Dzanga-Sangha Rainforest

Even missionaries in Africa need vacations sometimes. Over new years Caitlin and I went on a trip down to the Dzanga-Sangha wildlife preserve in the Congo River Basin to do some gorilla tracking, elephant watching, exploring, and to get a needed break from the city. It was great! We didn’t want to leave Africa without seeing any wildlife so when we had the opportunity to tag along with Brigitte (our German friend who works for UNICEF) on a trip to Bayanga, we jump right on board!

the road leading into the Dzanga-Sangha national park

Bayanga is approximately 480 km southeast of Bangui just north of the equator. It is located towards the north end of the Congo River Basin rainforest (the second largest rainforest in the world) and is home to many endangered and threatened species and the pygmy people.

the crew of pygmy trackers, bantu guides, driver, and tourists

We made the trip from Bangui down to Bayanga in a record nine hours thanks to our official UNICEF truck, speedy driver, and diplomatic flag and we spent three full days seeing the sites of the rainforest.

Day 1: Elephants

Our first day in Bayanga Caitlin and I woke up early to go for a couple mile hike through the rainforest. We followed our pygmy guide along the river and then along a road to a little village. As we walked along our guide kept pointing out elephant tracks. He told us that the elephants were all headed to the bai to eat. Bais are marshy clearings in the forest that are rich in minerals. The actual word bai is a Ba’aka pygmy word meaning, “where the animals eat.” Elephants and other animals come to these bais to feed. The elephants dig holes all over the bai to get the best minerals.

elephants at the bai

mom and baby

After seeing so many elephant tracks on our hike we couldn’t wait to see some elephants in person at the bai, which was our next adventure. To get to the bai we drove into the forest a ways and then hiked through thick trees and underbrush, streams, and mud following trails and the tracks of the elephants. When we finally came to the clearing, there were somewhere around 60 elephants, a heard of forest buffalo, and a couple sitatunga antelopes. I could’ve watched the elephants all day they were so spectacular! I couldn’t believe I was actually seeing so many real live elephants with my own eyes in the African rainforest!

a baby elephant chasing a forest buffalo

"dole" is the Sango word for elephant

sitatunga

Day 2: Gorilla Tracking

Gorilla!

Western Lowland Gorillas are on the endangered species list. They live hidden deep in the rainforest but they are hunted for their meat and their habitat has been threatened by logging. They are some of the most interesting animals and having the chance to see them in the wild is something people travel great distances to do. It took us over an hour of driving down an old rutted logging road to get to the base camp of the gorilla researchers. They have been following a family of gorillas and have habituated them so that people (like me) can go watch them. From base camp it took us about 1 ½ hours of hiking to find the Makoumba gorilla family. It took a little longer than it was supposed to because there were some elephants in our way so we had to take a detour. Once we got to the gorillas we had a great time watching all the gorillas playing together. The silver back (the leader of the group and the largest gorilla) even came down from high up in the trees to take a nap.

The Pygmy Forest People:

After gorilla tracking we visited a pygmy village. The pygmy people who live in this region of the forest are called Ba’aka. They still live in their traditional way surviving off food grown, gathered, or hunted in the forest and living in little forest camps. They are very interesting and beautiful people but, sadly, they have been very mistreated and misrepresented much like the Native Americans or the Aboriginal people of Australia. We always had an Aka pygmy guide with us whenever we went into the forest to hike or track down animals. They know their way around and are experts at hearing elephants, leopards, gorillas, or any other types of forest animals even from a long way off. I felt very safe following a pygmy through the forest.

the Ba'aka live in forest igloos

the whole village

Day 3: A Trip Down the River

The Sangha River is a main tributary of the Congo River. The lodge where we stayed was right on the river so our third day in the rainforest we decided to take a dugout canoe and a couple Ba’aka guides down the river to see waterfalls. It was a perfect day for it! The cool breeze blowing through my hair, the warm sunshine, the water plashing against the wooden boat, the fragrance of flowering trees, the fresh unpolluted rainforest air, and the sounds of tropical birds all made me wish the boat ride would never end! We stopped to hike to two different waterfalls. They were gorgeous!

my bungalow on the river

dinner!

Sunset over the Sangha River

Having seen another part of the Central African Republic I feel like I understand the African people I’m working with a little bit better. Africa is a place with rich culture and a complicated balance (or lack of balance) between keeping traditional culture, survival, and living in the modern world.