The Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary in Cross River State is a unique conservation project. Dubbed the ‘Drill Ranch’ and made famous by CNN and other media, it covers a vast stretch of rainforest on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon which is among only three areas in the world where drill monkeys (‘mandrillus’) are endemic.
It hosts drill monkeys and chimpanzees while red-tailed guenon monkeys and butterflies as big as your hand roam around. A true piece of paradise, established thirty years ago by American conservationist couple Peter Jenkins and Liza Gadsby, it is mantained truth their admirable work, that of international volunteers and a well-trained Nigerian team.
While it is an established stopover for so-called ‘overlanders’, the extreme travellers who stop there a few nights while driving their jeeps or motorbikes from Europe to Central Africa, anybody can visit and have life-long special memories of witnessing deepest Africa and sleeping in rainforest bungalows. To contact the Drill Ranch Team for travel enquires, volunteering or donations you can google Pandrillus, the project’s name.
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