Travel Guide Parc National De La Pendjari

This rich wildlife reserve is part of a vast protected area that spans three border countries (Benin, Niger and Burkina) with the W Regional Park, and includes the Arly Park in Burkina Faso.Created in 1961, the Pendjari National Park was inscribed by UNESCO in 1986 on the World List of Biosphere Reserves, before being listed as a World Heritage Site in 2017. It may seem paradoxical, but this reserve encompasses both the hunting areas of Pendjari and Konkombri, and the national park itself, which covers an area of 275,000 ha. The hunting zones are protected territories, like the park, against poaching and transhumance. A simple track separates them, but, rest assured, hunting is highly regulated. As for photo safaris, this is an ideal spot. The Pendjari is one of the last viable refuges for elephant and lion in West Africa. But you will also come across cheetahs, buffaloes, hippotragues, more than 400 species of birds, etc.For those who want to see a lot, March and April are the best time to see the animals, because the weather is dry and the harmattan, which raises a veil of dust, has stopped blowing; but it is also the hottest time. The rains do not arrive until May.Finally, the park underwent a small revolution in May 2017, when the international protected area management NGO African Parks Network partnered with the Beninese government to revitalize the park as West Africa's premier safari destination.