Travel Guide Bomassa

On the banks of the Sangha River, Bomassa is the nearest village to Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, just 800 m from its headquarters. Bomassa's origins date back to the 1920s, when its original name was Ngolio, which means "eagle" in the Bomassa language. During the colonial period, the names of the village and the ethnic group were no longer differentiated. The Pomos, Bomassa's neighboring population, carried out sporadic attacks on the village, which were repelled when Mokoto, the village's founder, went to seek help on the Sangha islands, where he was originally from and where a large group of Bomassa still lived. His son left the village in the early 1930s, and the community soon broke up into small fishing camps on the Sangha, some of which, such as Bounda or Molongodi, still exist and can be reached by pirogue from Ouesso or Bomassa. Near the village of Bomassa live communities of indigenous, semi-nomadic Bangombe people. Traditionally, the community lived off hunting raids that could last several weeks. The arrival of conservation activities has changed this way of life and the skills of the indigenous people; their intimate knowledge of the forest now makes them the best gorilla trackers and botanists in the region. However, the Bangombe's ties to the forest remain an integral part of their culture and identity, as evidenced by the dances and ceremonies that regularly take place in the village.