Things to see and do South

It is essential to get there to get the right information. 

It is possible to have information at this office, located at the entrance to the Doli Lodge.

The lodge on the Island of the Red Buffalo offers all the above activities (hippos, Descente descent), and more: overland hikes are also proposed, with the introduction of rainforest biodiversity and the discovery of its various media in all their aspects: flora, mammals and birds, butterflies, mushrooms… Mountain bikes are available to visit nearby villages, and kayaks allow to enjoy the forest from a new perspective. The discovery of the life of a forest operation provides an opportunity to better understand the different methods of valuing timber, while preserving the great forest. Hippos: 50 000 FCFA for a group of up to 9 persons. Descent from Mbaere: 50 000 FCFA if you have your vehicle, if not rent it to the Red Buffalo (CFAF 60 000 per day). Pygmies dance at the corner of the fire: 90 000 FCFA for the group.

Located in the heart of Ecofac, this ethnological museum lists the different species living in the forest, drawing drawings. It also features some impressive skulls of gorillas and hippos. A section of the museum is devoted to the Pygmies Bofi. With relative interest if you don't have time, the museum represents a good introduction to the Ngotto ecosystem, with interesting pieces such as these craft carabines seized to poachers (one understands why they often explode their hands), a hunting of pygmy children, about snakes preserved in formaldehyde. He finally proposed an interesting sampling of missing animals in the region, such as the lion, the flying squirrel or the black rhino, the last specimen of which was killed by poachers in 1985.

At the end of a 20 km track, very poorly maintained, is the scientific camp of Pora, which, before, served as a base camp for poachers, starting point of the excursion. It is recommended from the campsite at 5 h or 6 h, because later, the animals flee the rays of the sun. You will have to leave your car and walk for a quarter of an hour. In any case, the services of a guide, recruited from Ecofac de Ngotto, will be required.

On a clear Serve, you slip without any other noise than the cries of animals and the sound of the rame, in the heart of the great equatorial forest, living and generous: on the other hand, immense vegetation walls reveal the silhouettes of the few galeritus monkeys and other cephus (from May to July, when the trees have yielded their fruits, the monkeys are particularly numerous) which jump from tree to tree at dizzying speed. But also wild ducks, varans, caïmans or others… You have to see them eating the fruits of the huge raphias that came into the water and seem to play the piano on the surface. In an aquatic maze, in an initiation walk in the heart of a rare and protected world, you will descend the Serve for almost 3 hours.

The hiking trails are not marked, but the rooms ensure that it is possible to walk there quietly. However, many poachers still haunt their slopes (there is hardly any monkey left), while others plant anarchic cultures that accelerate erosion. According to local authorities, walking in the mountain is not dangerous. Everyone is a judge, but caution must always be imposed. Towards the southwest, towards Cameroon, lies the waterfall and the gorges of the Kadéï. Learn about their accessibility to the Tourist Information Office.

Two types of extraction, gold and diamond are practised in Nola, and are the most popular profession in the corner. Diamond and gold extractors are concentrated on the banks of the Sangha River, where the Kadéï and Mambéré give birth. At the football field level, turn right and continue to the pier. Next door is the outdoor slaughterhouse and, just behind, on the outskirts of the wooded area, the "parking park" of the prisoners of gold and diamond.

If some fortune researchers venture on foot in the forest, dig off the streams, most of the activities take place on the river, behind the outdoor abattoir. Nola has regained fame since February 2011 and the discovery by a young miner of a high-value rough diamond. Many young people work at the landing level, or on the other side of the bank, at the bottom of the mountain to the Monkeys and at the edge of the sawmill. Between the two banks, they have installed artisan dams, a variety of large pyramid screens of 3 m wide, at the base of which they are inlassablement to climb the desired gravel. Once their canoes have been filled, they wash on site or return to land. A moment always tinged with intense excitement. In dry season, when the depth of the river is smaller, researchers are more numerous, and can initiate you to their profession, bring you to discover their daily life on their boat. Diamond dealers work mainly from 10 h to 15 h. All are very enthusiastic and talk easily about their activity (it's free, but leave it at least 500 FCFA). 

Less impressive than that of gorillas and elephants, the visit of agile mangabés - little monkeys to long long-term members - evokes an incursion into a magical world: next to the river or in the heart of a clearing, some 120 mangabés evolve to less than 5 m. They sometimes get close, s, bickering, wash, wash, as if your presence and that of researchers almost didn't bother them. An activity to recommend in particular to young children, the journey to walk on foot being not very difficult. 

A forest company founded in 1974, the Scadplus is located 24 km from Mbaïki, accessible by an excellent trail that winds in the forest. Take the road on the left at the entrance to Mbaïki (follow the sign and leave the tar). At the next crossing, turn right towards Mongoussa (the left leads to Café-Machado and go to Mongoumba). The sawmill and veneer plant - from which the chimneys of the largest boiler in Africa emerge - overlook the Lobaye. It is possible to swim there, following the advice of the premises, and even to rent a canoe (about 1 500 FCFA) for a small walk on the river. Provide a picnic, as there is no accommodation structure on site.