Our adventure has begun. Once left the capital, civilization seems to stand still. We are embraced by another world. Vehicles are hardly present, beautiful people, goats, sometimes sheep and later pigs running across the road. Past towns with unknown names like Boda, Ngoto, Bimo, Ouodo. Slowly the landscape is changing. The Congo Base is making its entrance, in one go we are in the jungle. Raffia, trees like cathedrals surround us. A first look at the Congo basin waiting for us. Bird life is changing. We see the first “blue swallows” when we cross a river.
After 9H driving (rainy season, roads were not passable in some places) we arrive in Nola. It is 16H00 and still more than 120 km to drive. At 40 km south of Nola, in Solé, a village along the road with a lot of noise, the road gets better. The sun is setting. We see our first cows, fulani, weird. We pass a natural savannah before we really dive into the Congo Basin. Our drivers don’t know how to tackle the four-legged friends… have no experience with a cow!
We arrive at our destination, Sangha lodge at 19H30. What a wonderful ride. Five nights of fun, an honor to be here. Sangha lodge is beautifully located on the banks of the Sangha River. A river bordered by great nature, the water stands at the highest level. My mission, looking for the Picathartes. This bird breeds in the rainy season and is then easier (read: still difficult) to observe.
The next day on the road, an hour by boat, to a breeding ground of one of the icons of the African continent. There are two species, here resides the “grey necked”. I also tried to find the “white necked” picathartes in Sierra Leone but unfortunately was not there in the right period.
With our pygmy, and Rod, we find the breeding ground. First nests on the cliff are deserted. Second breeding ground we find truly five nests, some have chicks, wauh. After years of searching, I am close to what I have always desired. Picathartes one of the most shy birds on the continent.
My breath is sticking, the tension is cutting. We wait under a waterfall overlooking the nests.
After half an hour of waiting movement, (rustling in the thicket) fluxed, where are they. Truly they come with five breeding pairs at once, great. They are forest nymphs, graceful with no words to describe. Fast, agile and with a natural alure. They’re beaming! A heavenly experience for me. This is paradise, under a basalte rock formation, in the middle of the Congo basin. I’m euphoric.
Afterwards we drink from the pure spring water, engine trouble, we slide back over the water to the lodge (Sangha is as wide as the Waal in Nijmegen).A few pirogues pass us gracefully, quietly enjoying the moments. What a climax.
The next days adventure abounds, it’s a real bonanza. WWF has been conducting research in these forests for 20 years. There are many activities including Sangha Bai, the best bai in the Congo basin to see elephants. Sometimes more than 80 animals were present. Looking for lowland gorillas. The permits cost 300 euros per person. If it rains, you can try again the next day, even if you haven’t seen any gorillas. The second permit 225 euros.
A great must is the Saline walk. One walks for hours in the forest from one bai to another. I’ve seen swamp otter, forest buffalo, sitatunga and again lots of elephants. Special birds like bar cheeked trogon, black headed bee-eater, blue swallow, palmnut vulture, forbes’s plover, heartlaub duck etc. One of the highlights is following a troop of mangabeys who usually seek their food on the ground or in the trees low above the ground. Wonderful to be able to observe these primates in their natural environment. We follow with our tractors for several hours. Every now and then we have to stop, elephants (I can’t see anything) silence, cicadas, the forest embraces us. We’re the forest.
After five nights, which were too short, we prepare for a long boat trip across the Sangha, to Ouesso in northern Congo Brazzaville. We’re ready. Spaceships in the jungle!
Picarthartes, you are my darling!
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