Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Gabon is Africa's conservation success story—nearly 12% of the country is protected in 13 national parks, several reaching the coast. Loango National Park is the only place on Earth where forest elephants, gorillas, and hippos share beaches with surfing waves and humpback whales offshore. The country is 85% rainforest, sparsely populated (under 2 million people), and oil-wealthy, making it one of Africa's most expensive but also most pristine destinations. Libreville, the capital, has surprisingly good urban beaches, while the remote south coast toward Congo offers untouched wilderness accessible only by expedition.
