Tai National Park, Cote d’Ivoire
First Descent Scientific Expedition
This is not just a trip—it’s a true expedition. A scientific voyage of discovery. A real adventure, with all the uncertainty, challenge, and excitement that comes with it.
With only one previous descent of the river, this trip will require the ingenuity, determination and resilience of the group to succeed.
If you are looking for a gentle drift with regular meals and not much effort, then this is most certainly NOT the trip for you.
However, If you’re seeking a challenge in life…
To be part of something bigger than yourself
To push your limits—physically, mentally, and emotionally
To learn new skills and gain fresh knowledge
To work as a team to overcome real obstacles
To laugh in the face of adversity
To take part in a true scientific expedition—venturing into unexplored areas, collecting data, and making real discoveries…
To experience something you’ll remember for the rest of your life…
Then this might just be the trip for you.
So, how did this expedition come to life?
It started with an invitation… …… one of the owners was invited on a trip to the Ivory Coast by a group of scientist and conservationists in 2024 …. This happens from time to time and we immediately said ‘YES’ without really knowing the details or the destinations (any excuse to get off an explore somewhere unexplored!).
Turns out the trip was in conjunction with the Park Service of the Ivory Coast and had several purposes – to explore a pretty much unexplored area of this vast National Park, to observe and record as much of the wildlife as possible (remember we had a whole bunch of scientists with us) and finally to provide an assessment about the viability of promoting tourism in the area ….the latter is where we came in!
And now we can go back – a little more prepared and with a little more knowledge of the challenges and able to devote far more time to the scientific side of the expeditions.
The scientists will spend time cataloging the flora and fauna, taking benchmarks to enable them to monitor changes and exploring the jungle on foot each day (and night!) to look for new species, place camera traps, look for evidence of larger mammals – the pygmy hippo (think Moo Deng!!) forest elephants, the rare water chevrotains, bongos as well as otters and other amphibians. But also the smaller wildlife from the hundred of species of frog to soft shell turtles … and who knows what else is out there to be discovered.
So here it is….
A once in a lifetime opportunity to join a group on the first commercial descent of the river – facing the challenges of the river and jungle living at the same time as assisting and supporting the scientists as they try to create a base line study of the wildlife and environment in this wilderness ….. you won’t be a passenger – you will need to be part of the team – part of finding the solution – part of the effort!
This isn’t just an adventure—it’s a rare opportunity to be part of true exploration. A scientific expedition into one of the last untouched wildernesses on Earth.
It will test you, challenge you, and push you beyond your comfort zone. And in return, it will give you an experience you’ll remember for the rest of your life.
Here is a rough plan of the trip …. But remember this isn’t the kind of trip that has much certainty, so its flexible, it’s an aim – rather than anything set in stone!
Make your own way to San Pedro – you will need to fly into Abidjan and can then either fly the hour on to San Pedro or drive about 4-5 hours.
We will take care of food and accommodation on this night ….. but if you arrive early you will need to sort yourself out.
Day 1: Arrive in San Pedro – Cote d’Ivoire
Day 2: Planning and preparation day – San Pedro
Day 3: Transport to the put in and start paddling – River day 1
Day 4: River Day 2
Day 5: River Day 3
Day 6: River Day 4
Day 7: River Day 5
Day 8: River Day 6
Day 9: River Day 7
Day 10: River Day 8
Day 11: River Day 9 last day paddling – the home run!
Day 12: Pack up and transport to San Pedro
Day 13: Say farewell to all your team mates – and head home
An adventure expedition…
… to somewhere as remote as Tai National Park is an extreme logistical challenge – as a bit of an example just to get to the river will involve first a journey in 4x4s down terrible tracks, then when they can’t go any further, we will transfer all our equipment to a tractor and trailer. Finally, even that won’t get any further, so for the last 5–10km into the park and to the river, we will hire 40 or so porters from the local village to carry the canoes and all our kit…
An expedition of this scale is a major logistical challenge—and even with a grant covering part of the scientists’ research, the costs add up. The final price per person depends on the group size, as economies of scale make larger groups more affordable
These costs below cover all accommodation, meals and transport for all 12 days of the trip from arrival in San Pedro.
What’s Included?
12 days of guided exploration in a completely untouched wilderness
All accommodation, meals, and in-country transport
Expert scientific and adventure leadership
The chance to be part of a true first descent expedition
Pricing: A Rare Opportunity
The prices below are in US Dollars and are per person
5 participants US$14,939
6 participants US$12,983
7 participants US$11,857
8 participants US$10,997
9 participants US$10,708
10 participants US$9,981
11 participants US$9,608
12 participants US$8,989
This is real exploration. A test of endurance, teamwork, and discovery in one of the last untouched wildernesses on Earth. If you’re ready for the challenge—join us.
Spots are extremely limited—apply now to secure your place on this extraordinary expedition
Rough Plan of the Trip
Make your own way to San Pedro – you will need to fly into Abidjan and can then either fly the hour on to San Pedro or drive about 4-5 hours.
We will take care of food and accommodation on this night ….. but if you arrive early you will need to sort yourself out.
Meet the team and discuss the adventure along with a briefing about what you will need and what you won’t! ….. to get thought we are going to have to be reasonably lightweight. You will need to bring two waterproof bags to pack your kit on the river – one for personal effects and on for your tent and bedding. Other bags can be left in storage in San Pedro
We will also go and have a bit of practice / training session in the canoes – many of you will have canoed before but its always great to have a little refresher. We will also have a look at how to load the canoes etc
Then a final fantastic meal before we head off into the wilds
Its about 4 hours North up the tarmac in 4x4s before we turn off into increasingly poor dirt roads as we wind our way thought he plantations and small holdings. Finally, we reach a point where the 4x4s cant go any further and we will switch into a trailer dragged behind a tractor for the next 10-2km before reaching a point that even the tractor cant pass. Then its out on foot (with a few porters to help) as we head into the National Park – immediately the vegetation changes from plantation and small holding to ferns and towering trees.
Much of the park boundary has been impacted by poaching not only of wildlife but also of timber. The park has precious few resources to protect this vast Eden – which is part of the reason we are here – to trailblaze the establishment of tourism in the park which will boost their resources to protect the park.
Its about a 5km trek to the river where we will meet the rest of the team and out canoes. Packing our kit on board we will head off …. Downriver!
The days on the river are rather timeless. Typically we will be up shortly after dawn and gather for a cup of tea of coffee and some breakfast.
Depending on where we are there may be a short nature hike to explore and map the area – particularly if we have camped near a feature like an incoming fresh river.
Then its time load the boats and head down stream – there are countless obstacles on the river created by falling trees – some of these look like there have been blocking the river for a hundred years and others still have fresh leaves showing they have fallen very recently.
Negotiating them is a challenge! …some of the more recent falls with many small branches we can clear with a panga or machete to make a path, but the larger ones we need to haul our boats over (this is why we are travelling light!)
At some stage we will find a good place to get ashore and have lunch and a break from the river before pushing on.
From about 3pm we will start to look for a campsite – with no way of knowing how long its going to take to negotiate the obstacles, what interesting things we will discover etc there are no set campsites or distance we need to travel each day – we have total flexibility.
But finding a campsite isn’t always easy – the banks may be too steep or the vegetation too thick, or the ground too marshy ……
Having found a spot its time to clear a little and set up your tents before meeting for a cup of tea or coffee and discussion about the days successes and failures. Dinner is either early if there are plans for a night game walk OR there is a chance to swim / wash in the river and dinner after dusk.
Then we do it all over again ….. one of the things that sets us apart from the old time exploders is that with GPS we can actually watch our porgress…..
More river, more side hikes to explore and catalogue, more river obstacles
Pushing on ..the river getting slightly wider now as it swings more west into the heart of the Park
About 2/3 of the way along the river there is a massive rock hill that rears above ano otherwise remarkably flat and even carpet of jungle. Its about 400m to the top from the river and provides spectacular views and a very different perspective – its alsoa great spot of more wildlife and birdlife.
The actual summit of the rock contains sacred burial grounds but we can get up very high and scout the areas.
Our aim – but by no means certainty – would be to reach this milestone on River Day 6 and to pitch camp at the base of the ‘mountain’
We will stay in the same Mountain camp for a few nights – it s chance to get out on foot with excellent guides to show you more of the unique flora and fauna
The river from here down is much freer of obstacles and as a result researchers have been able to come in to study several of the chimpanzee groups in the area (we may have been lucky enough to see or hear some of the wild chimpanzee troops further back up the river)
Depending on where the chimps are a boat will come very early to carry us OR we will hike out with the aim of being with them as they wake up around dawn. Time spend with Chimp groups like this is magical – to observe many of our human traits in these wonderful animals is always so special – from love and protection to jealousy and bullying – its all there, just as it is with us.
With few obstacles this will be our longest paddling day as we head on downstream to the western edge of the Park and the take out ….. with a toast to our achievements (assuming we have made it 😊 ) we will have a feast on the final night by the river
We are still a long way from anywhere in very rural Cote d’Ivoire! …… so its back into the 4x4s for the 8 hour drive (most of it on dirt roads) back to San Pedro
The accommodation and a final dinner on this night are included in the trip …
Head off either to the airport or by road …..
This will be an epic trip of a lifetime! …… but rather sadly operating in such remote areas is never cheap …. The getting in and out, the equipment the staff team etc etc all adds up. We have tried to cost this as keenly as we possibly can and the more people on the trip then the cheaper it gets per person as we can share many many more of the expences.
We have also tried to include as much as we possibly can into the trip cost so there is no ‘nickel and diming’ during the trip … so this is pretty much everything from dinner on Day one to breakfast on day thirteen.