Gabon tour
Highlights
Libreville | Mitshogo village | Lambarene | Schweitzer Hospital | Oguemoue LakeDescription of Gabon tour
This short Gabon tour is all about nature and wildlife. Often called ‘Africa’s last Eden’, Gabon has some of the most impressive wilderness areas in Africa, with a large proportion of its land designated as national parks. Along with a small group of likeminded travellers, you’ll go deep into the country’s rainforests, wetlands and savannah, made famous by conservationist and explorer Mike Fay’s adventurous trek through the region.After time to acclimatise and explore Libreville, you’ll head into Gabon’s forested interior, where you’ll learn about the unique and mysterious Bwiti religion, and have the privilege of viewing a local ceremony.
Next, you’ll head for Lambarene, a town with a strong colonial heritage, before journeying down the Ogooué River to reach Lake Oguemoue, which is surrounded by rainforest. Accommodation is in a simple tented camp, which is part of a community based tourism project. Here you’ll have three full days to discover the riches of the surrounding jungle and waterways go in search of wildlife and meet the local villagers.
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.comResponsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.

In conjunction with our local team we work with hotels and guesthouses to implement best practices when it comes to environmental matters. This includes basic things like not replacing towels each day, as well as saving electricity and turning lights off.
Our travellers are specifically briefed on not to buy souvenirs made from endangered species – people in remote parts of Central Africa do not always have the same respect towards wildlife as most travellers will have, and can sometimes offer such things for sale. This also extends to bushmeat – it is quite common to find antelope, porcupine or even monkey served in restaurants, and we specifically advise our travellers against contributing to the depletion of local populations.
The focus of this trip is Loango National Park, one of the most important areas in Central Africa for wildlife. As with all national parks, revenue from tourism is critical in ensuring that vital conservation work can continue to be carried out - although the Gabonese government also supports the park, the income earned from tourism is important in allowing for the salaries of rangers and support staff to protect that magnificent wildlife found here.
The presence of tourism to parks such as this also have another effect, in that it shows local populations that the forest can generate sustainable income for their communities in terms of providing jobs, as opposed to the less sustainable alternative of providing food via poaching. This helps to reinforce in local consciousness the fact that the forest is worth preserving, and is an important factor in preventing poaching.
The Impacts of this Trip
As well as wildlife, this tour has a strong focus on local culture and different ethnic groups. Where possible we try to ensure that local people benefit from our presence.
We spend time with the Babongo pygmies in Gabon. Through long association with this area, our local team has established solid relationships with certain groups and our presence here is very much welcomed – we feel that it is very important to be seen as guests here rather than outsiders come to merely look. We are able to spend time with the communities learning about their traditions and customs.
We are careful not to disrupt the traditional way of life of the Babongo. As a way to say thank you for allowing us to visit, we bring traditional gifts, such as sugar, tea and so on – we do not bring modern accoutrements that may change their way of life as we feel that it is important for all tribal groups that any move towards a more ‘modern’ lifestyle is made on their own terms and not imposed upon them. We give gifts to the elders of the villages who will then ensure that they are distributed appropriately, rather than just giving them to individuals, which can cause problems, jealousy and fights within small communities.
These are very traditional areas with certain codes of behaviour, and the people here are not that accustomed to outsiders. We ensure that our travellers are appropriately briefed in order so as not to offend local sensibilities.
Where possible we encourage our travellers to spend their money with local businesses; for this reason we do not include meals where it is feasible to eat outside of the hotels, in order that local restaurants are able to benefit from the presence of tourism, rather than the income being channelled just to the hotel.


In conjunction with our local team we work with hotels and guesthouses to implement best practices when it comes to environmental matters. This includes basic things like not replacing towels each day, as well as saving electricity and turning lights off.
Our travellers are specifically briefed on not to buy souvenirs made from endangered species – people in remote parts of Central Africa do not always have the same respect towards wildlife as most travellers will have, and can sometimes offer such things for sale. This also extends to bushmeat – it is quite common to find antelope, porcupine or even monkey served in restaurants, and we specifically advise our travellers against contributing to the depletion of local populations.
The focus of this trip is Loango National Park, one of the most important areas in Central Africa for wildlife. As with all national parks, revenue from tourism is critical in ensuring that vital conservation work can continue to be carried out - although the Gabonese government also supports the park, the income earned from tourism is important in allowing for the salaries of rangers and support staff to protect that magnificent wildlife found here.
The presence of tourism to parks such as this also have another effect, in that it shows local populations that the forest can generate sustainable income for their communities in terms of providing jobs, as opposed to the less sustainable alternative of providing food via poaching. This helps to reinforce in local consciousness the fact that the forest is worth preserving, and is an important factor in preventing poaching.

The Impacts of this Trip
As well as wildlife, this tour has a strong focus on local culture and different ethnic groups. Where possible we try to ensure that local people benefit from our presence.
We spend time with the Babongo pygmies in Gabon. Through long association with this area, our local team has established solid relationships with certain groups and our presence here is very much welcomed – we feel that it is very important to be seen as guests here rather than outsiders come to merely look. We are able to spend time with the communities learning about their traditions and customs.
We are careful not to disrupt the traditional way of life of the Babongo. As a way to say thank you for allowing us to visit, we bring traditional gifts, such as sugar, tea and so on – we do not bring modern accoutrements that may change their way of life as we feel that it is important for all tribal groups that any move towards a more ‘modern’ lifestyle is made on their own terms and not imposed upon them. We give gifts to the elders of the villages who will then ensure that they are distributed appropriately, rather than just giving them to individuals, which can cause problems, jealousy and fights within small communities.
These are very traditional areas with certain codes of behaviour, and the people here are not that accustomed to outsiders. We ensure that our travellers are appropriately briefed in order so as not to offend local sensibilities.
Where possible we encourage our travellers to spend their money with local businesses; for this reason we do not include meals where it is feasible to eat outside of the hotels, in order that local restaurants are able to benefit from the presence of tourism, rather than the income being channelled just to the hotel.

Our travel guides
Find related holidays
Our travel guides
Find related holidays
Popular similar holidays
Central Africa holiday, Cameroon and Gabon
A pioneering journey through the heart of Central Africa
From £6799 13 days excluding flights
Accra to Capetown, Africa overland expedition
On this epic overland journey from Accra to Cape Town
From £5780 - £5990 85 days excluding flights
Gabon wildlife holiday, mandrills and gorillas
Track Mandrills, Gorillas, Elephants in the forests of Gabon
From £6250 10 days including domestic flights only
Western Trans Africa overland tour, Dakar to Cape Town
The ultimate Africa overland experience
From £9890 - £10185 134 days excluding flights