Lopé National Park
Gabon · Ogooué-Ivindo · 210 m
Description
Lopé is the one Gabonese park you can reach by train, and the overnight service from Libreville sets you down at a platform beside the Ogooué river. The park protects a mosaic of rainforest and open grassland left over from the last ice age, so herds of forest buffalo graze in the open where elephants and mandrills step out of the trees. Troops of mandrills here run to several hundred animals, the largest primate groups on earth. More than sixteen hundred rock engravings line the river valley, and UNESCO listed the park in 2007 for that record of human settlement as much as for the wildlife.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 2 to 5 days (optimal 3 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: June – September
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Mandrill tracking in the forest-savanna mosaic
- Forest elephants and buffalo on the grasslands
- Rock engravings of the Ogooué valley
- Overnight train from Libreville to La Lopé
- Mount Brazza viewpoint over the savanna
- Boat trips on the Ogooué river
- Habituated chimpanzee and gorilla research sites
- Birdwatching along the forest edge
- Village of La Lopé and the old railway hotel
- Night drives for genets and civets
- Ogooué river crossing by ferry
- Forest walks with Baka and Mitsogo guides
- Sun-oiled savanna at first light
- Red river hogs and sitatunga at the salt licks
- Camping at the park's bush camps
Getting there
- Train stations:
- La Lopé