Can I climb Mount Nimba?

Only as part of a visit arranged in advance. The reserve is strictly protected, so walking on the mountain needs the agreement of the authorities who manage it and the company of a local guide, and a request can be turned down. The arrangements are made well before arriving in the region, not on the day. Where a walk is agreed, it is a steep climb through forest to the open grass of the ridge, so boots, plenty of water and a start at first light go with it.

Where can I see chimpanzees in Guinea?

At Bossou, near Lola, where the chimpanzees on the hills around the village are used to people. Visits are made on foot with local guides who know the group's paths; the group is small, the slopes are steep and a sighting is never certain. Chimpanzees catch human illnesses, so anyone with a cold, a cough or a fever stays behind, and visitors keep their distance and their voices low. Chimpanzees also live in the forests of Mount Nimba, where any visit falls under the reserve's rules.

How do I get to N'Zérékoré from Conakry?

By road, in about two days with a night on the way. The road climbs inland through Kindia to Mamou, then runs south-east through Faranah, Kissidougou, Guéckédou and Macenta to N'Zérékoré. Most visitors travel in a car hired with its driver, a four-wheel drive in the rains, and the journey takes longer in the wet months from May to October. Road journeys are made by daylight, so each day's drive starts early and ends before dark.

Travel deep dive

Forest Guinea: A Protected Mountain and Chimpanzees That Use Stones

Forest Guinea — Guinée forestière — is the humid, hilly south-east of the country, far from the capital, where Guinea meets Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. It is travelled for Mount Nimba, Guinea's highest mountain, and for the chimpanzees of Bossou. Nimba is not a mountain to walk up on arrival: its reserve is strictly protected, a visit is arranged in advance with the authorities and a local guide, and permission is never a given. N'Zérékoré, the region's main town, is the base for all of it.

Updated 2026-10-05

N'Zérékoré and the forest region

The forest region looks and sounds unlike the rest of Guinea: green hills where patches of forest alternate with fields and villages, and languages of its own — Kpelle, Loma, Kissi and Mano among them — spoken alongside French. Churches stand beside the mosques, and the customs differ from those of the Muslim north.

N'Zérékoré, the region's main town, is where most visitors stay; outside it, accommodation is simple. Its large market fills with the produce of the forest, palm oil, rice and fruit among it, brought in from the surrounding villages.

Lola, the town nearest the mountain

Lola, a small town east of N'Zérékoré, is the nearest town to the Guinean side of Mount Nimba and to the village of Bossou, and the ridge rises to the south of it, towards the point where the three countries meet. A visit to the mountain or to the chimpanzees is made from Lola or from N'Zérékoré in a hired car with its driver, with an early start, so that the walking is done before the midday heat and the drive back before dark.

Mount Nimba: grassland above the forest

Mount Nimba is a long ridge rather than a single peak. Its crest is open grassland, cool at that height, and below it the slopes fall away through dense forest to the farmland at the foot.

The Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, which protects the heart of the range, lies in Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its best-known inhabitant is a small toad that bears live young instead of laying eggs and lives nowhere but here, in the grassland of the high ridge. Chimpanzees, monkeys and forest antelopes live on the wooded slopes.

Bossou and its chimpanzees

Bossou is a village near Lola, close to the Nimba range and ringed by small forested hills. A small group of wild chimpanzees lives on those hills, and the people of the village have long left them in peace. Researchers have followed the group for decades, and it is known far beyond Guinea for one skill: the chimpanzees crack oil-palm nuts with stones, setting a nut on one stone as an anvil and striking it with another, a technique the young learn over years by watching the adults.

This overview comes from Visaja's worldwide missions database (visaja.com), checked against official government sources; for binding answers, the mission itself always has the final word.