Zakouma National Park

Zakouma protects three thousand square kilometres of Sudanian savannah and is the one thing in Chad that can simply be booked. Poaching had almost finished the elephants before African Parks took the concession over, and the herds have since recovered to something worth flying in for. Buffalo move here in the thousands, Kordofan giraffe survive in one of their last strongholds, and the pans draw quelea flocks dense enough to darken the light. The park shuts entirely through the wet months and reopens once the roads have been graded again. A charter from the capital takes about ninety minutes.