In the top national parks in Gabon, it’s possible to catch sight of everything from forest elephant to lowland gorillas. Yet there’ll be few other travellers to take in these spectacles or the other top things to do in Gabon. This is partly due to cost. It’s also partly geography,… Continue reading
Gabon is a wildlife lover’s paradise – but not how you might think. Located in Africa’s central belt on the Atlantic Ocean, it’s not vast plains that make it a haven for species. Instead, it’s Gabon’s forests, which are home to gorillas, elephants, and chimpanzees. The country also has a… Continue reading
While you can now go on safari in India and South America, safaris began in Africa. The word itself comes from Kiswahili, spoken widely on the eastern side of the continent. Initially meaning a journey, it now specifically refers to wildlife encounters. The word’s Kiswahili origins also hint at the… Continue reading
Ever since Sir David Attenborough famously sat with gorillas in the late 1970s for the BBC, gorilla trekking has topped bucket lists. At the time it was unheard of and a pretty DIY affair. The good news is that seeing wild mountain and lowland gorillas has never been easier. Here… Continue reading
Think of Africa’s top national parks and thoughts of great swaths of savannah grassland prowled by lion probably come to mind. This iconic – perhaps stereotypical – scene does exist, and really is a bucket list experience. But there are more to Africa’s top national parks that wallowing hippos and… Continue reading
Every year the magazine National Geographic Traveller (UK) launches a travel writing competition. Entrants were asked to submit a 300-word entry on their most inspirational travel experience. Last October I entered. Yesterday I discovered I was a runner-up, with my submission published on page 161 of the May/June edition. You… Continue reading
The first time I crossed the equator into the southern hemisphere in Africa (in 2009) I was heading to hospital. It was a four hour journey along Gabon’s Ogooué River on a speedboat with eight roaring outboard motors, about fifty other passengers, and small cockroaches wandering about the lifejacket beneath… Continue reading
From my recent blogs you might think a horrible death is part and parcel of exploration. Not so. On occasion serious injury or circumcision will suffice, and sometimes just sometimes, you can get away with falling down an elephant pit containing 12 inch long spikes to be saved only by… Continue reading
It feels like I should stay longer in Brazzaville. It calls to me – the European feel of the city. There is really nothing more to keep me. The only reason I can think of for not going to Kinshasa immediately is that it involves going to Kinshasa. Brazzaville’s port… Continue reading
The road to Congo is more like a country track, a little wider than a single lane, and composed of earth. At one of several Gabonese checkpoints a woman says to me: “And now you have to pay to cross the frontier”. “How much is it?” I ask, I’m not… Continue reading
