Bata, a city that is also larger than the capital Malabo, is the starting point for exploring the continental part of the country, dominated by three parks of absolute interest: the Rio Campo Nature Reserve, the Mount Alen National Park and the Rio Muni Natural Reserve.
The small town of Bata, lying a short distance from some of the continent’s most beautiful and ‘deserted‘ beaches, is the country’s main town, thanks to its mild and pleasant climate compared to the humid Malabo, and is the privileged logistical centre for reaching the main attractions of the continental regions.
The Rio Campo reserve, separated from Cameroon by the Ntem River, is particularly interesting between December and February, when turtles come to its beaches to lay their eggs, but throughout the year you can enjoy sightings of hippos and huge goliath frogs (up to 80 centimetres long with their legs extended and weighing up to 3 kilograms).
The Mount Alen National Park, covering an area of over 2,000 square kilometres, is an adventurer’s paradise. In fact, there are no tourist facilities or marked trails in this dense tropical forest, which is home to elephants, gorillas, buffalo and leopards.
The Rio Muni Estuary Reserve is a 700-square-kilometre protected wetland of mangrove habitat, which can be explored by boat from the villages of Acalayong or Cogo in search of manatees, crocodiles and numerous birds. The inland forest offers incredible sightings, such as the Calabar ursine maki, the potto, the needle-nosed galagon and the collared mangrove.
