Monte Alén National Park: Mainland Gorillas & Rainforest
On Equatorial Guinea's mainland territory, Monte Alén protects one of the Congo Basin's most biodiverse rainforest areas — western lowland gorillas, forest elephants, and mandrills in a rarely visited park
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Monte Alén Research Station
The park's Alén River headquarters has been active since the 1990s — habituated gorilla groups, chimpanzee communities and forest elephant corridors documented here
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Gorilla Tracking in the Equatorial Forest
The gorilla families of Monte Alén are partly habituated — tracking through the ancient forest with Bulu guides who read signs of gorilla presence in broken branches and feeding grounds
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Mandrill Groups
Monte Alén has one of the largest mandrill populations in Central Africa — the colorful males are most visible when supergroups form during the fruiting season
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Alén River Boat Journey
The boat trip up the Alén River to reach the park passes through pristine gallery forest - an extraordinary introduction to the Congo Basin ecosystem before reaching the park
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Bioko Mainland Contrast
The contrast between the Spanish colonial isolation of Bioko Island and the mainland rainforest of the Congo Basin shows how Equatorial Guinea's two territories are fundamentally different countries
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Bata coastal town
The mainland capital of Bata on the Atlantic coast is a growing city with a Spanish colonial center and the mouth of the Mbini River — a completely different character from the island's capital