Trekking with gorillas in the warm heart of Africa

Tell someone you’re planning a trip to the Republic of the Congo and you will get two reactions. The first is a respectful look, of the kind usually reserved for truly intrepid adventurers. The second is a question: “Is it safe?”

The trick is to answer the second response without losing the kudos that inspired the first, because in truth it’s the other Congo, the Democratic Republic, that has soured the name of central Africa. After more than a century of plunder and strife, under tyrants as diverse as King Leopold II of Belgium and Mobutu Sese Seko, the present-day DRC still occupies the dark heart of the continent in much of the world’s imagination.

On the other side of the great river that divides them, the Republic of the Congo has led a somewhat less eventful existence. Though it too has had periods of light and shade, before and after independence from France in 1960, it has been stable and peaceful for the past quarter-century. Yet it remains on the frontier of tourism, visited infrequently enough to justify those admiring glances.

Why visit the Republic of the Congo?

The principal draw is the Odzala-Kokoua National Park, in the northwest of the country, and the critically endangered western lowland gorillas which live there. Also home to forest elephants, buffalo and spotted hyena, it is a bewitching landscape of equatorial rainforest, savannah and swamp. By the end of your visit you will know it intimately, having waded through its waters and felt its mud between your toes.

You will also have the satisfaction of joining a tiny elite: just 250 people a year visit Odzala’s gorillas. Three times more climb Everest each year (and a hundred times more visit Rwanda’s mountain gorillas). As a result, this is not a last-minute, turn-up-and-go destination, but experienced tour operators can help smooth the path.

The British safari company Africa Odyssey works with Kamba African Rainforest Experiences, which runs three luxury lodges in and around the national park. Between them they will organise international travel from the UK or US (typically via Paris), Congo visas, gorilla-tracking permits and a private flight from Brazzaville to Odzala.

Meet the gorillas

Gorilla-tracking days start well before dawn, with breakfast and coffee on the thatched timber deck of Ngaga Lodge, deep in the rainforest. At first light, I set out with three other guests (four is the maximum group size), as well as our guide and a specialist tracker. We walk in silence, in part to increase our chances of seeing monkeys, birds and other forest-dwellers, but also to immerse ourselves in the sounds and scents of the Congo.

It was awkward at first, walking without speaking among people I don’t know well, but soon I felt a sense of wordless camaraderie with my fellow trekkers, and a kinship with the other creatures of the forest. I don’t know when I last spent so many waking hours listening to nothing but nature.

Since the gorillas move across a wide area, the trek is unpredictable in length and terrain. On day one, we followed a dirt track most of the way, before diving into thick undergrowth on a path cut by our tracker with a machete.

The second day involved a long, scenic ramble along a winding path that climbed ridges, dipped through dells and crossed a log bridge over a stream. It was a morning of mist and milky sunshine, and the forest was glossy with overnight rain.

My first glimpse of a gorilla was brief, a large male on the path ahead, crouching, his fists pressed into the soil. After standing his ground for a moment, he turned and retreated into the foliage, his step heavy on the forest floor.

Later, we would have more extended sightings: long periods spent watching as youngsters clambered through trees while the adults methodically harvested leaves – or just sat staring into space. Seeing the way their eyes move, or how they bring a finger to their lips, it was hard not to imagine human-like thoughts passing through their minds.

Up close and personal

Any sadness at leaving the gorillas behind was quickly dispelled by the journey to our next destination. Lango Lodge sits in the treeline, overlooking a baï, the local name for a marshy forest clearing, half lake and half bog.

Having set out in a 4x4, we transferred first to kayaks, paddling a couple of miles down the fast-moving Lekoli river, a tributary of the Congo, before turning into the glassy calm of Lango Baï. After another mile or two, paddling harder now without the current to carry us, we began to run aground. It was time to abandon ship and wade through the marsh.

At Lango, you will spend a lot of time with wet feet. Most of the activities involve strapping on a pair of old trainers and stepping into the bog. It feels strangely transgressive at first, then liberating: on a conventional safari, the 4x4 separates you from the landscape and you look down on the wildlife from above. Waist-deep in water, your perspective is different, not just physically but psychologically too. There is a big difference between rolling up to a herd of buffalo in a Land Cruiser, and creeping past them on foot.

Even without a frisson of danger, the sightings are more rewarding. Finding a flock of African grey parrots felt like a triumph after half an hour spent stalking them through the forest, following their calls. But it’s the big beasts that really focus the mind.

Our most memorable encounter came towards the end of a long walk, as we emerged from an area known as Deep Pools, where we had been picking our way through chest-high water littered with submerged tree trunks and deep patches of clinging mud. With the water back down around my ankles, I was beginning to relax.

Then all at once the energy changed. A silent message passed between our two guides and one turned to us, using his hands and eyes to tell us: stay still and keep quiet. As the lead guide crouched down, an elephant walked around a bend in the river, maybe 30 metres ahead of us. It was an electric moment. The elephant took a few more steps towards us, and then stopped. With dense bush on either side of the water, either he or we would have to back down.

Before the elephant had a chance to realise his advantage, the guide stood up from his crouch, raised his arms above his head, fingers spread wide, and called out: “Hello boy, hello boy.” The elephant hesitated a moment longer, then slowly turned and went back the way he came. If elephants never forget, then that will make two of us.

Lodges and logistics

Africa Odyssey offers a range of itineraries from Kamba African Rainforest Experiences, lasting from seven to 11 nights. The seven-night Odzala Discovery trip includes three nights at Ngaga Lodge, including two days of gorilla tracking, plus two nights at Lango Lodge and two at a third lodge, Mboko, where you will explore the Congo basin by boat. The price of £10,750 ($14,500) per person includes return flights between Brazzaville and Odzala-Kokoua, permits, fees, visas and the required letter of invitation. All guided activities are also included, as are exceptionally well-made three-course meals and house drinks.

Holden Frith travelled as a guest of Africa Odyssey and Kamba African Rainforest Experiences