Lopé National Park is found in central Gabon which is lined with dense gallery forest that covers an estimated area of 4910 square kilometers. First gazetted as a natural reserve called Lope-Okanda Wildlife Reserve in 1946, Lope National Park was then named a national park in 2002. In 2007, the park was added on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The northern part of the park is covered in savannah grassland patches where many of the animals concentrate on the Ogooue River which crosses the forest gallery. The savannah in the northern area is a remnant from the last ice-age thus create a lush eco-system in the park

Wildlife

In the Lopé National Park there are 60 different species of mammals, including the endemic sun-tailed monkey, discovered in 1984, and 400 of the 670 species of bird recorded in Gabon. Lopé National Park is the chosen centre for long-term studies on gorillas and mandrills, studied by the ECOFAC researchers.

Some of the animals in the park include African forest elephants, red duiker, blue duiker,leopard, sitatunga, foret buffalo, sun-tailed guenon, yellow back duiker, black colobus,chimpanzee and the western lowland gorillas.

There are several birds in Lope National Park many sighted around Mikongo camp. Some of the regular sights include Congo Serpent Eagle, Vermiculated fishing owl, spot-breasted ibis, nightjar, bush-shrike, long-tailed hawk, forest swallow, Rachel’s Malimbe, Helmet shrike, cuckoo-shrike, eagle owl, tiger heron and the grey ground thrush among others.

Accommodation

There is a camp at Mikongo for tourist accommodation and Lope Hotel which is the only hotel in Lope National Park

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