Moukalaba-Doudou National Park

Moukalaba-Doudou covers a large block of the southwest where the Doudou mountains meet the coastal plain, mixing dense forest with open savanna, and a long-running Japanese research project habituated a group of western lowland gorillas there, which is rare: most gorilla tracking in Africa is with mountain gorillas further east. Forest elephants, buffalo and mandrills also occur, and tracking is on foot from a camp.

The landscape

• The habituated gorillas - a western lowland group tracked on foot from the camp.
• The savanna-forest mosaic - open grassland running into dense forest.
• The Doudou mountains - the range rising behind the coastal plain.
• The mandrills - the large forest primates present through the park.

When to go

June to September is the long dry season and the best window for tracking. The rains make tracks impassable. Gorilla tracking depends on the research group's schedule.

Practical notes

Gorilla tracking depends on the research programme and cannot always be arranged. Access is difficult and expensive with no scheduled transport. Facilities are a basic camp.

Nearby

Tchibanga is southeast, and Gamba is southwest.

Key facts