Alright, you booked your trip and you’re excited to go to Gabon, time for a short briefing.
If you’re booking one of our rain forest and wildlife expeditions, make sure you have everything you need. If you’re going on a trip which includes hiking, gorilla tracking and boating you need to be prepared physically and mentally and have realistic expectations of the challenges that await you ahead.

Travel in Gabon is exciting and adventurous, but also challenging. You are going to a unique, very real place which is different from most places you have been to. Gabon has very little tourism infrastructure and there is a long way to go. Especially if you go on expeditions in the rainforest, it will be tiring and tough at times.

The daily life and life on the road are more difficult and challenging, expensive and unpredictable than most other places in Africa. Together with the two Congo’s, Angola and C.A.R. It is one of the most expensive, bureaucratic and most difficult for business and travel in Africa.

In Gabon you need to be prepared for cancelled flights, ferries and buses. Often roads are in bad conditions or vehicles break down. There are police blocks all over the country which can seriously delay your trips as well. Services often lack in quality and electricity black outs and lack of running water are frequent all over the country. Many places don’t have cell phone reception, let alone internet connection. Serious rainfall and thunderstorms can also obstruct travel plans and transport.

Extortion, corruption and bribes are practised all over the country by officials and locals. Prices of accommodation, transport and food are among the highest in the continent. Accommodation and tourism value in Gabon, though hugely expensive, never and cannot yield the same value as the selections and professional safari circuits for value-prices found in countries like Kenya and South-Africa. Even though there is a Radisson Blu Hotel in Libreville, it is still not to standards like their sister hotels in other countries.

Having travel experience in countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, South-Africa or Ghana does not prepare you for this trip.
Be mentally prepared for these local nuisances and challenges and possible minor or major plan changes. You always need to leave a few buffer days in your travel itinerary. We are not responsible for you missing your flight if you didn’t carefully plan your trip. We help you from point A to B, as described in the tour and the contract, but it’s up to you to make sure you are prepared to change your travel plans. Make sure you have good travel and personal insurance.

Besides bringing your passport and vaccination card (you need to be vaccinated against yellow fever and we hope you are vaccinated against covid-19 as well), you also should bring the following (but not limited to) if you plan to go into the forest:

– DEET or another mosquito repellent
– Ask your doctor about malaria-medication
– A small stack of medication
– A mosquito net
– Good walking shoes that can get wet and easily dry
– Enough socks if you need to walk
– A light rain jacket
– A hat against the sun
– Sun screen
– Enough snacks and water
– A torch
– Swimwear and light towels
– A sleeping bag
– A good dose of humour and patience!

We don’t want to scare you and welcome you to come. It’s important you have realistic expectations. Besides the oil expats, you will see no other tourists and have most of the country to yourself and see some of the wildest parts of this planet, with an abundance of wildlife, beautiful beaches and deep, rich forest: Africa’s Eden.