The Gashaka Primate Project
VISITOR INFORMATION

Access

image

The town of Serti with its tourist transit camp is the official gateway to the Southern, Gashaka sector of the park. The park entrance is located at the small nearby village of Bodel, which is also the location of the park head-office. Visitors travelling from the South of the country will pass through Katsina Ala, Takum and Beli, before reaching Serti; whilst those coming from the North can travel via Yola, Jalingo, Mutum Biyu, and Beli.

The Northern, Gumti sector of the park is approached through Mayo Belwa, Ganye, and Toungo.

There are other access points available at Njawai, Shirip, Mayo Selbe and Karamti.

Yola airport has connecting flights to Abuja and Lagos although their schedule tends to be erratic and unreliable.

Fees and Permits

image

You may obtain current information on fees and permits from the National Park head-office, PMB 07, Serti, Taraba State. Visitors to the Southern Gashaka sector should call first at the park's tourist transit camp in Serti. Visitors to the Northern Gumti sector should report on arriving to the park office in Toungo. There is also a National Park liaison office in Yola town, at Sabru House, 30B Mubi Road, Yola, where you may also arrange bookings. Guides and porters are available locally. As per 2012, adult non-Nigerians were charged an entrance fee of about 3£ plus a daily fee of about 4 £ for each day in the park; residents pay about a quarter of these fees. There might be other fees, e.g., for using your own vehicle.

Accommodation

image

As for the Southern sector, rooms are available in the tourist camp at Serti. Cooked Nigerian dishes may be found at the Serti motor park. Simple, self-catering accommodation is also available at Gashaka village, on the western edge of the park, at a pleasantly wooded site overlooking the River Gamgam, with panoramic views towards the park’s mountains. Facilities are basic but adequate and appropriate to the surroundings.

There is also some basic self-catering accommodation available in the Northern park sector at Toungo.

Camping

image

There are experienced and knowledgeable guides available for hire at Serti, Gashaka, and Toungo. Anyone wishing to explore the park on foot is advised to take a guide or a park ranger escort along as they are otherwise liable to get lost. Even some hunters are known to get lost on occasion. Many of these guides are ex-hunters with an intimate knowledge of the bush and everything in it, and know where animals can be found.

Although you are free to camp anywhere within the park please inform park headquarters before setting out so that they may make any special arrangements necessary. Please be careful with your campfire and bury all your rubbish, or preferably carry it home with you.

Guides

image

There are experienced and knowledgeable guides available for hire at Serti, Gashaka, and Toungo. Anyone wishing to explore the park on foot must take a guide or a park ranger escort along as they are otherwise liable to get lost. Even some hunters are known to get lost on occasion. Many of these guides are ex-hunters with an intimate knowledge of the bush and everything in it, and know where animals can be found. A small daily fee is charged for this service.

Services

There are post offices in Serti and at Toungo where you may purchase stamps and post letters. Since 2010, there is mobile phone reception in many settlements in the buffer zone around the park, including at Serti. There is no reception once inside the park. The nearest internet facilities are in Yola or Jalingo, but service is often unreliable. Petrol, diesel, kerosene and motor oil are all normally available in the region - although at often inflated prices - including Serti, Beli, Mayo Ngada, Gembu, Ganye and Toungo.

Transport

image image

It is recommended that all vehicles entering the park should have 4-wheel drive facility and must carry sufficient fuel supplies for the duration of their stay.

As for the Southern sector, it is possible to drive all the way from the park gate at Bodel into Gashaka village and beyond during the dry season (December to May). Access during the wet season (June to November), however, is hampered by a number of flooded rivers – although you can still reach Gashaka village, crossing the River Kam and River Gashaka by locally operated canoes.

In the Northern Gumti sector, visitors with their own means of transport may reach Toungo and beyond, but only during the dry season. The journey to Toungo after Ganye is difficult once the rains have started, and there is no road access beyond Toungo during this time.

Visitors arriving without their own means of transport can still enter the National Park using transport facilities provided on a regular basis by the NPS, or may hire local motorcycle taxis.

Medical Facilities

All visitors should come prepared with a small first aid kit and any medicines that they normally use. There are radios connecting the ranger posts in Gashaka, Njawai and Toungo with Serti, Lagos and Abuja, which may be used in an emergency. Hospitals or larger clinics are available at Gembu, Serti, Jalingo, Ganye, Yola, and Zing (Yakoko).

Water

image

In general, it is advisable to carry tablets or solutions that can disinfect water, as filtered water for drinking purposes is not easily found.

Water is provided for bathing and for other purposes at the tourist facilities at Gashaka and Serti. Bottled water for drinking can be bought at the local market in Serti, but not at Gashaka.

Trekking long distances through the park one quickly suffers from the effects of dehydration unless sufficient water is consumed. Fortunately the crystal clear rivers and streams that flow down out of the mountains provide numerous sources of safe drinking water, at least in the Southern park sector, and it is not necessary to carry large supplies of drinking water with you. However, many of these smaller streams are only seasonal so before setting out anywhere check with your guide to ensure sufficient supplies of safe water along your intended route.

For visitors to the Northern Gumti sector please make enquiries from local guides before setting out.