Photograph of Western Lowland Gorilla

A wonderful portrait of an adult female 'Western Lowland' Gorilla at Mondika by Sjef Ollers.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Best Wildlife in the Central African Republic

Mammals
(Western Lowland) Gorilla, Agile Mangabey, Grey-cheeked Mangabey, Crowned, De Brazza’s, Moustached and Putty-nosed Monkeys, African (Forest) Elephant, African (Forest) Buffalo, Red River Hog, Sitatunga, Bosman’s Potto and Beecroft’s Anomalure. Also a chance of Bongo and Giant Forest Hog.

Birds
Red-headed Picathartes (at colony), African Pied, African Grey, Black-casqued, Black Dwarf, Red-billed Dwarf, Piping, White-crested and White-thighed Hornbills, Grey Parrot, Great Blue Turaco, Bare-cheeked Trogon, Black Bee-eater, Plumed Guineafowl and Lyre-tailed Honeyguide, as well as Hartlaub’s Duck, African Darter, Hamerkop, Palm-nut Vulture, African Harrier Hawk, Congo Serpent and Crowned Eagles, Bat Hawk, African Finfoot, Forbes’s Plover, African Jacana, African Green Pigeon, Guinea Turaco, cuckoos including Yellow-throated, Yellowbill, Fraser’s Eagle Owl, spinetails, kingfishers including Blue-breasted, Chocolate-backed, Giant and Shining-blue, Blue-throated Roller, barbets, tinkerbirds, Rufous-sided Broadbill, Chestnut Wattle-eye, Gabon Batis, Blue Cuckoo Shrike, Western Oriole, drongos, Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, White-throated Blue Swallow, many greenbuls including Sjostedt’s, Buff-throated and Gosling’s Apalises, Banded Prinia, Grey Longbill, Green Hylia, Yellow-browed Camaroptera, Green and Lemon-bellied Crombecs, Violet-backed Hyliota, Fire-crested Alethe, (Sangha) Forest Robin, sunbirds including Superb, weavers and malimbes. Also a chance of Spot-breasted Ibis, African Fish Eagle, Egyptian Plover, Grey-throated and Nkulengu Rails, and White-spotted Flufftail.

Best Sites for Wildlife in the Central African Republic

Best Times for Wildlife in the Central African Republic

The best times to visit the Central African Republic are the first half of April and mid-August to mid-September.

Recommended Books etc. for the Central African Republic

Mammals of Africa by M Andrews. Collins, due 2011.

The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals by J Kingdon. A & C Black, 2003.

The Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals by J Kingdon. A & C Black, 2004.

Birds of Western Africa by N Borrow and R Demey. Helm, 2002.

Birds of Africa south of the Sahara by I Sinclair and P Ryan. C Struik, 2011 (Second Edition).


Kingdon eGuide to African Mammals.

Trip Reports for the Central African Republic

Many trip reports, some for the Central African Republic, are posted on the websites listed here. On some of these websites some reports are independent and some are posted by tour companies who organize tours to the Central African Republic. These tour companies and others also post their own reports on their websites, which are listed under 'Some Organized Tours to the Central African Republic' below.

Local Guides and Tours in the Central African Republic

The costs of organized tours partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ. If you are travelling independently, employing such local guides will greatly increase your chances of seeing the wildlife you wish to see.


Accommodation in the Central African Republic


Some Organized Tours to the Central African Republic

There are many tour companies who organize tours to see mammals, birds, other wildlife and other natural wonders. The cost of these tours vary considerably according to such variables as the airlines used, the number of days the tours last, the number of sites visited, the number of people in the group (an important consideration if you wish to see such wildlife as rainforest mammals and birds), the number of tour leaders, the standard of accommodation and transport, and the percentage profit the company hopes to make. Generally, where the number of days tours last and the number of sites visited are similar, the cheapest tours are those that use the cheapest airlines, accommodation and local transport, that have the largest groups with the least number of leaders, and that make the least amount of profit. The most expensive tours tend to be those which are exceptionally long, use the most expensive accommodation (ridiculously lavish in some cases, even for single nights) and which make the most profit. Some tour costs partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ.

While tour companies organize tours with set itineraries many also organize custom tours for individuals and private groups who instead of taking a tour with a set itinerary want to follow their own itinerary to suit their own personal tastes, whether it be mammals, birds, other wildlife, other natural wonders or even man-made attractions, or a mixture of them all. Many organized tours with set itineraries are also fast-paced and target as many species as possible, whether they are mammals, birds or other wildlife or everything, which usually leaves little time to enjoy the best sites and individual species, but on a custom tour those taking part can specify the pace and the sites and species they wish to concentrate on. Custom tours also suit people who like to travel with people they already know, rather than with a group of strangers, and people with partners with different interests. Individuals and small groups will almost certainly have to pay more than the price of an organized tour with a set itinerary but a large group of friends may be able to travel for less than the price quoted for a set tour.

Tour companies who are running organized tours to the Central African Republic in the next couple of years include the following. Many of these also offer custom tours.