HIKING THE JUNGLE
for real Adventurers!
DAY 1: Sunday
Arrival date
Transfer to and overnight Sunset Beach
DAY 2: on Tuesdays/Thursdays/fridays or Sundays
You will take your train to Booué. From Booué a vehicle will collect you from the station to drive you to MAKOKOU through the rainforest for a 5 hours trip. If your trip occurs by night – keep your eyes open! – night time is ideal to stand a better chance of capturing the sight of a panther.
Depending on your arrival day and time, you can have your breakfast at Makokou and just after it, you will be transferred to Loaloa landing stage where a pirogue will take you to the Kongou Waterfalls where the Kongou forest camp is located. Or you will spend the first night in the Belinga Palace of Makokou before going to the forest camp the following morning. On your way, it will be possible to have a picnic onto one of the numerous sandbanks (during dry season) or islands scattered into the river.
Loloa landing stage by Jean-Louis Albert
The Kongou Camp is rustic and minimal. There are 5 platforms: two as bedrooms (two single beds per bedroom), one as storeroom and staff’s bedroom, one as restaurant, one as terrace and the last one as bathroom (being upgraded). There is no power and no hot water.
After lunch, you will go for the canyon excursion which consists in hiking for one hour to reach the canyon. The visit will last all the afternoon before you walk back to the camp for another hour. In the evening, you will enjoy a typical African dinner.
Overnight at Kongou Camp
DAY THREE: KONGOU WATERFALLS
On this day, you will enjoy the waterfalls excursion called “Bouilla N’a Ngonde” (The Sun and the Moon). After an early breakfast around 7am, the guides will invite to follow them for going to the biggest and most imposing waterfalls of Central Africa. This forest hike consists in walking during about 1h30 to reach the pirogue lower down the hill. Down river from the waterfalls, you will draw alongside an island. From here, you will walk one hour again to reach the upper side of the waterfalls. After a while, your guides will invite you to follow them into a obstacle course to get back to the lower side of the waterfalls. You will have a picnic as lunch. On your return way, you will enjoy a small detour to watch a colony of social spiders.
Bouilla Na Ngonde by Jean-Louis Albert
By Jean-Louis Albert
Overnight at Kongou Camp
DAY 4 MOMBA BAÏ
The Momba salina is a forest glade which operates like a natural zoo where gather various animal species such as forest elephants, gorillas, forest buffaloes, bongos and other animals and birds. It is possible to access this salina from Makokou either through a 12 hours trip by pirogue on the Mouniandje river until Milondo Camp from which you will still have to walk three more hours to reach the salina itself or through a 4 hours trip by car followed by a 7 hours walk until Milondo Camp and another 3hours walk til the salina.
Then this day will be long and exhausting but also fascinating. You will start the trip towards Milondo Camp located 140 km far away from Makokou. The Mouniandje river shows several different sceneries among which you will experience the Béssika rapids (after 4 hours of navigation). These rapids are a major obstacle to navigating this river. One hour is needed to pull the pirogue up against the current. A picnic is generally served at this time. After this first endurance test, your team will have to face the numerous trees strewn over the river. Hatchets and chain saw will be needed to clear the way up. The last difficulty will depend on the water level which is usually too low during the dry season. The team might have to pull the pirogue forwards. After about 8 hours of navigation, you will spend the night in a forest stance where the campsite and the tents will be set up for you (the camping equipment is provided). Once installed, you will have your dinner.
DAY 5 : MOMBA BAI
As soon as 7 am and just after breakfast, you will carry on navigating during 5 hours to reach Milondo Camp. You might be lucky enough to sight some mammals such as otters, small monkeys or elephants… You will also see the hunting and fishing camps set up by villagers all along the rivers. 4 rangers originated from Milondo and Truhaya villages will be waiting for you in Milondo camp. After a short break aimed at selecting strictly the belongings you will keep in your bag and at having lunch, you will start hiking towards Momba Baï on the opposite side of the river. It is a 3 hours walk divided in two steps. The two first hours will allow you to reach the forest stance where you will spend the night. You will leave you excess of luggage here before going to visit the baï (one hour walk further). You will come back to the campsite at nightfall.
On your way to the Baï, you will cross two rivers which the depth is more than a meter. You will then inevitably get wet and must make your own arrangement for your shoes and clothes.
DAY 6-7: MOMBA BAÏ
As soon as 7am and just after breakfast, you will go to the Baï again for a second wildlife observation which will last plus minus 6 hours depending on faun activity. You can undertake walking all around the Baï in order to maximize your chance of seeing animals. In the Momba Baï, there are some main holes where big mammals gather. The most active hole is located just at the salina entrance but animals go from a hole to another over a 300 m distance. After observation on spotted areas and around the Baï, you will get back to the camp for having lunch. After lunch, you will return to Milondo Camp and will spend the night there.
DAY 8: BACK TO MAKOKOU
From Milondo Camp, you will raw down the stream of Mouniandjè river until Makokou. This return trip is shorter than its going counterpart and can be covered over the day (8h of navigation).
Overnight Makokou
DAY 9 BACK TO LIBREVILLE
On this day, you will be driven back to Booué (5 hours by car), to catch your train back to Libreville.
Overnight Sunset Beach or departure time.
