These remote Congo Basin parks are home to diverse wildlife such as Forest elephants, Western lowland gorillas, Forest buffaloes, sitatunga and bongo antelopes, Giant forest hogs, numerous monkey species, leopards and a long list of endemic birds, including the African grey parrot. Nowhere else in Central Africa is there such a high probability of seeing all this wildlife in one place.

While wildlife research in the parks is an important focus, Nouabale-Ndoki and Dzanga-Ndoki also provide Africa's newest and most adventurous wildlife experiences for intrepid travelers – access to the world's only habituated Western lowland gorilla silverbacks and their harems; Central Africa's highest concentrations of Forest elephants; and the Ba'Aka, the Central African indigenous people who serve as gorilla trackers and who are the cornerstones of the gorilla habituation programs.

The parks receive a handful of visitors a year, many of them scientists and film makers. If you come, you can certainly count yourself among the trail blazers.