Taï Forest Lodges | Informal Campsite

This is the parking spot and there's an abandoned building next to it. There is 4G here. You have to walk about 200 m to get to the eco village to which I will be referring to below.

This is the place to be if you want to see the chimpanzees, just don't show up unannounced like we did because you will waste a day until they organize everything.

The new name of the place is Tai Forest Lodges and the website is https://taiforestlodges.ci. The international phone number is +2250788088850 and they are on Whatsapp too. They have normal working hours Monday - Friday; I couldn’t reach anyone on this number on a Saturday. The caretaker Patrick was really nice to us.

They asked the enormous price of 350K CFA per person for two nights everything included (one in the eco village and one in the forest camp). We had out own tent and food and didn't need any porters, we just wanted to see the chimpanzees; they agreed to organize a guide for us without anything else (no food, porters or accommodation) for 150K CFA plus 30K CFA for the both of us.

We camped in the parking lot and the next day at noon we left with our guide towards the chimp camp (former research station), 7 kilometers / 2 hours deep in the forest. We carried all our gear. We slept in the chimp camp in our own tent and early next morning we went to see the chimps, which was a fabulous experience. We then headed back to the eco village, had the most expensive lunch (15K per person for fries and tuna sandwiches) and made it south to Tabou before nightfall.

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i arrived on a Sunday and the national park office in tai was closed. i therefore continued to the ecologe. i stayed one night at the lodge and the next day walked to the forest camp. in the afternoon we twalked to the mountain but on the way the guide heard the chimpanzees so we went throught the jungle to look for them. there were about 10 chimpanzees and we watched them as they were getting themselves ready for the night in the trees. we got real close and jt was a fascinating experience! I slept in the forest camp. the next morning we walked to the mountain. Excellent views from there over the forest! certainly worth the effort! Food at the camp was excellent, everything was qell organized and everyone did their best to make it a good experience! I paid 175.000 for everything, pricey, but worth it to my opinion

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Update: in January 2019 the Ecolodge was taken over by the owner of N’zi River Lodge who lives in Abidjan, he is apparently trying to appeal to clientele with bigger budgets. All bookings are now supposed to be made in advance online: www.nziriverlodge.ci or by telephone +225 88 08 88 5. Camping is now prohibited (we arrived after dark and the caretaker did allow us to camp for one night for free). The price is supposed to be 175,000 CFA if one person, 160,000 pp if with a group. We negotiated and ended up paying 100,00 pp (we were 4). We left in the afternoon and walked 7km to the forest camp where we had dinner and slept. Following day we had breakfast and then saw the chimps, we arrived back in the Ecolodge around 1pm. All meals etc included. I think the experience normally includes a night in the Ecolodge before going to the forest camp the next morning and also a trip to a mountain. Although expensive in my opinion it was worth the money. We saw the chimps very close, the guides worked very hard and really knew their stuff. The food was the best we have had in months.

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Now prices are transparent and written on a paper when you reach the main campsite. The park entrance fees are 15000 cfa for the first day, 7500 cfa from the second day. It's possible to camp with your own tent for 5000 cfa per night. Food and drinks are expensive, if you are on a budget bring your stuff. To see chimps the price is 40000 in the low season (from 1st April to 30th November), and 75000 in the high season. The primary forest is really amazing and you can see the chimps really close! In the attached picture there are all the prices for other activities

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We had a poor experience here.

First, some friends of ours visited before us and arrived in the evening and set up camp in the obvious parking lot. They were confronted around 9 in the evening by man on motorcycle saying they couldn't camp there and demanding a large amount of money. They sorted that out somehow and declined to visit the park because of illness. They reported to us that visiting the chimpanzees costs 25.000 cfa/person and got us the phone number of Sylvain (09742415), who's somebody big in the organization and spoke English. It seemed like a good price.

After arriving in Grand Bereby and discussing with JoJo at her campsite, she called Sylvain and spoke with a different person on our behalf and this time the price went up to include 15.000ppn park fees. Later that evening I called again and spoke directly to Sylvain, who added 20.000 to the price for what I thought was camping or accomodation. I asked very clearly at this point for the 'complete price' and he said 60.000ppn.

So we drove all the way out there and arrived in the evening and it turns out camping is forbidden and one must stay in Sylvain's 'Eco-Hotel' and tours only leave early in the morning to force you to stay in his hotel. Also, here we learned that to climb the 'mountain' is an extra 25.000 ppn or else you spend the whole afternoon sitting in their jungle camp (chimp visit is early the next morning). We had a bit of a scene to confirm that this was really the complete price. We considered leaving due to the deception but after driving so far we opted to go.

The actual experience was pleasant enough. The eco hotel is only eco in that it doesn't have a generator or running water, but was comfortable enough and had a pleasant view of the forest. The staff were nice and the included dinner/breakfast was fine. Next morning is the 7km hike to the forest camp. We arrived before lunch time. Lunch costs an extra 7500ppn! We brought our own. Around 2 we hiked to the mountain, which has a good view of the forest and mobile signal. It's not allowed to climb to the top of the mountain because it's sacred but they didn't tell us that until we turned around below the summit.

Around dinner time the guides informed us that the chimps had crossed the river a week before and the last few parties didn't get to see them. Unless the scouts could find them before nightfall we wouldn't see the chimps the next day. I was very depressed thinking of all the time, money, and kilometres of extreme potholes spent to get here and also angry that we weren't informed of this important detail until this point. Miraculously, the scouts came in well after dark smiling because they had found the chimps.

The chimps were far from camp and next morning we started hiking around 3 am. It was a long and humid walk with a lot of bushwacking at the end to arrive at the GPS coordinates for the chimps just before first light. Credit to the guides who were friendly, informed, and interested in their duty. We did see, hear, and smell the chimps wake up, eat some stuff in the canopy for 15 - 30 minutes or so (I got defecated on:), and then they began descending and were mostly gone although by frantically chasing the stragglers around the visit probably lasted an hour or so. It was really a nice experience to see chimps in the wild. After that was something like 4 hours of hiking to get back to the eco hotel. It was a lot of hiking in hot and very humid weather.

Back at the hotel they gave us a bill for 105.000 ppn, when we were expecting (and already angry about) a bill of 85.000. It turns out the night in the forest camp was not included in all of the other prices and cost an extra 20.000 which Sylvain failed to mention when we asked the 'complete price' before going in. Of course, when I demanded to speak with Sylvain he was now unavailable. In the end we gave them their money and expressed our displeasure at the ridiculous prices and especially Sylvain and his deception over the phone and in person.

This could be a nice visit but they must have better prices and be transparent about the costs, especially when we called to inquire. I thought chimp visits were expensive in Tanzania but this was actually more expensive. And the awful condition of the road from Abidjan is also a negative for this park.

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http://wikioverland.org - WikiOverland, the Encyclopedia of Overland Travel

Camping at the entrance to the National Park. Caretaker happy for us to camp here, but charged is 5,000CFA per night for two in a 4x4, and then entrance to the park (guided tour) was also very expensive. Amazing place, worth it in my opinion. Saw chimps extremely close up.
Call the caretaker when you arrive, or when you are back in town - 09742415 and he will organize a guide, etc.

There is a hotel with restaurant, etc, but I assume it's very expensive.

To get here, turn at the sign in town at N5.36.441, W7.28549

The North South highway here was a nightmare of mud just after that rainy season - trucks stuck for a week, etc. Extremely strong 4x4 recommended.

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