Odzala, great gorilla experience and adventure safari in Congo!

[pault]

@@africawild Yes you're right. 280 may not be enough if there is a choice . I can see why you did what you did. Thanks - that gives a really clear idea of distance.

 

 

Edit: Very similar to the female chimpanzees in the less habituated group we followed in Kibale, Uganda by the way. It's not the same I am sure but if you ever go you can definitely use this experience as a starting point.

Edited November 3, 2016 by pault

[africawild]

Time to continue with the report !!

 

 

ODZALA NATIONAL PARK

 

Part one: Mboko Camp

 

After our magnificent 4 day gorilla adventure in Ngaga it was time to move into Odzala National park. Our first stop inside the park was Mboko Camp located right in the middle of a big open savanna grassland full off huge terminate mounds and rounded by patches of rainforest. It has 12 tents situated along a stream of crystal clear water that tributes to the near Lekoli river.

 

The communal area has a fantastic 360 open view of the savanna around and it was great to seat for lunch or breakfast with the open view and , sometimes, even with the visit of forest elephants and buffalos.

 

Again , the service and the food were great and the people running the camp very attentive making always sure that our stay was perfect.

 

View from and around camp

 

 

 

 

Colony of Vieillot´s Black Weaver besides the kitchen

 

 

 

Female with mantis and male with caterpillar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But of course , the best part of Mboko are activities and there are plenty of them . Walking in near rain forest , game drives and boat trips , kayaking in the Lekoli river or sitting in a nice river deck to do some birding or just relax.

From all of them, my favorite was the boat along the Lekoli river , it was the more rewarding regarding wildlife viewing. But we did enjoyed all of them .

 

Lekoli river

 

 

 

Buffalos were the most common mammals both during the boat safaris and the game drives.

 

 

 

 

They are nice looking buffalos with their reddish color and their long hair in the ears !!

 

 

 

 

And some of them very relaxed whenever we approached them with the boat!

 

 

 

We also saw a few elephants from the boat but they were not so relax!

 

This one was the first we encounter from the boat and we soon had to turn around because he really seemed very nervous!

 

 

However i found incredibly rewarding to be able to admire this creatures in such a magnificent environment.

 

 

We saw this male in the distance but he also saw us and it took him 16 seconds to start running and disappear in the forest

 

 

 

 

 

Birding from the boat along the river was also very nice with several completely new species for us like the white-throwted blue Swallow,Hartlaub´s Duck or the Palm-nut Vulture and many already knows like African fish Eagle, Pied, Malachite and Giant Kingfishers , bee-eaters , herons , egrets and others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking in the rainforest was more about the small things again but we had the chance to see some different monkeys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even water level were very low we enjoyed the river boat so much that we took tree of them.Here is our guide that had to step out of the boat several times to push it.

 

 

 

Whenever there was elephant far away from the river we "parked" the boat and approach them walking to have better views.

 

 

We did also saw a couple of bushbuck from the boat

 

 

And of course more buffalos

 

 

 

 

One night i was escorted by the guide and ranger because i wanted to try to take a night shot with the termite mounds and we were told that many buffalos and hyenas visit the camp at night.

 

 

 

In short, our three nights in Mboko were great, with always a friendly atmosphere around camp and very nice activities, specially around the Lekoli river.

Great sunrises and sunsets!!

Plenty beautiful buffalos!!

And the always special forest elephant encounters !!

Next will be Lango.

Paco

[Africalover]

@@africawild - wow what a great trip. Pics are fantastic. Looking forward to Lango.

Thanks for sharing.

[Atravelynn]

"completely new and different destination" I'll say!

 

Your penchant for night skies continues. Real works of art. Like those skies, your gorilla experience and photos are out of this world! I'm glad the gorilla with the facial infection (or whatever it is) is improving. The buffalo and eles and all those insects you photograph so well round out the magnificence of this adventure.

 

You mention your driver. Was this a fully guided trip?

Edited November 21, 2016 by Atravelynn

[africawild]

"completely new and different destination" I'll say!

 

Your penchant for night skies continues. Real works of art. Like those skies, your gorilla experience and photos are out of this world! I'm glad the gorilla with the facial infection (or whatever it is) is improving. The buffalo and eles and all those insects you photograph so well round out the magnificence of this adventure.

 

You mention your driver. Was this a fully guided trip?

 

Thank you Lynn.

 

Yes it was fully guided by different guides:

 

A member of Congo Conservation Company ( Odzala Discovery Camps) picked up at the airport when we arrived and he took us to a Brazza citty tour next day.

Then the long drive from Brazza to Ngaga Camp we did it with the vehicle and driver that takes supplyes to the camps and the same in the way back.

We then had camp guides in all 3 camps we visited.

 

Paco

[Anomalure]

@@africawild

 

Really great report! The river scenes in particular are so beautiful...

 

Do you know how often Bongo and Red River Hog are seen in Odzala?

[xelas]

Enjoying your TR and photos very much, @@africawild ! Specially the ample diversity of your photos, from landscapes to street (OK, village) photography, portraits and macro. Really interesting to see so many so different type of photography in one trip report.

Paco, do tell me how the 200-500 coped with humidity? I know about its overall qualities but nor Sri Lanka and even less Kruger were damp enough to test its weather sealing capabilities. And please say nothing about D500, I am still kicking myself not buying it (although D7200 in capable hands of Zvezda does its job just well) .

[africawild]

@@africawild

 

Really great report! The river scenes in particular are so beautiful...

 

Do you know how often Bongo and Red River Hog are seen in Odzala?

 

Thank you Anomalure.

 

I am afraid they don´t see Bongo very often, They do come to Lando bai every once in a while but you need to be very lucky to see them.

 

Red river Hog are more frecuently seen but is not easy eather . We did see a very big group of them crossing the river but it was far away and very fast.

 

Paco

[africawild]

Th

 

Enjoying your TR and photos very much, @@africawild ! Specially the ample diversity of your photos, from landscapes to street (OK, village) photography, portraits and macro. Really interesting to see so many so different type of photography in one trip report.

Paco, do tell me how the 200-500 coped with humidity? I know about its overall qualities but nor Sri Lanka and even less Kruger were damp enough to test its weather sealing capabilities. And please say nothing about D500, I am still kicking myself not buying it (although D7200 in capable hands of Zvezda does its job just well) .

 

Thank you Xelas.

 

I am afraid i can´t tell you anything about the 200-500 and humidity, we did not have a single drop of rain during our stay in Odzala so weather conditions were really dry !!

 

The D500 decisions was easy for me , my " old" D300 needed a replacement !

 

Paco

Edited November 23, 2016 by africawild

[africawild]

ODZALA NATIONAL PARK

Part two: Lango Camp

The transfer from Mboko Camp to Lango is an incredible adventure in itself !!

The day started with the usual nice sunrise and some birding in the termite mounds around camp

Then after breakfast , we jumped in the vehicle for a short drive to the boat station.This drive can involve a few stops depending what you encounter in the way.

A not very cooperative forest elephant and a forest buffalo with friends

Then when you arrive at the boat station you will take a kayak and start to paddle the beautiful Lekoli river toward the Lango stream

The kayak is very peaceful and very nice.We had the chance to see some buffalo, some skittish monkeys and a few birds.

At one point , when you arrive to a small stream you have to turn to get into this small river. For us it was going to be different because , when we were about to turn into the stream , the guide saw and elephant very close so we had to back up and jump off the kayaks in the Lekoli river. The water level was at mid chest when we jumped , which was right at the riverbank . And then we had to crawl to the shore and wait there until the elephant decided to go away.

(This was a moment of technical disaster for me, i was carrying my Drsl with the tele in a waterproof bag and a compact camera in my pocket. With the excitement of the elephant and jumping of the kayak i forgot about the compact camera and , when i realize the water was close to my neck it came right to me, but it was too late , broken camera)

We spent a few minutes watching the 2 elephants bubbling in the water looking for minerals , it was very nice !

The scene was unmatched when two fish eagles sat on a nearby tree

After a few minutes observing the 2 relaxed elephants they started to move away

What a perfect way to start our walk to Lango camp.

Is not a very long distance walk but it can last a couple hours depending what you find in the way. Normally the guides try to walk always in the water, is easier, but sometimes you have to go out of the stream and then the walk may become hard ,usually in very muddy terrain .

We started to walk up the stream, right where the 2 elephant were , but soon we bumped into a few buffalos.

The ranger said we were a bit too close and he decided to get out of the stream towards the other side The mud was terrible so we waited to see where the buffalos wanted to go. At that moment a small antelope appeared in front of the buffalos and it happen to be a female Sitatunga , a first for us.

The scene was fantastic. There we were, in the middle of the Congo, with a herd of forest buffalos on one side and a western sitatunga on the other, a palmed-nut vulture taking off from a nearby tree and a bunch of green pigeons flying over our heads!!

When i was taking pictures of the pigeons I saw something out of the corner of my eye, i turned around and told everybody to look , there were Red-river Hogs crossing the river !! Sadly it was too fast so we could not enjoyed too much the sight but it was exciting anyway!!

Then I thought " if there is paradise somewhere it sure should look like this"

To put the icing on the cake , at that very moment a male of sitatunga crossed right in front of us, a bit far sadly!

Then we had a moment of uncertain tension when the small herd of buffalos began to walk on one side and a young one who was delayed wanted to pass the other.

For a moment we were in the middle of the young buffalo and his herd and he began to get a little nervous. The ranger joined us all and we stood motionless until he decided to run across the other side !!

We continued our walk in the bai and got into a small forest where we stopped to rest and also to pick up a few limes !! The guide had to look first because she said elephants love them.There were no elephants but a lot of elephant dung so it must be true!

After our fruit picking we continued walking along the small stream of the bai and soon we started to see the camp.Just before we arrived , we surprised this bushbuck that quickly ran and jumped as he walked away from us.

When we arrived at the platform that Lango Camp has along the stream ,the staff was waiting with a delicious lime water (quick explanation of the fruit picking!! )

While we were there washing the mud of our boots in the crystal clear water of a stream in the middle of the Congo Basin I thought, "this had been the hardest but also most incredible and thrilling transfer between camps we had in our lives"

That same day, when it was already dark night , a herd of forest elephants arrived to the bai in front of camp. Although we could not see them, only by the sounds of the animals in the water in complete darkness i understood that we had reached one of the most remote and untouched corners in Africa, what a brilliant sensation !!

To be continued...

Paco

[jeremie]

Brilliant! This is pure wild experience!

 

I actually have two questions:

1- is there any hippo around the Lekoli river?

2- Which is the main predator of forest buffaloes. I know lions used to live in the savannah of Odazala, hyena might kill them too. but what about pure forest habitats?

[africawild]

Brilliant! This is pure wild experience!

 

I actually have two questions:

1- is there any hippo around the Lekoli river?

2- Which is the main predator of forest buffaloes. I know lions used to live in the savannah of Odazala, hyena might kill them too. but what about pure forest habitats?

 

 

Thank you Jeremie, yes the feeling was very wild in Lango, really wild!!

 

 

1-There are hippos in the Lekoli river but they know only because of tracks , they said they don´t get to see them because they are very secretive.

I also asked my guide about Slender-snouted and Dwarf crocodiles because i would have love to see them but she said she has only seen them 4 times in 2 years, very difficult also.

 

2- Apex predator in Odzala are hyenas, there are lots of them and we where told they are very strong and aggressive. I am sure they are the main predators of forest buffalos.

In the south area of the park,the area we visited , the landscape is more open and this is the area where forest buffalos and hyenas abound.

There are also leopards in Odzala, i suppose they might prey on buffalo calves too ??

 

 

Paco

Edited November 24, 2016 by africawild

[pault]

@@africawild Just so, so wonderful. What a moment stuck between the buffalos and the situanga with the birds overhead and those massive trees all around. really, I am axcited just reading about it. Some great photos here too. The buffalos and bushbucks are so beautiful there.

[xelas]

What an adventure, Paco! A used Sony is an affordable price to be paid for a once-in-a-lifetime experience! But I am sorry there will be no more fantastic sunrise and sunset shots which this little gem can produce.

[optig]

@Paco This is one place that I'll have to go on safari preferably in combination with Sanga Camp. It's simply just outstanding. I only wonder just how well that they would combine in regard to logistics.

[africawild]

@@africawild Just so, so wonderful. What a moment stuck between the buffalos and the situanga with the birds overhead and those massive trees all around. really, I am axcited just reading about it. Some great photos here too. The buffalos and bushbucks are so beautiful there.

 

Pault , it was a morning that will be in our minds forever. First the kayak, then the elephants,then we walked for about 2 hours across rivers, streams and mud , with buffalos around most of the time just to arrive to a magnificent and remote camp located in a bai in the middle of the rainforest , simply fantastic!!

 

Paco

[africawild]

What an adventure, Paco! A used Sony is an affordable price to be paid for a once-in-a-lifetime experience! But I am sorry there will be no more fantastic sunrise and sunset shots which this little gem can produce.

 

Xelas , i have to say that i missed the compact a few times in the 2 days we had left ??? But as you say it was a cheap price to pay for such an experience , the incident did not take a minute of joy away from me !!

 

Paco

[africawild]

@Paco This is one place that I'll have to go on safari preferably in combination with Sanga Camp. It's simply just outstanding. I only wonder just how well that they would combine in regard to logistics.

 

Optig , i will say that the combination of Odzala and Dzanga-shanga could be doable , but it would involve very good preparation.

In our drive to Odzala we detour the tar road north of Brazzaville at Makoua . From there it is a 3 hour drive to the city of Ouesso in the north,then to the village of Bomassa.(From Makou to Odzala was 5 hours, that means you could go from Odzala to Bomassa in one day)

 

From Bomassa you could either go to Nouabale-ndoki National Park where you could have a chance to see wild gorillas at Mbeli Bay in the open !!! ( they also have 2 habituated gorilla families you can visit) and also from Bomassa you can take a boat for about 6 hours that would take you to Dzanga-Shanga.

 

Of course this is much easier said than done , but from what i have heard is doable. It looks like you would need some good contact with you in the boat because officials get very picky to say the least at 2 border points in the Shanga river

 

Of course,that would be quite an adventure in itself!!

 

Paco

Edited November 25, 2016 by africawild

[Atravelynn]

Paradise with lots of excitement to go along with it. The bushbuck may have surprised you, but you managed some fine shots of it bounding across. Excellent sitatunga sightings too! The big cameras survived the river!

 

You are serving as an excellent ambassador for Republic of Congo!

Edited November 25, 2016 by Atravelynn

[africawild]

Yes Lynn , the big camera and big lens survived the river and now, fortunately, we also have graphic memories of that incredible day!

They really do need more tourist in Odzala to help continue the great job they are doing in the area with the people and the wildlife.

I would recomend anyone that wants to go see gorillas and want to have a wild experience in a very remote and amazing place. Go to the Republic of Congo !!

Paco

Edited November 25, 2016 by africawild

[africawild]

A couple of more posts to finish!

 

Lango is a camp in an incredible setting, built on the side of the Bai but with direct views to the most open part of it. With only six tents it has an intimate atmosphere, although during our two nights we were the only guests of the camp.

 

 

Comunal area with incredible views, a perfect place to relax and let yourself be absorbed by the wild charm of this magical place.

 

 

 

 

The tents are hidden under a roof of greenery, all looking at BAI.

 

 

 

 

View from our tent at sunrise

 

 

 

 

The guides scanning the Bai in search of something interesting

 

 

Our guide ready for the morning walk

 

 

 

 

Here are a few examples of things we came across during our various walks.

 

Buffalos were the most abundant animals,we walked with this one right at the Bai in front of camp.

 

 

 

 

 

We also had several encounters with monkeys , Guezera Colubus were the most common ones.Some of them even hanged around camp every day

 

 

 

 

These are Crowned Monkeys

 

 

 

 

 

And these other naughty faces are Grey-cheeked Mangabeys

 

 

 

 

 

 

Putty-nosed Monkeys are very abundant, but they mostly ran every time we saw them.

 

 

 

 

We also saw Agile Mangabey, Mustached and De Brazza´s Monkeys but very briefly up in the canopy , so no photo of these . The abundance of primates in this place is incredible.

 

 

One of the highlights in Lango is the chance to observe every sunset how Green Pigeons come to the salty mud pans in front of camp in their thousands. We sat one afternoon and waited for them to come , the noise from the flock was overwhelming!!

 

The show begins when the flocks t settle ion top of the adjacent trees

 

 

 

 

Then they started to come down.

 

 

 

 

 

In the mornings, however, it is the Gray Parrots that go down to drink at the Bai and, although we tried to approach them, that morning they did not go down. However it was fantastic to be able to see the flocks in the trees and flying over our heads

 

 

 

 

 

Some Blaked-casqued Hornbills flying while we were watching the parrots.

 

 

 

 

 

The walkings were more about the small things ,like at Mboko camp , but here they were a real adventure,we had to walked in muddy areas, in shallow waters , in deep waters that covered us up to the waist. We also walked in savannah areas and in rainforest.

 

Most of the walking is done in shallow waters

 

 

 

 

In rainforest we concentrated mainly in monkeys, plants and insects.

 

 

 

 

Jumanji

 

 

 

 

It was amazing to observe how termites make their alarm call. When they are on the surface and feel that something is approaching, they all begin to hit their heads against the leaves and thus warn of danger !

 

 

 

 

These ones did not do it very well,a raid of African Ants massacred them

 

 

 

 

We surprised this old hyena as we walked a path along the savannah

 

 

 

 

Buffalo taking a nice mud bath

 

 

 

 

 

Our stay in Lango was unforgettable and , although I expected some more animals to visit the Bai, our two days in such a remote and unspoiled place were a unique and highly recommended experience.

 

 

Blue-breasted Bee-eater

 

 

 

 

 

In the next post a few more photos of our return by car, back to Brazzaville will serve to finish the report.

 

Paco

[jeremie]

Fantastic! I did not think it was so was to spot hyenas!

You got marvelous pics of the fantastic area of Africa.

[Atravelynn]

Those green pigeons and gray parrots--oh my! Very nice on the Black-casqued Hornbills overhead!

 

Lots more than gorillas!

[africawild]

Fantastic! I did not think it was so was to spot hyenas!

You got marvelous pics of the fantastic area of Africa.

 

Thank you Jeremie.

 

In Odzala there are plenty Hyenas and they are very often seen , specially at Mboko camp where they visit almost daily at night!

 

Paco

[pault]

Outstanding again. This is a really lovely looking location.

 

Ireally llike the shot of the guide and I love the psychedelic cricket-y thing.