Comoé is the largest national park in West Africa, an enormous block of savanna and forest in the northeast of Côte d'Ivoire, and its name comes from the river that runs through it. The Comoé keeps flowing in the dry season when nearly everything else dries up, and thanks to it, strips of dense gallery forest push deep into open grassland. The result is a mixture of habitats where forest animals and savanna animals share the same space, which is rare, and was one reason the park gained world heritage status in 1983.
The wildlife is serious but shy. Elephants, buffalo, hippos, several species of antelope and many monkeys live here, and the park is known for chimpanzees that build nests in the savanna woodland rather than the deep forest. Lions and leopards exist, though you would be lucky to see them. Birdlife is rich, with hornbills, kingfishers and raptors. The park suffered badly from poaching during the years of conflict in the early 2000s, and was put on UNESCO's danger list, though conservation efforts have improved and it was removed in 2017.
This is rough-country riding. Tracks inside the park are laterite and sand, rutted after rain and dusty in the dry season, and the nearest paved roads are some distance away. The best period is the dry season from about December to March, when animals gather by the water and grass is lower. The rainy season makes many tracks impassable. Come with a capable bike, spare fuel, plenty of water and repair kit, and ideally a guide, since mobile signal is thin.
Fuel is not available in the park, and the towns around it, such as Bouna, may have unreliable supply, so carry extra. On the way back through Kong, the old trading town, look for the Great Mosque, a wonderful example of Sudano-Sahelian mud architecture, with buttressed walls and wooden beams that stick out like pins.