Housed in the seemingly endless Congo Basin is a tropical rainforest so expansive that it is seen as the earth’s second lung after the Amazon. Within the heart of this deep, dark and dense natural paradise, travellers will find the nearly 1,350,000ha Odzala-Kokoua National Park. This is a place of stunning biological diversity and is home to the mighty western lowland gorilla. 

The numerous habitats of Odzala – dense forest, wide open savannahs, winding rivers and forest bais – are teeming with diverse wildlife: an astonishing 400 bird species and 114 mammal species. The best place to view wildlife though is the forest bais – swampy areas which contain a rich concoction of minerals and salt, as well as water and sweet grass. The park’s main draw is undeniably its two habituated troops of gorilla that visitors can track and get close to. 

Odzala is located in the northwestern part of the Republic of Congo and can be reached by taking a plane from the Maya Maya Airport in Brazzaville. There are only two camps in the area: the Ngaga Camp which is the base from which the western lowland gorilla is tracked, and the Lango Camp which is situated on the edge of a bai.

Odzala Kokoua National Park Highlights

  • This national park is found in the heart of the second-largest tropical rainforest in the world 
  • It is home to the western lowland gorilla, which can be tracked from one of three camps (Ngaga) in the area
  • A place of stunning biological diversity with 400 bird species and 114 mammal species, as well as over 4,400 varieties of plants
  • Home to rare rainforest game like the pangolin, sitatunga, bongo and forest elephant
  • A pristine wilderness seen through the eyes of the great explorers, Livingstone and Jacques de Brazza
  • Easy to access by plane from Maya Maya Airport in Brazzaville