Loango National Park

Imagine this: Walking along a pristine, uninhabited, unspoiled beach, the only sound is the waves crashing upon the shore, when you hear another less familiar sound that catches you off guard. The thundering trumpet of an elephant herd sauntering along the coastline, watchful mothers guarding their calves that frolic in the surf of the Atlantic Ocean. How about a hippopotamus caught among the waves and surfing to the shore? If this sounds impossible, you’ve never been to Loango National Park, ‘Africa’s Last Eden’.

Situated between the Nkomi and Ndogo Lagoons, Loango National Park is home to a stunning diversity of habitats within its 1,550 km range, from savannas to 100 km of pristine, unoccupied beaches; from seemingly untouched virgin rain forests to the serpentine bends and gnarls of mangrove forests, Loango offers many sights for any true nature lover.

Loango National Park also includes part of the 220 km² Iguéla Lagoon, the only significant example of a typical western African lagoon system that is protected entirely within a national park.

For animal lovers, Loango National Park is a true paradise on earth. Gabon holds one of the highest densities of wildlife in the world, and Loango National Park proudly shows off its bountiful harvest to the world: forest elephants, hippos, red forest buffalo, leopards, crocodiles, western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, sitatunga, duikers, a vast array of birds, a variety of different monkey species, and the world’s largest concentration of humpback whales and dolphins after South Africa. Visit while it still remains one of the few pristine places left on Earth.