Where rare meets classic

In the age of the information society, it’s become increasingly hard for travellers to cut through the noise. The internet and now large language models promise much, but provide little by way of original travel, the kind that is as much a journey into the self as it is a safari destination.

One way of staying ahead of the information curve is combining the relatively well-known with the relatively unknown, and one of my favourite places to do so is Congo Brazaville‘s Odzala-Kokoua National Park, where it is now possible to combine Kamba’s three eco-luxury lodges with a stay at the much more rough-and-ready African Parks managed Camp Imbalanga.

Both Will Jones and I have shared here our love for Odzala and the much more inaccessible Ndoubale-Ndoki National Park. Will first travelled to Odzala in 2018, with the writer Sophy Roberts and conservationist Roland Purcell, and has since guided the Financial Times’s Africa editor David Pilling. I’ve been in and out of the area every year for the past eight, initially to Ndoki on a photography mission as part of the park’s 50th anniverssary, and latterly either on my own or guiding guests.

Given this, I won’t labour Odzala’s many virtues, except to say it’s located in north-western Congo-Brazzaville, covers 13,500 km2, is managed by African Parks in partneship with the government, is largely accessible by foot and boat, and is a significant part of the Congo Basin rainforest, its mix of wet and dry forest and savannah habitats home to numerous species of flora and fauna, including western lowland gorilla and forest elephant. The park opened to tourists in 2012, with the now Kamba-managed tourist eco-luxury concession opening a few years later. Camp Imbalanga opened in 2023.

I love the Kamba-run tourist concession, which offers even the well-travelled guest an excellent base from which to explore the park. Of the three lodges, I like Lango and Ngaga best, and will always, if forced to pick, plump for Ngaga, if only because it is also home to a world class gorilla research centre, a showcase for what can be done for both wildlife and traveller. When staying at at least two of the three, guests are guaranteed a a classic mixed habitat experience, whether that is watching elephant visit one of the forest’s ‘baïs’ or boating down river or walking through forest and savannah.

Located on the eastern flank of the park, Camp Imbalanga was set up to help diversify Odzala’s tourism profile, with all proceeds going back into the running of the park. This is not for the faint-hearted: getting to Camp Imbalanga is a seven-hour river trip followed by another three-hour drive down a track cut just two years ago. The reward, however, is more than worth the effort, the camp situated in virgin Marantaceae rainforest, close to one of the very few baïs frequented by lowland gorilla as well as elephant. It’s an epically slow and wonderful experience.

Combining Kamba’s eco-luxury lodges with a stay Camp Imbalanga makes for a safari that meets the most informed expectations and at the same time is nothing like you might imagine. Getting here is something of a commitment, but that’s all part of it, the trust one puts in the ‘wild process’. Insert the unknown into the best of classic and something special happens, something even a large language model would be hard pressed to replicate.

From Camp Imbalanga, it’s possible to travel further into the unknown, into Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park along the Sangha River, crossing the border into the Central African Republic, and staying at Sangha Lodge and camping out overlooking the mighty Dzanga Bai. If you would like to learn more, please do get in touch. 

Images courtesy Kyle de Nobrega and Kamba.