Boé National Park

Boé covers a block of Sudanian savanna and gallery forest in Guinea-Bissau's far east on the Guinean border, high ground by the country's standards with sandstone plateaus and steep valleys, and it holds chimpanzees, roan antelope, buffalo and a range of birds. It sees almost no visitors. The region declared independence from Portugal in 1973 and the site of that declaration is within it. The park covers around a thousand square kilometres and links to protected forest across the Guinean border.

The landscape

• The sandstone plateaus - the high ground unusual for this country.
• The gallery forest - the tree cover in the valleys.
• The chimpanzees - the population in the eastern forest patches.
• The savanna wildlife - roan antelope and buffalo on the open ground.

When to go

November to May is the dry season and the practical window. The rains from June make the roads impassable. Wildlife concentrates near water late in the dry.

What to expect

There is essentially no infrastructure and visitors are very rare. Access needs permits, a guide and four wheel drive on very rough roads. Wildlife sightings are unlikely.

Nearby

Gabú is west, and the Guinean border is south.