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Tras las huellas de los gorilas en las selvas más remotas de África

El Parque Nacional Odzala-Kokoua es un lugar mágico. Estar aquí no se parece a ninguna experiencia que haya tenido antes y, por lo tanto, es muy difícil de describir. Es puro y sin filtros, pero también es un lugar que te hace feliz y te asombra al mismo tiempo: la mezcla perfecta para una aventura inolvidable.

Ser una de las pocas personas en el mundo que viaja hasta aquí es un privilegio enorme. Hay algo que te hace sentir humilde al visitar un lugar que solo un puñado de personas en la Tierra llega a ver.

Realicé el Odzala Discovery de 7 noches con Kamba. Nuestro viaje incluyó momentos de adrenalina, pero estuvo principalmente lleno de total tranquilidad y paz. Hay una autenticidad aquí que es difícil de encontrar en otros lugares.

Todos los viajes comienzan y terminan en Brazzaville. Desde aquí, se vuela 1 h 45 min hasta Odzala, aterrizando en medio de la selva para que su aventura pueda comenzar de inmediato. Nuestra primera parada fue Ngaga Camp, situado en el bosque de dosel abierto sobre el exuberante sotobosque de Marantaceae. Las vistas son fantásticas y uno se siente completamente inmerso en la selva.

Desde Ngaga, realizamos dos rastreos de gorilas para ver a los gorilas de llanura occidentales. Solo se permiten cuatro huéspedes por grupo de rastreo, lo que hace que toda la experiencia sea privada y personal. Tras un impresionante rastreo en condiciones difíciles en nuestro primer día, encontramos a la familia Jupiter alimentándose de frutas ricas en azúcar, en lo alto de un árbol. Fue realmente impresionante ver al espalda plateada Jupiter, que debe pesar más de 150 kg, bajando de un árbol y desapareciendo inmediatamente en la selva como si fuera producto de nuestra imaginación.

Al día siguiente, nuestra misión era encontrar a la familia Neptuno. Se estaban alimentando en el suelo. Mientras nos adentrábamos en el denso sotobosque de Marantaceae, siguiendo los sonidos de los gorilas alimentándose a nuestro alrededor, oí crujir una rama detrás de mí. Miré hacia atrás, directamente a los ojos de Neptuno, que estaba a unos 30 metros detrás de nosotros.

Disfruté brevemente de este momento de conexión personal pero fugaz con el enorme espalda plateada y luego hizo una señal para avisar al rastreador. Nos trasladó a un claro para dar a Neptuno espacio suficiente para cruzar hacia su familia. Esperaba que pasara por nuestro lado con naturalidad, pero en su lugar, nos regaló una exhibición poderosa y cargada de adrenalina al pasar corriendo a nuestro lado y vocalizar con fuerza. Puede ver un vídeo de su exhibición aquí. Tras este emocionante encuentro inicial, seguimos adelante para encontrar a los otros miembros de su familia, que estaban comiendo termitas y eran más fáciles de ver que los que estaban ocultos por las enormes hojas de Marantaceae.

Mientras estábamos en la selva, y especialmente en el campamento, vimos muchas especies de aves y monos que nunca antes había visto. Prácticamente todas las aves que vi fueron una novedad para mí, incluyendo el pato de Hartlaub, el abejaruco negro, el martín pescador de lomo chocolate, el turaco gigante y el cálao de muslos blancos.

Nuestra siguiente parada en el campamento Lango Baï ofreció una experiencia completamente diferente a la de Ngaga. Aquí realizamos caminatas dos veces al día, la mayoría por el agua. La experiencia variará según la estación y los niveles de agua, pero los pies están en el agua (o en el barro) al menos la mitad del tiempo, por lo que un calzado adecuado es imprescindible. El hábitat alrededor de Lango es excepcionalmente variado, desde la sabana hasta el bosque seco, el bosque inundado estacionalmente y los pantanos.

Un baï es un claro natural en el bosque y proviene de la palabra local BaAka para “apertura en el bosque”. Estos claros suelen tener suelos ricos en minerales y fuentes de agua poco profundas, lo que atrae a una gran variedad de fauna, incluidos mamíferos enormes como elefantes de bosque y búfalos.

Vadear el ecosistema del baï es, para mí, el corazón de la experiencia en Odzala. Es un viaje tranquilo, casi introspectivo, pero cargado de una sensación de alerta, porque se camina entre animales salvajes. Nuestros guías fueron excepcionales, leyendo la selva como un libro y señalando signos sutiles: el olor de un animal, la curva de una huella en el barro, un crujido en las hojas o una planta con una historia.

Terminamos nuestra estancia con dos noches en Mboko Camp, donde disfrutamos de caminatas adicionales por la selva y el baï, así como de paseos en lancha por el río. Durante todo nuestro viaje, degustamos las comidas frescas más deliciosas preparadas por los chefs del campamento. Lo que de verdad destacarñia es la amabilidad del personal de Kamba. Su calidez, atención y cuidado genuino aportaron mucho a la experiencia, haciéndonos sentir bienvenidos y cuidados en cada paso del camino. La amabilidad y el espíritu gentil de la gente de la República del Congo me dejaron una impresión duradera y, por encima de todo, es a la gente a quien nunca olvidaré.

La conservación es el núcleo de la historia de Odzala, y es una de las razones más poderosas para viajar aquí. Visitar este lugar remoto y salvaje apoya directamente el trabajo vital de Kamba y SPAC en la protección de la fauna, el empoderamiento de las comunidades locales y el avance de la investigación sobre la selva tropical.

Para quienes estén dispuestos a aceptar condiciones complicadas (calor, insectos y algunos días de viaje largos), este viaje puede ser realmente enriquecedoda. Es una oportunidad única de descubrir una de las grandes regiones salvajes de África de una forma que muy pocas personas llegarán a experimentar.

No dude en ponerse en contacto conmigo para obtener más información o empezar a planificar su viaje, o envíe un correo electrónico a info@leopard.voyage para obtener un itinerario personalizable para un viaje como el mío.

Feliz viaje,

Diana

P. D. No confunda la República del Congo (donde se encuentra el Parque Nacional Odzala-Kokoua) con la República Democrática del Congo (RDC). La República del Congo tiene unos 6 millones de habitantes, mientras que la RDC tiene más de 100 millones. Este marcado contraste de población contribuye a dinámicas diferentes: la República del Congo es más segura y estable, con menos presión sobre las infraestructuras y los servicios.

P. P. D. Para saber más sobre las diferencias entre el rastreo de gorilas en Ruanda frente a Uganda frente a la República del Congo, vea el breve vídeo a continuación.

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    Jessica is an accomplished strategic brand designer known for her typography and concept-led design approach. She used these finely-honed skills to develop Leopard’s branding and continues to design each of our personalised client itineraries.

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    Married with two small children, Caitlin enjoys spending time in nature, with friends, running, swimming and scuba diving. She describes her career as “meandering and colourful”. With a background in psychology and social development, she has worked as both a researcher and a counsellor. While moving into tourism seemed like a big shift, she soon discovered a clear continuity. "Travel can help people encounter life-giving experiences that reveal what it means to truly thrive and have the potential to influence how you live after returning home," says Caitlin.

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    When she arrived in South Africa, Pilar worked as a journalist and covered many big news stories for a newspaper and radio station in Spain. She considers it an amazing period of her life in Africa, but she wanted to embrace something different.

    Between working and being dedicated to raising her family, she travelled through southern Africa. During this time, her love for Africa, its sunsets, people, culture and landscapes continued to grow. Pilar wanted to share ‘the preciousness of this country and continent with everyone’. Now, as part of Leopard, she can do that.

    As a Spanish speaker, she works with the Spanish and Latin American markets and feels she is a true ambassador for South Africa. At Leopard, she works with clients to create a bespoke, tailor-made itinerary, where each day in Africa forms part of a perfectly dreamy trip. Pilar says that everyone should get to experience the magic of Africa.
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    Helen moved to South Africa in the early ’80s and after leaving school, she entered the travel industry. She travelled to many countries for business research and later became a specialist in travel to South America, which she visited numerous times.

    Her husband’s work required the family to settle in the little town of Mtunzini, a beautiful spot on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal, where she took a job in the finance department at the local school. This began a chapter in Helen’s life that prepared her for corporate finance. Later, Helen worked as an imports and exports administrator and then as treasurer for a large multinational company in Johannesburg while undertaking post-graduate studies in Corporate Governance and Administration.

    When she and her family moved back to Durban, Helen worked as a bursar of a large private school. She was delighted to be living near the ocean again and couldn’t resist getting her open-water diving certificate, as her son was a scuba diving instructor. Helen’s love of adventure and creation has been a constant theme throughout her life.

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    Daphnée was born in Lille, in the Hauts-de-France region of France. A passionate traveller, she has lived and worked in several countries around the world.

    She first worked in the United States, where she has family, then moved to England to complete a Master’s in International Marketing, and later to Oceania, where she tried “WWOOFing” — working on a farm in exchange for room and board. Along the way, she met a great love in Paris, who would later become her husband, and this brought her back to France to find work and start a family.

    Daphnée began her career in fashion marketing and, in 2012, created her own fashion brand, managing all aspects of building a business.

    In 2016, Daphnée and her family had the wonderful opportunity to live in South Africa. “The question didn’t even arise — let’s go, that was obvious!” she recalls. Since then, they have welcomed three children and are enjoying life in Johannesburg.

    Daphnée has worked in the tourism industry for 10 years, specialising in Africa. Her favourite countries include Kenya and Namibia, though she also fell in love with Madagascar and Botswana. Her next adventure will be to Zambia.
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    Founder | Senior Travel Designer
    Diana was born in Zimbabwe and started her life on the banks of the great Lake Kariba. She moved to South Africa when she was a toddler and grew up in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Diana has vivid memories of long winter holidays spent camping in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa with her family. Her parents loved the bush and her father started his own tour operating company in 1992. He was an early pioneering specialist in bird watching safaris in South Africa.

    As she grew up, Diana became aware of the big, wide world outside of the African countries she knew so well, and she took her first solo overseas trip at age 14 to London to visit her father’s family. From that moment she became fascinated with experiencing the world beyond what she knew. Diana has since travelled extensively through Africa, Europe, America and Asia.

    Diana is married to a Frenchman and has two young kids, who are simultaneously developing a love for biltong & braai’s, and baguettes & brie. After 16 years gaining valuable experience working for big corporates in South Africa, Diana decided to follow her passion for travel and start Leopard. Diana has had the privilege of planning holidays for American celebrities, European royalty and high-net-worth individuals as well as regular folks who want to do a trip of a lifetime to Africa.

    She wants to create, with Leopard, a company that gives customers something unique: a curated experience of Africa, made especially for them. She says, “From the moment they arrive in Africa, to the moment they depart, I want them to have a seamless experience. I want them to enjoy the best the continent has to offer, leaving with memories that last a lifetime.”