Gabon: Lope NP – Game Drives
Lope National Park is located in the center of Gabon and is a UNESCO world heritage site. The beautiful landscape here is known as Lope-Okanda – islands of forest jungle interspersed with savanna and lots of hills. Immense biodiversity here – the park is home to numerous mammal species, including forest elephants, forest buffalos, red river hogs, multiple species of duikers, and 16 species of primates including western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, mandrills, and various monkey species. The park also supports a diverse bird population, with over 300 recorded species, including hornbills, turacos, parrots, and many others. Finally, the diverse landscape yields a staggering 1540 species of flora! We did several game drives in the park – evening and morning and had multiple sightings of forest elephants with babies, large herds of forest buffaloes, and even three different monkey species – grey-cheeked mangabeys, greater white-nosed monkeys, and black colobus.