The dry Seyal woodland was thickening and visibility was becoming impaired. Suddenly our Land Cruiser — once owned by Sudanese poachers and reclaimed and donated by the Chadian government — came to a halt. We were deep in the wilderness of Zakouma National Park, in the Salamat region of southeastern Chad, and one of our private guides had spotted a fresh leopard track. As we waited, a rare Patas monkey hurried across the path, followed by a pair of hooting Abyssinian ground hornbills. Distracted, we watched these primeval creatures in silent awe, before continuing eastward towards the nomadic market we were seeking to locate.
The park has been hidden away due to years of war and unrest, but is finally opening up to the outside world as one of the last strongholds for Central African wildlife. Indeed, exploring the ‘dark continent’ has come a long way since the days of Livingstone or Joseph Conrad. Finding somewhere we can describe as ‘Africa as it was hundreds of years ago’ is nigh on impossible, as human and economic pressures continue to squeeze the life out of whatever is left. However, this park is one exception.