Deep in the southwest of the Central African Republic, far from the violence and humanitarian crisis of the northern prefectures, lies the Dzanga-Sangha reserve.  Nearly 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the capital Bangui, the reserve offers some of the most beautiful and pristine wildlife that can be found in Africa and, indeed, the world.

However, distance in this case can be deceiving; reaching Dzanga-Sangha often takes between nine to twelve hours by truck.  Road conditions in the Central African Republic are challenging during the dry season, and roads frequently become impassible during the rainy season, making reaching the park difficult, and occasionally impossible.

Within the reserve itself is the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park.  Roughly the size of the island of Dominica, the park is largely rainforest.   However it is best known for its Bai: abrupt, large, marshy clearings.  In these wide open spaces, elephants, gorillas, the bongo antelope and many other animals come to drink, feed, graze and relax in the mud.  It is because of the Bai that the Dzangha-Sangha has proven itself to be an unmatched place to see animals in their natural habitat and at very close range.

However, what makes the park so unique to most visitors is that nowhere else in Africa can lowland gorillas be seen so closely:  a small group of gorillas in the reserve has been habituated to the presence of humans.  This gives visitors the very rare opportunity to see them in their natural habitat, sometimes from no more than 5 metres away.

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The reserve is also home to several indigenous populations, one of which are the Aka Pygmies.  They welcome visitors to see their traditional way of life – inviting visitors to join them for net hunting and foraging for food in the forest.  However, a new road being built near the park is beginning to change their way of life; now the Aka are beginning to attend school, work in logging, tourism, and help scientific research projects in the reserves.

Since the park is in a relatively remote part of the Central African Republic, the amount of visitors per year is very limited.  Thus, tourists can enjoy some of the world’s most beautiful and pristine wildlife, and the costs (for lodging, food, and guides) remain relatively inexpensive.

Here’s a small slideshow from a recent visit made by some of my colleagues at the UNDP.  They only spent two days in the park and were able to see wildlife practically every moment that they were there:

• For more information about the Dzanga-Sangha Reserve please visit http://dzanga-sangha.org/en/
• The German government had been supporting the preservation of the national parks through projects financed by GTZ.  For more information in GTZ, please visit http://www.gtz.de/en/