A Ba’aka (pygmy) guide brings me into their forest full of WILD elephants 🇨🇫[S7-E77]

Summary

The video chronicles an exciting wildlife adventure in Central African Republic. The narrator travels through the jungle to reach Dzanga Bai, said to be the best place in the world to see forest elephants. After a journey fraught with car troubles, the payoff is immense - a magical, unforgettable sighting of over 100 wild elephants at the clearing. The narrator is awestruck by the elephants' rumbling, sounds, and footprints surrounding him. Despite past hardships traveling there, this once-in-a-lifetime experience with the endangered forest elephants makes the challenging journey completely worthwhile.

Takeaways

• 😀 The video shows the host's journey to see forest elephants at Dzanga Bai in Central African Republic
• 🐘 Dzanga Bai is considered the best place in the world to see forest elephants in the wild
• 🌿 The forest elephants create and maintain the clearing at Dzanga Bai to access mineral deposits
• 🚗 The host faced vehicle issues getting to Dzanga Bai due to the rough terrain
• 🏍 The host hitched a ride on a motorbike back to the lodge after the car broke down
• 🐘 At Dzanga Bai the host saw over 120 elephants at one time
• 🌳 The forest elephants have smaller ears compared to savanna elephants
• 👣 Elephant footprints can be seen frequently on the trails around the lodge
• 🍽 Local ingredients like mushrooms, pumpkin and breadfruit were served for dinner
• 😊 Seeing the elephants made the challenges faced by the host worthwhile

Q & A

Where is the lodge located that the narrator is staying at?

The lodge is called Sangha Lodge and it is located in the Central African Republic.

What magical place is the narrator going to visit?

The narrator is going to visit Dzanga Bai, which is considered the best place in the world to see forest elephants in the wild.

How many elephants did the narrator see at Dzanga Bai?

The narrator counted over 120 elephants at Dzanga Bai during the visit.

What makes Dzanga Bai a good place for elephants?

The soil at Dzanga Bai is rich in minerals that the elephants need, so they come to dig holes and access the mineral layers.

What happened to the car on the way back from Dzanga Bai?

The car overheated and broke down about 4 km away from the lodge. The narrator had to get a motorcycle ride back.

What kind of elephants live in the forest where the lodge is located?

The forest is home to forest elephants, which are different from savanna elephants and have slightly smaller ears.

What did the narrator eat for dinner at the lodge?

For dinner the narrator had a green papaya salad, mushrooms, local pumpkin, aubergine gratin, breadfruit, and fillet steak.

What did the narrator say made the difficult journey worthwhile?

Seeing the elephants at Dzanga Bai made all the past hardship getting there worthwhile according to the narrator.

How does the rainy season normally end at the lodge?

The owner said the rainy season normally just stops suddenly one day, marking the beginning of the dry season.

What do you do if you encounter an elephant while walking in the forest?

The rangers told the narrator to hide behind a tree if they encounter an elephant while walking in the forest.

Outlines

00:00

🐘 Arriving at Sangha Lodge in Search of Elephants

The narrator wakes up to a beautiful view at the Sangha Lodge in Central African Republic. He came here to see elephants at a special magical place that he will go to today. The rainy season seems to have ended which is good news. He travels by car to the park headquarters to meet some trackers before going into the forest.

05:03

🥾 Finding Elephant Footprints En Route

While walking, the narrator points out elephant footprints along the way. This shows that elephants walk on this same path in the forest.

10:23

🐘🐘 Discovering a Herd of Forest Elephants

The narrator comes across a large herd of forest elephants at a clearing called Dzanga Bai. This is the best place to see forest elephants in the wild. The elephants created this open space themselves and come here daily to get important minerals from the soil.

15:27

🚶‍♂️ Hiking Back While Avoiding Elephants

On the hike back, the narrator is careful to watch out for elephants. The guides mention they would hide behind a tree if they encounter an elephant on the path. There are footprints all around showing elephant activity.

20:32

🍽 Enjoying a Local Meal Back at the Lodge

After an incredible day, the narrator enjoys a local meal at the lodge using ingredients harvested from the forest like mushrooms and breadfruit. The experience made the entire difficult journey worthwhile.

Keywords

💡Central African Republic

The Central African Republic is the country where this travel vlog takes place. It provides the setting and context for the entire video. The vlogger travels here specifically to visit the Dzanga Bai clearing.

💡Dzanga Bai

Dzanga Bai is the main destination that the vlogger travels to in the Central African Republic. It is described as the best place in the world to see forest elephants in the wild. The vlogger highlights his magical experience seeing over 100 elephants there.

💡forest elephants

The forest elephants at Dzanga Bai are a major highlight of the trip. They are distinct from savanna elephants, with smaller ears. The vlogger is amazed to see them up close in their natural habitat.

💡Ba'aka tribe

The Ba'aka tribe are indigenous pygmy people living in the local forests of Central African Republic. The vlogger notes they harvest mushrooms in the forest, illustrating their close ties to the land.

💡Sangha Lodge

The Sangha Lodge is where the vlogger stays during his time in Central African Republic. It serves as his home base for accessing Dzanga Bai and provides local comforts like home-cooked meals.

💡minerals

The vlogger explains that elephants come to Dzanga Bai to dig for mineral deposits in the soil. This provides essential nutrients lacking in their normal diet.

💡rainy season

The vlogger arrives at the end of rainy season, which has prevented him accessing Dzanga Bai earlier. The lack of rain on one day signals the transition to dry season.

💡footprints

The vlogger frequently encounters elephant footprints along the trails, underscoring their strong presence throughout the forest even when not seen.

💡hardship

The vlogger emphasizes the difficulties and hardship endured to reach Central African Republic and Dzanga Bai, making the payoff of seeing the elephants even more rewarding.

💡conservation

While not directly referenced, the subtext of the video highlights importance of conservation, by presenting forest elephants in a rare preserved habitat and limiting tourists to avoid disturbance.

Highlights

Visiting the Dzanga Bai clearing in Central African Republic, one of the best places in the world to see forest elephants

It was difficult to travel and get permits to reach this remote location

Seeing elephant footprints frequently shows their presence in the area

Arriving at the clearing, an unbelievable scene with a large elephant herd

A magical experience being one of the only people seeing over 100 elephants

Elephants come to the mineral-rich clearing to supplement their diet

The elephants have kept the clearing open themselves over time

The walk back follows elephant trails, requiring awareness to not encounter one

Vehicle breaks down after overheating, requiring a 4 km walk back

Heart is happy after the incredible and unique elephant experience

Sees it as the best wildlife experience ever with world-class elephant viewing

A special moment worth all the past hardship to reach this remote spot

Enjoying a local forest meal back at the lodge after the memorable day

Appreciating the Ba'aka pygmy tribe who harvests mushrooms in the forest

Grateful for having the rare opportunity to have this magical elephant encounter

Transcripts

Look it's another elephant footprint, look

Sangha Lodge - CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Season 7 - Eps.77

Good morning Internet, it is 7:50 in  the morning and welcome back to the channel

I have been waking up to this view staying right here at the river

Welcome here in Central African Republic

And if you've watched the last couple of episodes then you know that it was really difficult to get here

But I came here for one thing only and that is hopefully what's going to happen today

So I'm now getting ready. Uh. I'm going to a very, very special place I don't want to tell you yet where  

So without further ado, let's go

And you know what? Yesterday was the first day that it didn't rain here

And the owner of the Sangha Lodge, where I'm staying here

He told me that that's usually how the rainy season ends, so it had been raining every single day for the last two weeks

at least and then he said normally, it just stops one day it just stops and the dry season begins

So.. let's hope that this was actually the last day of rain

And that I'm now entering the dry season, that would be great

So this is the only way to get to the lodge, how cool is this

See Alaska is still standing over there

Okay

What's your name?

Ube - Ube

Okay

And you?

Noraly - Okay

So Ube and me are now going to.. - Dzanga Bai - Dzanga Bai

Dzanga Bai that's the magical place we're going to the park headquarters first

And then I think I'm going to meet some trackers and then uh.. I'm going to do some walking

Which is actually I think quite good. I had a really good upper body workout the last couple of days

So I'm really looking forward to actually do some walking

Hard to believe but it's true

We reached the park headquarters

This is a guard. You are going with them so I'm just going to make sure there is someone over there

Okay great

It's very clever to pack your bike - Yeah

We have a little problem, oh

That was the problem

We have a loose hose

It's like we're making tea

It's just boiling

Crazy

No

Yes!

So the car actually made it

Really good job. Um, one of the guys had to run to the river five times to catch water

To fill up the radiator because everything was a bit overheated

But uh.. we have a good.. we have a good team!

Okay, we have to cross a little stream here

See this is a footprint of elephant.  We keep on seeing footprints

So the elephants actually walk here  as well

Here there's another footprint

Look it's another elephant footprint, look

Look, there they are

Unbelievable. Look at this

How is this for an amazing place, right?

This is the best place in the world to see elephants in the wild

These are forest elephants which are  different from the elephants that you find in the savanna

I believe they have slightly smaller  ears but because normally they live in the  

forest you barely see them but the elephants actually created this open space themselves  

They come here every single day. It's absolutely magical, right?

Elephant Mom & her tired baby - a short story -

We're going again

We're now so close to the elephants

That was an absolutely amazing experience. At some point I counted 120 elephants

All there but many more were coming and going all the time and it was just me

And the rangers there. Absolute the  best wildlife experience I have ever had

It was just magical. And you could  hear the rumbling of the elephants

Footprints

And they were chasing  each other and wah

What an amazing experience and it was a really hard fight to get here

Hear that?

It really was a struggle to get here, I have to admit

But it was so worth it. It was absolutely worth it

Wow

I'm kind of on an elephant high right now

So this place is called Dzanga Bai and Bai in pygmy language

Means clearing in the forest with a water source

And the elephants like to come here because the soil is very rich in minerals

And they need those minerals as an addition to their normal diet

So they dig deep holes to get to the mineral layers and in that way they keep the clearing open all the time

But eventually the flies kind of chased me away

They were relentless but this forest is just so full of the forest elephant

And where we are walking now, I mean you see the footprints

Um, I asked them do you ever encounter them here on the walk? And they're like yeah

So I'm like, what do you do? And they're like hide behind a tree

So yeah

We're constantly on the lookout to make sure that we don't encounter an elephant right here

Ah here

Small problem again

Oh, the hose came loose again

The car has finally.. I think it died  now

We pushed and pushed but we can't get it started again. So the lodge is about 4 kilometer from here

So I'm going to hitch a ride on a motorbike because in the end motorbikes are always better!

Right?

I'm going on the wrapped motorbike

I think it's very clever. I'm going to do  this also for my bike, it keeps clean

Yeah

Okay

Oh, sorry yeah.. got it

Okay - Yeah okay. There we go woohoo!

I am back at the Sangha Lodge

And the sun is going down now

So pretty here

That's amazing

I am back at the lodge. What an incredible day

I don't know my heart is happy. It was.. it was a unique experience and I think the best wildlife experience I ever had

Seeing the elephants today it.. it made it all worth it, it made it all worth it

Like yeah, all the past weeks of hardship or a little bit hardship

Yeah, it made it all worth it and I would say absolute world class

I think yeah, probably the best place to watch elephant in wild

And then especially, forest elephants there are not so many of those around unfortunately anymore

So to see you know, at some point, I counted 120 you know in the one sighting

It was just incredible and and no other tourist it was just me and the rangers

Yeah, as I said my heart is happy

That was it for today, I really hope you like this video

If you did, please give a big thumbs up. Subscribe down below and then I'll see you in the next next video

Alright we're going to give Alaska a little clean because she is an absolute mess

For supper, we have a green papaya  salad

Mushrooms from the forest

It's like a local pumpkin

Aubergine gratin

Breadfruit, otherwise know as Maron

.. and fillet steak

Enjoy - Thank you wow

So they use a lot of the.. of course local produce what

grows here. So this is some kind of uh.. it's kind of like, a potato mash

But then it comes from this, it's a fruit yeah

It's amazing and then the local pumpkin

Looks like this

.. and these mushrooms are harvested by the Ba'aka, the local pygmy tribe .