.
10 REASONS TO VISIT GABON
- Gabon is quiet, safe and offers a high standard of living when compared with neighbouring countries.
- 11% of Gabon’s natural territory is protected since 2002 and the Government is working to increase this percentage.
- Gabon is inhabited by Bantu people, whose language has a rich musical heritage. Highlights: dances with masks of the Fang and Punu.
- Magnificent natural lakes, such as lac Evaro, rich in birdlife. Near the colonial town of Lambarené.
- 90% of the coast of Gabon is completely virgin. Hippos, elephants and buffalo come to the beaches of the Petit Loango national park.
- Gabon offers a unique opportunity to observe the great apes of the thick jungle for free. The best place to observe them is from Langoué Bai in Ivindo National Park. There is a habituation project at Mikongo Conservation Center, within Lopé National Park.
- Infrastructure for tourism is still not very much developed but there are hotels and lodges in many parts of the country, including in the more remote parks. Interesting eco-lodge in the fishing village of Nyonié near Pongara National Park.
- The famous German doctor Albert Schweitzer lived and developed his research on sleeping sickness in the Gabonese town of Lambaréné. The hospital he built is now an interesting museum.
- The trans-Gabon railway passes through one of the most beautiful landscapes of Central Africa, as in the past and allows travelling to Libreville by Lope national park, sanctuary for gorillas.
- Those travellers looking for intense experiences should attend a Bwiti ceremony in the outskirts of Libreville. These ancestral rituals performed by both men and women during the night have the purpose of contacting with the spirit world through the consumption of Iboga bark, a highly hallucinogenous vegetable.