Central African Rainforest

Africa truly is an amazing continent with a wide variety of climates and activities available to travelers. In grassland country, a person can go on an African lion safari. In West Africa, people can visit the central African rainforest, also known as the Congo Basin.

Rainforests can be tough, unforgiving environments full of foreign and potentially dangerous creatures. However, many areas in the central African rainforest are tourist friendly, as tours or safaris occur there frequently. Gabon, for instance, is one African country that is 70 percent composed of rainforest, as it lies in the Congo Basin region. Visitors to this lush, illustrious country can go on tours which almost guarantee sightings of many rare and exotic birds, such as parrots and cuckoos. In addition, the rainforests of Gabon are home to a number of primates, including the Western Lowland Gorilla and Mandrills. Forest elephants are also a common sighting in Gabon. If travelers need a break from the intense beauty of the rainforest, the city of Libreville in Gabon is a major attraction for visitors. This city, one of the richest in the world, is renowned worldwide for its export of timber and oil. Consequently, it has a high class nightlife full of exotic clubs and bars. Since Libreville sits next to the ocean, many whales, dolphins, and other exotic coastal creatures can be viewed from the city's beach.

Despite the wondrous nature of the central African rainforests, there is a significant amount of political unrest in the region. This leads many people to ask: is it safe to travel to Africa, or more specifically, West Africa? Unfortunately, other than the country of Gabon, many countries in West and central Africa are simply too dangerous to visit.