Loango National Park
Gabon · Africa
About
Loango National Park (French: Parc national de Loango) is a national park in western Gabon. It protects diverse coastal habitats including part of the 220-square-kilometre (85 sq mi) Iguéla Lagoon, the only significant example of a typical western African lagoon system that is protected within a national park.
Situated between the Nkomi and Ndogo Lagoons, Loango National Park spans 1,550 km2 (600 sq mi) of savanna, beach, forest, and mangroves. The naturalist Mike Fay called Loango "Africa's Last Eden", and this is where Michael "Nick" Nichols from National Geographic took his pictures of surfing hippopotamuses. Both men call Loango the 'land of surfing hippos'. Loango National Park offers the opportunity to observe elephants, buffalos, hippopotamuses, gorillas, and leopards venturing onto the beaches.
After South Africa, the world's largest concentration and variety of whales and dolphins can be found right off the Loango coast. The area has over 100 kilometres (62 mi) of uninhabited coastline with humpback and killer whales.
The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) classed Loango National Park as a faunal reserve and protected area for conservation.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.