GABON AND SAO TOME 2002

Saturday 16^th November 2002  Plane

Got up at 10am and finished packing.  Got cab at 1:30pm to go to LGW and arrived at 2:30.  Checked-in, the flight was scheduled to leave at 17:45 but had been delayed until 21:25, so a few hours to kill at Gatwick South Terminal then!  Joy!  Had a Big Mac and smoked in the lounge.

The flight was half-empty, so was open seating on the Boeing 767 and there was a smoking section at the back!  Stopped off at Brussels and were kicked off the plane for an hour while it was cleaned and refuelled.

Took off about 11:30pm for Libreville.  Had some sort of fish for the meal, and a Castel beer which was bitter rather than lager, but was OK.  Tried to sleep.

Sunday 17^th November 2002  Train

A nice sunrise from the west, no clouds just rainforest and rivers below with the odd lake.  Scummy roll for breakfast before arriving in Libreville with a bumpy landing.  Time is GMT+1.  A few C130 Hercules at the airport which was small.  Went through immigration quickly and then waited ages for our bags to arrive.

Met our guide and walked to the Atlantic Hotel after dumping our bags in a van.  Nice hotel, with beach onto the Ocean and a swimming pool.  Had a buffet breakfast, and then had the tour briefing.  Changed money to CAF (1000 = £1) and then went for lunch at Cap Esterias.  Very bumpy ride.

Took a walk along the beach.  Many large driftwood logs and reefs just offshore.  Saw a few birds and lizards doing press-ups.  The Atlantic Ocean was very warm.  Had prawns and chicken for lunch which was OK.  Then took the bumpy road back to our hotel, before having a kip before getting ready to catch the train.

Watched the sunset from the beach.  Went by 4x4 to through Libreville to the railway station.  Quite a busy town.  The train loco looked French, a Bo-Bo.  Left on time at 9:30pm and stopped about 10 times at stations.  Saw the Trans-Gabon Express going back the other way as well as long goods train carrying trucks and hundreds of huge logs.

Stopped for an hour somewhere when the maintenance crew filled the loco with water using buckets.  Got into Lope at 5:30 am  3 hours late.  Went straight to camp in a safari truck and then to bed, during the dawn chorus.

Monday 18^th November 2002  Mikongo

Got up at 9am after a couple of hours sleep.  Nice hotel complex with a swimming pool overlooking the river.  Repacked bags into two before lunch, as need to leave some clothes in Lope.  After lunch had a bumpy ride to Mikongo which was in the middle of the secondary rainforest.  Saw a few birds on the way and colourful plants, but not many people.

Went for a jungle orientation walk before go to the lodge just as it was starting to rain.  Saw various types of trees  including water vines, fig trees and those with large buttress roots.  Also, some evidence of gorillas  droppings and broken leaves.  Walked as far as the river which was quite fast flowing, but at least the rain had stopped but was still very humid.

Saw a tree which had been cut down for the Research Centre and cut into planks with a chainsaw by sight.  The lodge is nice, and not as basic as expected.  Has electricity and running water (but very cold and refreshing after the jungle).  Had an early night (10pm) after dinner and a talk from the scientists.

Tuesday 19^th November 2002  Mikongo

Slept OK under the mosquito net, even though there were continuous jungle noise.  Up at 5:30am for breakfast.  Left at 6:30 for Gorilla Search.

Started by crossing the river by a large log  quite slippery.  Saw a couple of squirrels and lots of monkeys in the treetops  Black Colobus, Putty Nosed and Mangabee.  Lots of elephant dung, and their prints in the mud.  Crossed several small streams and was bitten by a huge ant  over an inch long.  Also saw several battalions of army ants crossing the paths, as well as some pretty termite mounds  some looked like pixie houses, others like a maze without a roof.

Saw several hornbills.  The large black-arsed (?) made a noise like a Chinook helicopter when the flew between the trees.  Lots of different fruits, some eaten, and fungi which are pretty and all very different.  Saw a couple of gorilla droppings and eaten fruits/leaves but not much evidence of them.

Arrived back at camp at 4:15 after 9.5 hours trekking!  After a nice cold shower and a few failed attempts at photographing butterflies we had steak and chips for dinner.  Early to bed at 9:30.

Wednesday 20^th November 2002  Ololo

Up at 5:30 for second and last gorilla trek.  Went a different route over two tree-bridges across rivers.  The second bridge has ropes far apart so cant hold both sides at the same time!

Heard a few monkeys and hornbills flying.  Terrain different from yesterday.  Much hillier with thicker vegetation.  Saw gorilla dung which was 1-day, 2 days and 4-days old, but no gorillas.

Heard chimpanzees and saw today’s dung, but did not see them.  Saw a snake which scared the guide and he poked it with a stick to make it move  very difficult to see.  Thunderstorm at about 1pm on the way back to camp.  Arrived at 3pm.

Drove to Ololo through deforested hills, on the logging road.  Steep hill to our camp but good 4x4 driving and steaming sand from the tyres!  Nice tented camp with nice scenery.  Tree-top bar.  Bathrooms were made of brick and the bedrooms were tents  just like Bandhavgarh in India.  Had spicy lamb with rice for dinner.  Went to bed early again after a couple of cans of Castel.

Thursday 21^st November 2002  Lope

Up at 5:30am again for the pirogue jaunt down the river Offoue.  Started raining just after we started, but not hard.  Brightened up just after 10am.  Saw a few monkeys of various varieties, hornbills, kingfishers but not a great amount of wildlife  except for the tsetse flies!

Stopped on the bank for lunch.  Saw a millipede and some nice fungus.  In the afternoon got sunburnt on the river.  We banked close to the Mikongo camp and then drove to Lope Hotel, passing a couple of logging trucks en route.

Back at the hotel dozed on the veranda for a while then walked around the grounds taking pictures of lizards and birds.  Nice sunset.

Friday 22^nd November 2002  Lope

Up at 5:30 and went for breakfast but nobody around.  No toilet paper in the hotel!  Got served breakfast at 6:30, then went for a game drive on the Savannah at 7am.  Saw a lone elephant who was sniffing the air with his trunk before hiding in the forest.

Saw a herd of buffalo, quite different from Cape Buffalo, but had yellow-billed oxpeckers all over them with a couple of cute calves.

Saw a fair number of birds, some very pretty bee-eaters and a couple of birds of prey.  Also a small herd of elephants in the distance.  Quite long grass on he savannah with clumps of bushes.  Saw a whole herd of bush pigs maybe up to 20, running across the road and into the bushes.  Quite red in colour.

After lunch it was very hot.  Chased the birds around the hotel grounds and tried to repack my bag  too much stuff as usual!

Afternoon game drive started at 4pm.  Saw a small herd of elephants with a small baby.  Got out of the safari truck to get closer.  There are many bee-eaters  very pretty birds.  Saw several buffalo mainly wallowing in mud baths.  Also very lucky to see a large troop of chimpanzees crossing the grassland towards some forest area.  One large male looked straight at us for several minutes before following his troop into the trees.

Nice sunset, more elephants and buffalo before making our way back to the hotel in the dark and swarms of midges.

Terrific thunderstorm in the night.

Saturday 23^rd November 2002  Libreville

A lie-in until 6am!  After breakfast drove to Libreville.  Road started as a dirt track with pot-holes, following the railway line and river.  Continuous rain forest.

On the way saw a decapitated buffalo, which had been hit by a train the previous night.  Was being chopped up by the locals!  Stopped of at a couple of villages and small towns en route.  As well as a ‘Kodak moment’ at the Equator.

Lots of crashed and burnt out cars, lorries, vans all the way on the side of the road  not surprising the way the locals drive!

Libreville outskirts were quite dire.  Shanty towns  aka Sao Paulo.  Checked into the Atlantic Hotel.  Took a walk down the beach and watched a great sunset when half the sky went red.  The ghost crabs on the beach were quite active too. 

Went for a meal in Libreville.  Out taxi there said he knew the L’Ibido restaurant where we wanted to go, but he drove miles into town before admitting he didn’t know where it was.  He asked a few people, including some chap with a rifle!  We drove back to the restaurant and there was a lot of bush meat on the menu  antelope, porcupine, python and bush pig.  I had a mixed grill with chips which was excellent.

After dinner, we walked down to the main road and hailed a taxi.  We agreed CAF3000 to take us to our hotel, the cab had a broken windscreen, dodgy door with missing fascia and felt like the suspension and differential were well buggered!  He stopped at the Continental and asked for another CAF2000 for the Atlantic.  Rip-off!

Nice cool night.

Sunday 24th November 2002  Sao Tome

Lay in until 9am, and then had a full breakfast  I think the idea was to cook everything with a tub of lard!

Went to the market in Libreville.  Lots of everyday items  pots, pans, soap, make-up etc  but mainly fruit and vegetables in a kaleidoscope of colour.   Lots of guys pushing wheelbarrows of goods, but was quite mucky on the ground especially as it had rained earlier in the morning.  Back at the hotel, walked along the beach to the Tropicana Hotel which had a huge buffet for CAF16000, but not enough spare cash so walked back to the Atlantic for a cheeseburger!

Checked in for our flight to Sao Tome.  Had to use the domestic check-in for international flight and went through a couple of X-ray machines and passport control.  No information about our flight in the departure lounge and no-one to ask!  Waited around panicking for bit before the flight was called.  Boarded a 737 with free-seating, the locals having a huge amount of hand luggage as usual!

Went for a short hop to Port Gentil first, which is on the coast, SW of Libreville and is an oil town.  The plane was full and half got off at Port Gentil and no-one else seemed to board.  Another short hop and we were in Sao Tome.  Quite warm, and the time difference of 1 hour makes it GMT.  Usual ordered chaos at immigration and customs then a short ride to our hotel which has a feel of a Mediterranean guest house.

Had steak and eggs for dinner, but the service was also of a Mediterranean ‘manyana’ style.  Had a few beers before bed.

Monday 25^th November  Sao Tome

Hot sticky night, with noisy air conditioner and dripping toilet.  Got up at 8am and sun was already very hot.  After breakfast, slapped on loads of sun cream factor 25.  Changed money into Dobras the local currency, and then had a roll in the bar before going on a tour of the town.

Went to an old fort to protect against pirates which contained the Sao Tome National Museum.  Went tot the post office where they had a huge collection of stamps.  On the shore of the harbour 5 small fishing boats had come in and the locals were holding their fish market.  There were swordfish or marlin as well as sole and lots of shiny silver fish.

Had dinner in a restaurant  Mixed Grill and Chips again!  Very nice with a couple of beers.

Tuesday 26^th November  Bombain

Up at 5:30 for a hike after a lateish breakfast.  Left at 7am and drover for an hour through Trinidade up to the Botanical Gardens.  Very nice orchids and some red knobbly flowers. 

Hiked to the top of the volcano crater before it started to rain.  The hike down took the rest of the day.  Crossed a couple of streams on good wooden bridges before we met civilisation again in the old coffee and cocoa plantations which some were dilapidated for years.

Saw a nice waterfall before coming across an old plantation house at Bombain.  Our ‘hotel’ for the night!  Extremely quaint, still being renovated.  The bathroom was basic and bare!

Had goat stew for dinner  lots of bones as usual, and also some bread fruit  very doughy and bland, and some sugar cane  not very sugary but chewy as the guides had been munching it all day!  Early to bed at 20:30 as I was so knackered!  Did not sleep too well as I kept thinking creepy-crawlies were walking all over me!

Wednesday 27^th November  Sao Joao

Up at 6am to see the workmen from the plantation houses coming to renovate the main house.  Had rice pudding for breakfast, then went around the plantation buildings.  The house with garden and fishing pond and walled garden.  The hospital and workers houses, which are still lived in.  The waterwheel for electricity generation and the drying and fermenting plants for the cocoa.  All very interesting.

Then hiked up a mountain and down again.  Didn’t rain that much!

Saw cocoa pods and sucked on them  taste quite nice, but they roast the beans to make chocolate.  The red bulbous plant stalk tastes like rhubarb  quite sharp but refreshing.

Went through Sao Joao, a small village and the kids walked with us to their village.  Very basic housing.  Our Roca for the night is full of character and history.  Very nice, but no electricity.  Had fish (still with eyes and head) with traditional Sao Tome vegetables  breadfruit, sweet potatoes, marok and some other things.  All very bland, boring and tasteless.

Thursday 28^th November  Sao Joao

Lay-in until 7am.  Left at 9am through the village to the beach.  Lots of women washing in the streams and lagoon.  The beach has blackish sand (volcanic), but the sea was warm.  Thunderclouds rolled up after lunch, then let rip at about 4pm for about 20 minutes flooding the hotel grounds and some peoples beds as the roof leaked!

Had bones and chicken and bones and papaya for dinner before the local drums and dance effort arrived and it was time for bed!

Friday 29^th November  Rolas Island

Another lay in, but awoken by a bleating goat early in the morning.  Went for a short walk to a waterfall, but it was not Niagara!  But women were producing palm oil for lamps which was interesting.

Drove south to another waterfall  much better  and watched girls doing their washing.  Stopped a couple of times to see the remains of a volcano poking through the clouds.  Had lunch on a beach which is to be run by ECOFAC as there were at least 6 turtle tracks and the start of a hatchery and camp complex.  Saw lots of crabs, but very hot.

Drove to the village to catch our boat to Rolas Island.  Nice fast speedboat, making those at the back wet!  The hotel here is luxurious, very out of place in Sao Tome with a lagoon swimming pool and individual chalets.

Went for a swim in the sea chasing fishes.  Beach combed on the way back to the hotel looking for pretty cowries.  Had a hot shower for the first time in days.  Met at the bar and then had some bony chicken for dinner.

Rained hard in the night.

Saturday 30^th November  Sao Tome

Up at 6am to watch the sunrise, but it was still raining hard so went back to bed.

Rushed to the restaurant in poncho because of the thunderstorms, for breakfast.  Still raining so delayed going out.  Rain eased by 9am so walked to the Equator up a short hill.  Marker was a small ball on a plinth, but was surrounded by oil drums and rubbish.  Saw a couple of blow holes ad nice secluded beaches, as well as lots of young coconut palms taking root directly from coconuts.  Walked around the island to the fishing village and then back to the hotel, past a wrecked barge.

A banquet for lunch, with octopus, fried breadfruit and pork chops. It was now raining again, but the boat back to Sao Tome Island was fast and not bumpy.  We could see all three pillar mountains.

On the way to Sao Tome town we stopped to see the disused industrial complex at San Juan, surrounded by kids as usual.

We quickly changed at the hotel and then went to the north of the island for turtle watching.  The town was still really busy at 6:30 when it was dark and so were the villages too, with many people walking down the roads in the dark.

It was a bumpy track to the beach, and we needed 4-wheel drive.  The picnic was a banquet with huge slabs of marlin and pork.  Loads of beers, but also lots of flying ants, huge hermit crabs and other creepy-crawlies.  About 8:30 we set off for our hunt for the turtles after a short drive to another beach.  We walked along for about 1km of beach between a sea wall and outskirts of a village.  Some fishing boats, with an effluent river between.  There were few signs of any previous turtles, as the tide was high.  Just a couple of pits which could have been made by anything, but the guide from ECOFAC assured us that this was a turtle beach.

I had a severe dose of the runs, having to have several ‘jungle moments’ which were quick, wet and slushy  possible due to the pork for lunch.  Anyway, after several hours walking up and down the beach and sitting on fishing boats, tree stumps and sea walls it was midnight and we went back to out original camp.  There were no sightings on their beach either.

We drove back to Sao Tome town, the dark streets now virtually deserted.  But on passing the harbour, our driver suddenly stopped and said he saw a turtle on the beach.  We rapidly debussed but it was nice a good sight.  Several locals were standing around a turtle in the gutter of the road, which was on its back.  The turtle was obviously very distressed and floundering.  We never found out what happened.  The locals said that the turtle had climbed onto the road and they had contacted ECOFAC to save it.

But there were no tracks to the steps, and how many turtles can climb?  The turtle was destined to be a soup!  There was little we could do although we would have liked to save it, we were unsure about the aggressiveness of its captors.  We left, and we had only managed to prolong the turtles fate by 20 minutes. 

A sad end to a pretty miserable and depressing day.  Hit the sack at around 1:30am.

Sunday 1^st December  Plane

Up at 7:3 for breakfast at the Avienda hotel in Sao Tome.  We drove to Monte Café coffee plantation and looked around the plant.  They produce 50 tons of coffee per year in April, May and June. And hope to increase to 1600 tons.  Quite interesting, they also produce a small amount of cocoa.

We went on to another plantation, with a huge hospital and waterfall before going on to the beach on the North Coast.  But the tide was in and it started to drizzle.  Another banquet for lunch at the beach with quiche, pizzas and lots of other goodies.  Trying to be careful what I eat after yesterdays bottom explosion!

After a paddle, we went back to the hotel to pack our bags for the return flight home.  Check-in was tedious as ever.  The tickets were completed by hand but we had a beer before departure.  The flight to Libreville via Port Gentil was fairly empty on a 737-400 but then at Port Gentil many more boarded to make a full flight.

We bump landed at Libreville and dashed to the transfers desk as we only had 50 minutes.  We shouldn’t have rushed though as the flight to Paris was 2 hours late.

I bought some duty free cigarettes for CAF8000 (about £10) and had a free bottle of water (wow!)  The plane was a 747-combi and was virtually full after the connecting passengers from Pointe Noire boarded late.  We took off 2:40 late and after some beef and spinach (yuk!). I managed to sleep for the entire flight.

Monday 22^nd December 2002  London

The film on the flight was MIB2 but the headphones did not work.  Air Gabon did not bother to give us breakfast either.  We did not land until after 9am, and did not have time to board the connection to LHR at 9:35 so were bounced to the 12:10 flight.

Not much to do at Paris CDG, but the BMI flight was fine, it was great to have civilised attendants for once!  We eventually got back to London at 1pm, but Air Gabon hadn’t managed to put our bags onto the BMI flight!  Fortunately, they were delivered home at 4pm, so it was not too bad!

The end of a trip full of expectation and disappointments.

Highlights - Gabon

§Rainforest

§Beautiful birds

Highlights  Sao Tome

§Plantations

§Rolas Island