This is a unique opportunity in the Republic of Congo, a new product with maiden sailings beginning in 2024 and the brainchild of an interesting global traveler, Nichola Ducret.

I lived in Brazzaville in 2007 and 2008. This is when I first traveled to Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in the north of the ROC for Western lowland gorilla trekking. I met Kingo, the only habituated silverback at the time, and a famous animal. He was a familiar face in National Geographic magazines. I continued to bring guests to NNNP and Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in the Central African Republic until NNNP was closed to tourism and Covid impacted travel.

In 2007, there was no highway connecting Brazzaville and Ouesso in the north. Flights were scarce, unreliable, and to be honest, sometimes downright nerve racking. A few of my itineraries included driving back and forth once the highway was completed. The difficulty of getting in and out of northern ROC was all part of the adventure, but the best part of an Nouabale-Ndoki NP itinerary – apart from the gorillas – was traveling on the Sangha River from Ouesso to the park and beyond to the Central African Republic. This is what makes Nicholas’ new venture so exciting. We travel by the rivers and if the photos of the riverboat are anything to go by, after her renovation in 2023, it will be a comfortable way to see the remote Congo Basin. We stop at Ba’Aka villages and spend two days and one night in Nouabale-Ndoki NP itself.

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