Gabon Gorilla Trekking

Gorilla Trekking in Gabon

One African ape/primate that several people admire is the gorilla.  Often people pay high rates to flow into their world. In Loango we are able to present gorillas trekking permits at much lower rates than anywhere else because Gabon is a very steady country with more conserved places than its neighbors. Despite this, Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered (categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild) and do still need our support and protection.

Western lowland gorillas stay in social groups containing one silverback, several adult females, and their offspring. Silverbacks guard their females and offspring from other gorilla groups, slayers, and other intimidations. Gorillas are vegetarian, with their diet consisting of fruit, leaves, and herbaceous vegetation. Their daily routine contains feeding for a few hours, resting, feeding, resting, during which they will lobby several kilometers distance through 24 km² home range. Gorillas do not have arranged/agreed zones, but groups have overlying home series.  Western gorillas spend as much as 30% of their time in the trees, making them much more arboreal than mountain gorillas. Social communications among these gentle giants involve resting together, preparing, and play by the infants and youngsters (juveniles).

​Loango National Park is one of only a few places where it is probable to spot familiarized /habituated wild western lowland gorillas. Despite gorillas being the largest ape/primate species, it is hard to spot un-habituated gorillas in the forest because they are obviously terrified of humans and naturally will flee or destructively charge if people get too near/close to them.  Gorillas that are toured by people have endured ‘habituation’. This refers to the process, where through daily peaceful contact with humans, gorillas have slowly lost their strong fear of humans and have learned to spot them as impartial beings in their natural location.

​Visiting the habituated gorillas in Loango National Park is an exclusive venture. Trekkers are welcomed in Loango with a maximum of 4 people per day, 4 days per week.

​The best time to tour these gentle giants(gorillas) in Loango is January – May, when they do not transfer very much per day. During the peak season (June – August), the gorillas transfer a lot, lobbying between fruiting trees and the swamps, making it the trickiest time to tour them. The gorillas move through the forest in an erratic way so we cannot know in advance exactly where we will search and trek them. Therefore, it may take a lot hours of hiking before you sight /spot the gorillas. Hiking in the forest is likely to involve walking through mud, small streams, and swamps so to suppose to get wet and muddy. It is necessary to be physically fit to tour the gorillas.