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MTP Member Photos - Gabon
MTP Member Posts - Gabon
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2012 Aug by Michael Novins |
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August 2012 -- I began my trip in Libreville, one of the least interesting capital cities in Africa -- the only interesting site is Marché Mont-Bouët, the largest market in Gabon, which has a bush meat section located deep in its center (visitors are not warmly received in that section, so you may need a local contact to enter and take photographs). I took the Transgabonais railway from Libreville (Owendo station) to Lope, where I stayed at the Lope Hotel (http://www.lopehotel.com/), the only hotel in Lope National Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site). From Lope, I traveled by train along the Ogooué River to Ndjolé and then drove to Lambaréné where I visited the Albert Schweitzer Hospital (on the list of tentative UNESCO World Heritage Sites) and stayed at L'Hôtellerie de l'Hôpital Albert Schweitzer. I made my arrangements with Virginie at Ngondetour (http://ngondetour.com/). | |
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1992 Nov by Jorge Sanchez |
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You do not make many kilometers per day travelling in Equatorial Guinea. The rivers have no bridges and often we had to wait for a raft (bac), apart from the many Moroccan mercenaries controls. Thanks to a humble Spanish businessman who had modest shops in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea selling ironmongers and trashy items, I could accompany him for free in his canoe from Kogo, in Equatorial Guinea, to Coco Beach, in Gabon. The center of Libreville was markedly French. There were grocery markets where you could find Caprice des Dieux cheese and Bordeaux wine, champagne and foie gras of partridges, bottles of pastis from Marseilles and croissants. Ordering a coffee with milk plus a small baguette of bread sitting on the floor of the central market I paid no less than 3 US Dollars, so in that city should practice fasting everything I could. The port was very attractive and several times a day I saw trains carrying logs of precious and expensive wood from the jungle, bound Europe, America, Korea and Japan. But most of all remember Libreville their thieves. When I walked through the market to buy bananas or papayas to eat, going to take the money to pay I found that my pockets were already busy, sometimes with two hands at once. I looked back and, to be discovered, the boys, who were mostly students, started running. I hid my passport and money in the secret pocket of my pants, where the wrong hands could not enter. The day that I got my visa the Congo I took the train to Franceville to enter the Congo jungle. To travel about 800 miles in nine hours I paid the shocking 24,000 CFA! For a train journey several months later in Tanzania, with twice that distance in kilometers I would pay only 3,000 CFA. It was my first train trip to Africa and arrived to the platform with several hours in advance to get good place. Having bought third class. I expected it to be like the trains in India or China, saturated with hundreds of native with her bundles. But I noticed that the train was half empty! At first I attributed the price so expensive, but then I knew it was worth twice the bus and much more time in the transport. The explanation was obvious to me after reflecting a little, Africa is sparsely inhabited. Across the continent live just over 700 million people. Part of it is due to poverty with its attendant famine, disease and lack of hygiene, and one of the consequences of slavery of the past four centuries. For its small population, Africa could be very rich. From Franceville I went to the border and the next day I entered Congolese territory. To travel about 800 miles in nine hours, from Libreville to Franceville I paid the shocking 24,000 CFA! For a train journey several months later in Tanzania, during that same journey across Africa overland, with twice that distance in kilometers I would pay only 3,000 CFA. It was my first train trip to Africa and arrived to the platform with several hours in advance to get good place. The train station was not in Libreville, but in Owendo, at about 10 kilometers distance, to the south. Having bought third class, I expected it to be like the trains in India or China, saturated with hundreds of native with her bundles. But I noticed that the train was half empty! At first I attributed the price so expensive, but then I knew it was worth twice the bus and much more time in the transport. The explanation was obvious to me after reflecting a little, Africa is sparsely inhabited. Across the continent live just over 700 million people. Part of it is due to poverty with its attendant famine, disease and lack of hygiene, and one of the consequences of slavery of the past four centuries. For its small population, Africa could be very rich. After a few hours journey the train left the Central Highlands of Gabon and penetrated into the jungle. That train journey from Libreville to Franceville was fantastic! I was very satisfied to have chosen the train to get to Congo instead of the bus via Pointe Noire and then Brazzaville. That train journey was called in French “Transgabonais”. It leaves Owendo four times a week and crosses Booué and Lastoursville (in Central Highlands) and then Moanda (in Jungle Interior). I spent a couple of days in Franceville and the third day I went to the border by trucks and still some days later I entered Congolese territory. Needles to say that I did not encounter any European, or Westerner, at all, in that exotic train journey. | |
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1988 May by Veikko Huhtala* |
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1988 we flew by Air Zaire from Kinshasa to Libreville, capital of Gabon. Gabon is located in the western part of Africa and the equator goes through the country. Its neighbour countries are Guinea Equatorial, Cameroon and Congo Brazzaville. Capital Libreville is situated a little bit north of equator. There are only 1,5 million people living in Gabon, from whom more than every third are livind in the capital Libreville. We stayed one night at small hotel near the beach. The beach was full of African Mahogany logs. I was wondering why they left this lumber rotting outside and did not sell it, because mahogany timber is very expensive. Gabon is French speaking country and it got independence 1960 from France. Gabon is not bad place to stay. For me it is on the list of top ten in Africa. From Gabon we continued our trip to Brazzaville by Cameroon Airlines. | |
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