Welcome to ‘The Last Eden’: Will Gabon become Africa’s new ecotourism hotspot?

This west Africa country is home to rich equatorial rainforest and incredible wildlife, just waiting to be discovered by a new wave of intrepid visitors. But, Portia Jones asks: is Gabon ready to become a mass tourism destination?

Gorillas waist-deep in the Fernan Vaz Lagoon (Portia Jones)

Elephants may be closer than they appear. That was my first lesson of forest lore in Gabon, as a one-tusked creature slowly shuffled towards me.

“His name is Emile,” explained Ghislain Bouassa – one of the first local guides to be trained after the creation of Gabon’s national parks network in 2002. “He’s on his own quite a lot,” he added, pointing at Emile’s damaged foot. The injury was slowing down the six-tonne animal.

On foot in the muggy Pongara National Park and clutching my increasingly moist camera, I’m frankly closer to the ambling Emile than I would like to be, but Ghislain was unfazed.