Travel Itinerary & Map of Central Africa's Best Kept Secret
Travel Itinerary of Central Africa's Best Kept Secret 13 days
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Day |
Trip summary - Programme 1 |
Lodging |
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1 |
Sunday |
Arrival Douala airport; meet and greet at the airport; and transfer to Planet Hotel |
Planet Hotel |
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2 |
Monday |
Charter flight to Bayanga in the morning; full day safari possibilities |
Sangha Lodge |
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3 |
Tuesday |
Sangha Lodge |
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4 |
Wednesday |
Sangha Lodge |
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5 |
Thursday |
Sangha Lodge |
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6 |
Friday |
Charter flight to São Tomé; transfer to Omali Lodge Luxury Hotel; afternoon to explore Principe |
Omali Lodge Luxury Hotel |
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7 |
Saturday |
Omali Lodge Luxury Hotel |
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8 |
Sunday |
Morning flight to Príncipe; transfer to Bom Bom Island Resort; afternoon to explore Príncipe |
Bom Bom Island Resort |
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9 |
Monday |
Bom Bom Island Resort |
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10 |
Tuesday |
Bom Bom Island Resort |
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11 |
Wednesday |
Bom Bom Island Resort |
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12 |
Thursday |
Bom Bom Island Resort |
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13 |
Friday |
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N/A |
Full Itinerary Central Africa´s Best Kept Secret
This is an example itinerary. Upon arrival, our specialised staff will sit down with you to compose the actual programme, based on your personal interests and the weather conditions.
Day 1: Sunday – Arrival in Douala, Cameroon
Upon arrival at Douala International Airport, a representative of Africa’s Eden will meet you and bring you to your hotel. He or she will help you with the customs procedures and collecting of your luggage. Please note that you will need to show your vaccination booklet. After that you will be brought to the Planet Hotel.
You can spend the evening as you like; there is no organised programme. Our staff will give you advice on finding good restaurants for dinner in the area.
Lodging: Planet Hotel, Douala
Day 2 -5: Monday - Thursday - Dzanga-Sangha Reserve, C.A.R
In the morning you will be picked up from your hotel and brought to the airport for your Africa’s Connection flight to Bayanga, which will take approximately 2 hours.
In Bayanga, the Sangha Lodge staff will help you with your luggage and drive you to the lodge where you will have some time to settle into your room before having lunch in the restaurant, on a terrace above the river. After lunch, the group will be divided into smaller groups for the programme in and around the Dzanga-Sangha Reserve. All forest activities are accompanied by trained guides who speak French and also some English. On the next page you will find a description of the excursions.
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Gorilla Tracking (1 x half day)
At sunrise, a team of researchers and pygmy trackers leaves the camp of Bai Hokou to find the nest where the gorillas slept the previous night. As soon as this nest site is found, the team then follows the traces left by the gorillas while moving on and feeding. To do this, one takes elephant paths and narrow trails. Sometimes it takes one or two hours before establishing contact with the gorillas. Once the position is known, it is communicated to the camp by radio so the relief team can set off in the right direction. Encountering the gorillas is not guaranteed, but in previous years nearly 90% of those taking part in this activity have seen gorillas in close proximity.
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Observing Forest Elephants
(2 visits)
To observe the timid forest elephant in the wild is an experience usually reserved to a limited circle of researchers. At the clearing (saline) of Dzanga Bai in Dzanga-Sangha, visitors have this chance. Early in the morning, as the grey parrots alight at the Dzanga Bai to savour the mineral-rich grass, emitting their extensive repertoire of whistles and squawks, the first elephants have already laid claim to their choice watering-holes. From the platform you can observe them while they feed, drink, engage in games of (social) rank and maintain their social bonds. More than 3000 individual elephants have been identified visiting the saline of Dzanga Bai. At the same time, the open clearing allows you to observe other species typically found in the Reserve: sitatunga, buffalo and sometimes bongos, boars and storks.
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Hiking around the Saline (1 x - duration dependant on group)
By taking elephant paths you are led to these animals’ favoured spots. Often these are clearings and saline, traversed by streams, and kept open by the elephants. With a bit of luck you will not only see elephants and buffalo, but also bongos, monkeys and traces of other animals. The sounds, smells and luminous green of the vegetation create a very unique atmosphere.
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Net hunting with Pygmies (1 x half day)
Accompany the BaAka pygmies hunting and help with carving up of the game, let the BaAka women show you the medicinal and other plants of use, taste a typical dish of liana leaves with a sauce made from forest nuts, watch how they construct in the forest, in no time at all, a hut to protect against the rain. Getting to know this secret culture is an experience few have known.
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Music & Dance (Evening)
The essence of the BaAka culture, which has been preserved over the millennia, is mainly expressed in music and dance, serving to maintain their bonds with their gods, spirits and ancestors. Each singer and percussionist chooses his or her own rhythm resulting in a wonderful array of harmony. This universe of movement, rhythm and sound is very difficult to describe – you have to experience it for real.
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Visit to Bayanga Village (1 visit)
The best way to get a glimpse of daily life in Bayanga is a visit to the village with one of our guides. People are more than happy to show you around in their small shops and if you’re lucky they will demonstrate how they produce homemade palm oil wine. The local bar has a nice view over the Sangha River and is a good place to get a taste of the Bayanga spirit.
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Presentation by WWF (evening)
The Dzanga-Sangha Reserve is both extremely beautiful as extremely delicate, the latter due to mining and logging activities in the area, and the fact that natural resources are an important food source for the local population. WWF is the main conservation organisation in the Reserve, and is more than pleased to share their knowledge with you on the protected areas and their activities in the region.
Lodging: Sangha Lodge
Day 6: Friday – Flight to Sao Tomé
On Saturday after an early breakfast, the Sangha Lodge staff will bring you to the airstrip at Bayanga, where the private charter plane departs to Príncipe or Sao Tome, depends on the chosen itinerary.
You will arrive in Omali Lodge Luxury Hotel in time for lunch, which will be the first of many treats this place has to offer. At night, the ocean, endlessly ebbing and flowing along the beach will lull you into a deep, contented sleep.
Lodging: Omali Lodge Luxury Hotel
Day 7: Saturday - Day on Sao Tomé
São Tomé offers many possible itineraries, such as a visit to see the volcanic crater deep in the forest of Ôbo National Park. Some other possibilities are:
- São Tomé City Tour
Visit the old city centre and get a feel of what São Tomé was like during the colonial era. At the lively Mercado Central, you will discover the islands products and the Calilu’s secret ingredients. With a visit to the National Museum, our guide will tell you about the life on the plantations and São Tomé’s tormented pre-independence history.
- Visit to Bom Sucesso Botanical Garden
São Tomé’s native flora (700 species including a hundred orchids) and fauna (birds and marine turtles) are of particular interest, as many of its species are endemic. Indeed, it is possible to see more than 100 different orchids from the island at the Bom Sucesso Botanical Garden.
- Day Trip by Car to East Coast São Tomé
Your first stop is the Roça Agua Izê, a working cocoa plantation, with its colonial buildings and
warehouses. You will then continue along the coast, passing typical fishermen villages and admiring some of the best views of the island. Roça São João is your final destination, where you can relax and enjoy São Tomé’s best-kept culinary secrets for lunch. Famous cook and artist João Carlos Silva welcomes guests to visit his plantation and colorful guesthouse, an eclectic blend of modern art, colonial patrimony and rural Santomean craftwork. On your way back to the capital, you can stop for a swim in any of the numerous secluded beaches found on the East Coast.
- Hiking in Ôbo National Park
Ôbo Natural Park has only recently been created and helps protect the unique natural heritage of the island. The old cocoa plantation “Roça Bombaim” is a major point of entry to the Ôbo National Park. Surrounded by mountains and waterfalls, this old estate has been rehabilitated into a charming small hostel. One of the eco-guides will take you through the plantations and into the park to discover the secrets of the Santomean rainforest. After a refreshing bath and picnic at the waterfall “Formoso Cascade”, you will head back to the roça for a well-deserved locally brewed cup of coffee.
Sea Turtle Night Patrol
Marine turtles have been coming to São Tomé for millions of years. Between October and April, five species can be seen on the island: the green turtle, the leatherback, the olive riddley, the hawksbill and the caouanne. We invite you to accompany our eco-guides on their nightly patrols of the beach to supervise and protect the sea turtles as they crawl ashore to nest.
- Bird-watching Expeditions
São Tomé is also an ornithologist’s paradise: 143 bird species have been identified here and rare endemic species like the São Tomé short tail, São Tomé giant sun bird, and São Tomé fiscal shrike may sometimes be spotted.
Day 8: Sunday – Flight to Principe
On Sunday morning you will fly to Principe with the connecting flight, Africa´s Connection. The staff from Bom Bom Island resort will be waiting to meet you at the airport. In the afternoon you can explore the island.
Lodging: Bom Bom Island Resort
Day 9 - 12: Monday - Thursday - Stay on Príncipe
You will have the opportunity to relax or explore the island of Sao Tome or Principe.
While Bom Bom is a wonderful place to relax and recharge your spirit, there is also plenty there to explore and discover.
- Santo Antonio City Tour
It is a photographer’s dream: the rustic town of Santo Antonio tells the colourful story of a colonial Portuguese village that is now home to the people of Príncipe. Enjoy the warm, friendly atmosphere of the town as you stroll through its streets, visit the fish and fresh produce markets, and step into some of the old shops with their assorted goods and trinkets. Sample some of the local delicacies or see what natural remedies the chemist might prescribe.
- Hiking
Circumnavigate Bom Bom Island by foot, and discover its beautiful rock pools with their own ecosystems varying from one pool to the next. Or go on a leisurely hike through the forest to experience the sounds of the jungle and catch glimpses of a Mona monkey or the African grey parrot.
- Diving *) & Snorkelling
Discover the underwater world of Bom Bom! São Tomé and Príncipe, both ancient volcanic islands, are home to some of the world’s most spectacular rock formations, above and below the waterline. With drop-offs of over 35 metres, overhangs and cascading boulders, there is plenty of sea life here to keep you coming back for more!
*) For more information, please see our special diving packages.
- Whale Watching*)
From mid-July to mid-September, humpback whales visit the waters around Bom Bom as they migrate from their low-latitude summer feeding grounds to more tropical mating and calving areas.
*) Please note that sightings cannot be guaranteed and this excursion is not included in the package price of this programme.
Lodging: Bom Bom Island Resort
Day 13: Friday - Fly back to Europe / US / South Africa
After breakfast you will be brought to the airport for your return flight to Douala.
Tour on the map
click on the map to enlarge
