![\"Press](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_218696291-752f.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe Republic of Congo, not to be confused with neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, is home to some of the most diverse wildlife in the world (Picture: Scott Ramsay)<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\tThe Republic of Congo, not to be confused with neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, is home to some of the most diverse wildlife in the world (Picture: Scott Ramsay)<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve heard of the beard of bees<\/a> \u2014 well, I\u2019m wearing a full balaclava of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n They\u2019re enveloping me so thickly I look like a sideshow apiarist.\u00a0I swipe my palms across my face and they collect between my fingers in drifts, as if I were scraping baked beans from toast with my bare hands.<\/p>\n \u2018They\u2019re sweat bees. They won\u2019t sting,\u2019 says our local tracker, Gabin, as he uses his blade to hack through the dense vegetation that utterly engulfs us.<\/p>\n \u2018They\u2019re attracted to perspiration.\u2019<\/p>\n They\u2019re in luck. In the 100% humidity of the Congo rainforest, in the remotest part of one of the least populated countries in Africa, my companions and I are the only life for salt-greedy sweat bees to hone in on.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t\t\tSign up to The Getaway newsletter\t\t\t<\/p>\n Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The open forest canopy allows the morning sun to paint the jungle in hues of lime and emerald, and vivid-green marantaceae leaves sprout from between our arms and legs. There is no trail in sight.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leon, our German-born guide, pulls out his machete to assist Gabin as we wade deeper into the undergrowth.<\/p>\n \u2018We call this \u201csalad surfing,\u201d\u2018 he quips over his shoulder, as the grasping maw of the jungle takes the opportunity to ingurgitate him.<\/p>\n A place of mystique<\/p>\n The Congo holds a particular mystique in the collective consciousness, seeming to exist on the dark borders of imagination. <\/p>\n In reality, it can be found on West Africa\u2019s equator, easily reached on a flight via Paris<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Republic of the Congo is\u00a0a precious land,\u00a0home to the heart of the world\u2019s second-largest rainforest, the Congo Basin \u2014 the biggest absorber of carbon dioxide on the planet. <\/p>\n Here you\u2019ll find incredible biodiversity, 100 mammal species,\u00a0including the nocturnal, striped bongo antelope,\u00a0and a population of critically endangered western lowland gorillas.<\/p>\n Not to be confused with the neighbouring\u00a0Democratic\u00a0Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo is a safe, stable country, and a thrilling, scarcely visited destination for wildlife lovers willing to get well off the beaten track.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t\t\tHow safe is the Republic of Congo?\t\t\t<\/p>\n The Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are distinct nations, despite their similar names. The Republic of the Congo is about seven times smaller than the DRC, and their capitals, Brazzaville and Kinshasa, sit across from each other on the Congo River.<\/p>\n In terms of safety, the Republic of the Congo is generally stable, though petty crime and occasional armed robbery can occur. <\/p>\n Travellers should exercise caution, especially at night. In contrast, the DRC is far more dangerous due to armed conflict, violent crime, and civil unrest, with many governments advising against travel there.<\/p>\n Read the latest FCDO travel advice here<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018Safaris in Congo are unique,\u2019 says the region\u2019s first Congolese guide, Glance Eloye, over breakfast at Ngaga Lodge. <\/p>\n \u2018Elsewhere, guides find the wildlife, they radio their colleagues, and they all drive their guests to them in vehicles.\u2019<\/p>\n You certainly wouldn\u2019t expect that here. <\/p>\n A different experience<\/p>\n The thatched roofs of Ngaga Lodge thrust into the canopy of Ndzehi Forest on the western boundary of the Unesco-listed Odzala-Kokoua National Park<\/a>, which covers around 5,200 square miles (13,500 km2). <\/p>\n I can see no driving trails from Ngaga\u2019s elevated viewing deck\u00a0\u2014 I can only see trees and the putty-nosed monkeys that scale them.\u00a0Although it\u2019s one of the oldest parks in Africa, dating back to 1935, Odzala has only been accessible to tourism since 2012.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018Here it\u2019s a tracking experience,\u2019 says Glance. \u2018You hike into the forest, following prints, scents and signs.\u00a0You learn from them and follow them.\u00a0You involve yourself.\u00a0You put in some effort to see what you want to see, and that\u2019s the magic of it.\u2019<\/p>\n Kamba African Rainforest Experiences<\/a> owns and operates three lodges, and it\u2019s the only company with permission to operate within Odzala-Kokoua National Park. <\/p>\n Along with hosting guests in its six treetop bungalows, Ngaga Lodge is the base of operations for Dr. Magdalena (Magda) Bermejo and her research team.<\/p>\n Magda is the world authority on western lowland gorillas.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t What Jane Goodall has done for chimpanzees, Magda has done for the western lowland gorilla.\u00a0Since 1991, she\u2019s lived alongside them in the Congo for extended periods and \u2014 along with her partner \u2014 she was the first person to ever habituate a group to human presence.<\/p>\n In the time she has been living and working at Ngaga, Magda has habituated three groups of gorillas, each of which took between 18 months to five years \u2014 she is currently working on a fourth group.<\/p>\n The purpose is to try to understand the complex social behaviour of the gorillas, and to learn about how changes to their environment and the climate <\/a>is affecting them.<\/p>\n \u2018They help us take the pulse of the ecosystem,\u2019 says Magda, who has spent years painstakingly observing and documenting their every action.<\/p>\n Problems in a changing ecosystem<\/p>\n Over the past couple of years though, Magda\u2019s team has installed more than 50 cameras in the forest, capturing more than 60,000 hours of high-definition video footage. <\/p>\n With so much data to be processed, her team has initiated a groundbreaking method of using AI to identify and analyse the gorillas\u2019 behaviour, identifying 250 different interactions, actions and expressions.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018The database alerts us to changes and stressors in their environment very quickly,\u2019 says Magda. <\/p>\n It\u2019s data that can be applied to hundreds of other species to help identify problems at the base of the ecosystem.<\/p>\n Much of this research is supported by sustainable tourism. <\/p>\n Kamba was founded to support primatology research and conservation, and it is actively training local people to become the next generation of guides, like Glance. <\/p>\n \t\t Ngaga Lodge was designed to have the least possible impact on the environment, and limits guests to 12 people.<\/p>\n The gorilla groups aren\u2019t so closely monitored that researchers know their exact whereabouts at all times, so guests willing to put in the effort are rewarded with intimate encounters shared by few others on Earth. <\/p>\n Each gorilla trek is capped at just four people, one guide and, essentially, a tracker.<\/p>\n A dying art<\/p>\n \u2018Tracking is a dying art,\u2019 says Magda. \u2018Most of our trackers come from Kell\u00e9, south of Odzala-Kokoua, because, culturally, they don\u2019t believe in snaring animals. <\/p>\n Snared animals suffer and struggle, and they can taste that in the meat. Instead they track, which makes them fantastic wildlife guides.\u2019<\/p>\n Gabin is clearly picking up on signals to which the rest of us are oblivious. <\/p>\n Sporadically, as we hike through undergrowth and wade through sweat bees, he stops, he listens, sniffs the air. <\/p>\n He examines superficially identical leaves, and then takes seemingly arbitrary turns on unseen trails that head straight into tangles of foliage.<\/p>\n After around an hour, Gabin stops and signals for us to ape his actions and put on our face masks.\u00a0It\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve done so since the end of the Covid pandemic, and my companions and I shoot furtive looks at each other over our masks.\u00a0This means they\u2019re close.<\/p>\n \t\t My medical screenings have been rigorous ahead of meeting the Congo\u2019s gorillas. I had to have my doctor check me for tuberculosis and, when my GP couldn\u2019t find a record of my childhood measles vaccine, I had to have a fresh MMR jab as an adult.<\/p>\n \u2018Gorillas are very susceptible to the same viruses as us, including respiratory problems,\u2019 says Magda, who was here to see Ebola decimate the gorilla population 15 years ago.<\/p>\n Eventually I hear it: the distant rumbling of waxy marantaceae leaves, on the peripheries of vision, they move like shadows between trees. <\/p>\n \t\t They\u2019re encircling us: assembling to investigate the outsiders. <\/p>\n Shining eyes glimmer from between leaves. I hear a twig snap\u00a0behind me\u00a0and turn to see a procession of apes emerging from the forest, headed straight towards us. They stop and part to allow Jupiter, the oldest silverback to pass between them.<\/p>\n Gabin instructs us to edge backwards\u00a0away from him\u00a0to maintain a safe distance and, as we do so, Jupiter sits and scrutinises us with a look that transcends millions of years of evolution. Just as the scientists are studying them, they are examining us.<\/p>\n \t\t Seemingly satisfied, the atmosphere changes.\u00a0The sentinel gorillas relax and start to examine their nails.\u00a0Young gorillas tumble around, and mischievously bend saplings to the ground, allowing them to whip upright and rain fruit and foliage down on their friends\u2019 heads.<\/p>\n Europa appears from the forest with her baby held to her breast, leans against a tree and watches the revelry while nursing her child. After a few minutes, she reaches up, grips a vine and, with her baby still feeding, effortlessly pulls them both into the treetops.<\/p>\n As we let out a collective sigh, Gabin turns to ensure each of our masks remains in place.<\/p>\n Sharing, as we do, a common ancestry, we must be careful not to share our germs with the gorillas\u2026 but I\u2019m happy to be sharing a few sweat bees with them.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tWant to go gorilla tracking in the Congo?\t\t\t<\/p>\n Rainbow Tours<\/a> (0203 930 2552) offers an eight-night Odzala Discovery itinerary with Kamba African Rainforest Experiences<\/a>, starting from \u00a314,155 per person. <\/p>\n The price includes international and domestic flights, transfers, a boat cruise, kayak safari, guided bai walks, bespoke forest and bai adventures, all meals and alcohol, a city tour of Brazzaville, airport assistance, all conservation and park fees, a letter of invitation for visas to The Republic of the Congo, and two gorilla tracking permits. <\/p>\n Accommodation includes three nights\u2019 in Ngaga Lodge, two nights in Lango Lodge, two nights in Mboko Lodge, and one night at Radisson Blue Brazzaville.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1151029312.jpg\")
\n\t\tOdzala-Kokoua lies in northern Congo (Picture: Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/p>\n![\"Map](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_238928363-431a.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe Republic of Congo is safe, stable and full of wildlife (Picture: Metro)<\/p>\n![\"Press](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_218696085-afdf.jpg\")
\n\t\tThere are no driving trails here; forest paths are only accessible on foot (Picture: Hammer Design \/ Andrew Howard)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Kamba_gorilla_babies-d343.jpeg\")
\n\t\tMagda Bermejo and her team are the first to habituate families of Western lowland gorillas to humans (Picture: Supplied)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Kamba_scott_ramsey155-3cca.jpg\")
\n\t\tDedicated to sustainable tourism, Ngaga Lodge was designed to have the least possible impact on the environment (Picture: Scott Ramsay)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Kamba_scott_ramsey040-0487-e1745242682424.jpg\")
\n\t\tAnimal trackers make fantastic wild-life safari guides (Picture: Scott Ramsay)<\/p>\n![\"Press](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_218696080-e6d0.jpg\")
\n\t\tSafaris here are intimate, conducted in groups of up to four participants (Picture: Hammer Design\/Andrew Howard)<\/p>\n![\"Press](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_218696035-605c.jpg\")
\n\t\tA gorilla checks his nails (Picture: Ngaga Lodge)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Kamba_scott_ramsey141-5e22.jpg\")
\n\t\tJust as we study them, the Gorillas examine us (Picture: Scott Ramsay)<\/p>\n
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