Here’s my write-up from a trip that I did this April with some friends to Sangha Lodge and Dzanga Bai. It really is a stunning part of the world.
CAR Foley 2018
Central African Republic, Dzanga Bai 2018
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Great report Charles…very useful (for those who may follow in your path) and readable (for those who may have to “armchair” this one. ) I am reminded, of course, of your jealousy when you could not join us in Borneo and later had to read about our trip and second-guess your decision. Now you can rest assured that the balance of jealousy has swung dramatically, especially as it would have been so fabulous to share seeing the forest elephants with you at hand to interpret.
I scanned your list for one missing species in particular, the otter shrew; did any of the guides mention ever seeing them there? …mac –
Yes, it was a pity you couldn’t join us on this trip. We need to plan better next time.
The only person to have seen an Otter Shrew in the area (that I spoke to at least) was Vladimir Dinets, who mentioned one in his trip report. I spent a bit of time in the area where he reported seeing it, but was looking more for otters than otter shrews. My French wasn’t good enough to quiz the Ba’aka pygmies about them, so I don’t know if they trap them or not.
Hi Charles. Nice report, inspiring, thanks! It’s on my list …
Greetings charles, great to read your report and appreciate the difficulty in getting there, and the hassles to pass through the entering process. i was there in July 1997, and during the 4th of July celebration celebration as guests of the US Ambassador, saw a group of nationals arrested outside the embassy after they left. We flew there by charter as you did, then left by 4×4 driving back. i recall the Czech logging concessions had deforested in strips, leaving alternate strips of primary forest. great for forbs like wild ginger to increase ..good forage for lowland gorilla.
We spent two weeks exploring there, including going downriver to michael fayes’ camp on the river. So good to see the animals listed in your report, and you saw much more than i did in rodents and bats. would love to return. thankyou for sharing your experience. bill
Thanks William. From what you’re saying it sounds as if Bangui has been unstable for quite some time. I didn’t realise Mike Fay had a camp in the area at that time. He was another one who got smacked by a Forest elephant!
Charles
love your comment on the squirrels … please do push a PhD student in that direction … 🙂
Very cool report Charles. Thanks for sharing
Is the only way to go there now to take a charter flight from Bangui? I thought we could also fly from Cameroon/Yaounde… Do you know if this is still possible? To me, Yaoundé looks more stable than Bangui.
Hi Samuel, yes I think it is possible to go via Yaounde although I’m not certain of the details. Your best bet is to contact Rod who runs the lodge and ask him for details. I suspect a charter from Cameroon would be more expensive though. I hope you make it out there.
It’s great that night visits are now easy to organize. The place keeps getting better and better.
But I thought Ebola was from freetails, not fruit bats?
hi Vladimir … the Guinea outbreak was attributed to free-tailed bats I think? In the Congo-Gabon epicentre fruit bats were suspected. I’m no expert but I’m not sure that the reservoir has been clearly ascertained as yet.