Gabon is one of Africa's great conservation success stories and one of its most undervisited wildlife destinations. Roughly 88% of the country is covered in equatorial rainforest, and a network of 13 national parks — created in a single presidential decree in 2002 — protects around 11% of the national territory. The result is a country with extraordinary biodiversity and, because oil revenues have historically reduced dependence on wildlife exploitation, populations of forest elephants, gorillas, and hippos that are among the healthiest in Africa.
Lope National Park, accessible by the scenic Transgabonais railway from Libreville, is the most visited of Gabon's parks and the easiest introduction to the country's forest wildlife. A mosaic of savanna and gallery forest holds the largest population of mandrills in the world — social primates whose scarlet and cobalt facial colouring is one of nature's most vivid. Forest elephants leave the trees to drink and forage in the savanna clearings at dawn and dusk.
Loango National Park on the Atlantic coast is Gabon's most spectacular park and one of Africa's most extraordinary wildlife destinations. The park combines a beach landscape of sweeping Atlantic surf, coastal lagoons, forest-edge savanna, and open ocean. Humpback whales breach offshore. Hippos enter the ocean surf — one of the most unusual wildlife spectacles in Africa. Gorillas and forest elephants walk the beach at low tide. The combination of marine and forest wildlife in a single landscape is unique in Africa.
The Ivindo National Park protects Gabon's wild interior, including the Kongou Falls — a series of powerful cascades on the Ivindo River — and forests that hold chimpanzee populations of significant scientific interest.
Libreville, the capital, is a relaxed coastal city with good French-influenced restaurants, a lively beach scene at Cap Esterias north of the city, and a friendly atmosphere.
Gabonese cuisine features grilled fish, plantain, cassava, and nyembwe — a rich palm nut stew that is considered the national dish. The best time to visit is from June to September, during the dry season, when forest trails and park access are most reliable.
