ATM is eating my creditcard!

Libreville, Gabon

Libreville, Gabon

My domicile here in Libreville is called Maison Liebermann. Behind that is the organization of Christian women, however, they also offer rooms to tourists. So far, in these places of the church I was never questioned about my religion, but as my parents gave me two names (Andrea Maria), maybe this comes in convenient for those Christian places and stops them from asking the obvious…. The first afternoon in Libreville I spent with the attempt to withdraw money out of one of all these ATMs in town – just to come back to the normal procedure changing cash with a Lebanese around the corner, after the ATM has eaten twice my Visa card. It is not exactly a pleasant to see the Visacard entering the machine, but not coming out again! Now, I know, all this happened, because my bank issued a new card against all promises during my travels, which is now very safe back home in Germany – the old one was invalid then. It is quite astonishing, as exactly the same thing happened on my last Africatrip in 2002, just with another bank…..

Movie making in Gabon

Entering Gabon was easy, it just took some time, as the only official was just about to pick up a letter at the post office.- 26 kilometers away. So, there was a little bit of a delay. However, was not of any importance, as the Gabonese border post was the end of travels by Michels jeep and there was no other transport to continue the journey anyway. With the border official another car arrived and my luck of the day continued.

Rose Canyon, Leconi

Julian, a friendly man over 60 without a single tooth in his mouth, was pleased to have a tourist in his car and drove me 26 kilometers to the village of Leconi. Here, we completed the entry formalities together. Julian is the boss of a factory for processing of manioc – which is not only used as local food, but also for production of medicine and oil. I never before came across that, so on a trip like this one can really learn a lot! For sure, I was interested to see the factory and the huge manioc plantations. After that, he took me to Hotel Leconi, and as I showed a lot of interest in his work in the factory and as he the boss, he decided on the spot, that I am a VIP guest from Europe, who is paying a visit to the factory, the manioc plantations and village Leconi. So, accommodation and food will be on expenses of the factory…. Wow, that is something unusual! Just imagine a reaction like that in good old Germany!

Rose Canyon, Leconi

At Hotel Leconi, there was also a team accommodated to prepare the setting for the movie "The lion of Poubara". This movie is about lions, which will be freed to live in the jungles of Gabon. Emmanuel, an architect, is working here to construct the huts and villages for the movie. This was very interesting also, as I learned a lot about the former life of people in the villages as well as about the work at a movie setting.
In Leconi itself, there is not so much to do or to see, the treasuries are outside of town. Not far away, but on a dirt road, there is the pink canyon. This canyon shines really super pink, especially in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, the famous infamous porous, very tiny mosquitoes, wake up exactly at the same time. And they can bite really terribly. Later, I also learned, that those bites or stings heal quite badly, above all in this muggy-hot climate with approx. 35 degrees centigrade and a humidity of about 90 percent.

Poubara

Emmanuel

Next day in the afternoon, Emmanuel had to drive to Franceville, so, I got a nice ride in a private car again. In Franceville itself, there is also not so much to see or to do, but the countryside is lovely with a lot of hills and also forests. In parts, Gabon looks like very green hilly parts of Europe, just houses and for sure people look different. Emmanuel was here for work, but as this work was always in the bush, it was for sure interesting for me to come as well! There was also Jean from France, who is in charge for the planning of the setting with the lions, which are to be freed in the forests of Poubara. It was a matter of finding the right place with the right light, the right trees, with possibly many lianas and thick bushes, where it is easy to hide the cage, etc….. Then in the afternoon, Jean left by plane to Libreville and Emmanuel and me went to a small village. Here, the locals had produced huge piles of mats for the movie villages. Now, the mats were counted, loaded in a big truck and transported to Leconi. The negotiations and the counting of the mats lasted much longer than planned. Normally not a big problem, but this time I was a bit pressed in time, as my train to Libreville should go around 7.15 pm… And of course – if you need a local transport to be late, it is certainly on time. Well, to make it short, I missed the train! But for sure, there are more disagreeable places than Franceville to get stuck for 2 days…

Poubara

There are quite a few things to see outside Franceville, however, without a car, it is somehow difficult to reach them. About one hour from Franceville and also in Poubara, there is a liana bridge and a big waterfall. As Emmanuel had to go back to Leconi, I took a taxi to go there. Already the journey itself was highly adventurous, since already on the way there a tire burst with a big bang. The bridge was really great. Of course, it was swinging quite a bit, and my guide, an about 12 year-old fellow, had a lot of fun in making it swing even more…. The waterfalls and rapids were impressive, above all the setting in the middle of the rain forest. The way back became even more exciting. Shortly after our departure, the second tire burst. For sure, no one is carrying that many spares. In Gabon as in other african countries, there is of course no phone network in the bush. So, we drove slowly with our broken tire and increasingly more broken growing rim 20 kilometers up to the tarred road. From here we could inform a friend of the taxi driver by phone where we are, so that he can deliver another tire……

Poubara

The same afternoon I found a snake sunbathing just in front of my door… It was not a really big snake, maybe half a meter, but in Africa I do not really trust any of these creatures, especially so close to my room… The waiter, whom I asked for help, had a quick look on the snake, came back with a big piece of wood – this was the end of the snake. Apparently it was a poisonous one, not to die from, but one needs to stay several days in hospital after a bite….

From Franceville it is a long way to the capital of Libreville. Other overlanders told me, that the road to Libreville is in a very poor condition. The train is a lot better option to travel these 820 kilometers. If everything goes well, it takes about 10 hours. However, last week, they had an engine problem and the poor passengers were three full days and nights stuck in the train….. So, I decided, I better stock up on food and drinks before entering that train – one never knows. The train left exactly on time. This allowed me to hope for the rest of the trip. I was travelling first class, as this assured a reserved seat. The first 4 hours I travelled together with a nice Cuban doctor, so we had 6 seats for the two of us. Then 2 more people entered our compartment, which made sleeping less comfortable, but still a lot better than in second class without any possibility to reserve a seat. Strange enough, sometimes, Africans like the cold, the AC in the train was put so cold, that I got up at night to get my sleeping bag out of the backpack. Around 8 pm our train stopped in the middle of nowhere and did not move anymore. There was also no electricity, so it became rather hot within a very short time. Soon, there was the news about a more or less severe engine problem…… Several oil-smeared mechanics came and went, a few uniformed train people came and went without further explanations. We sat like this for 3 hours – then suddenly, the train continued without any further problems to Libreville, where we arrived after 17 hours early in the afternoon.

Michel - the best host in the world!

Michels house, Okoyo

But it is definitely better and safer to travel a road like this with a local-expert driver in a good jeep than in an old and bad maintained truck. Michel is absolutely an original, indeed, probably a little bit lonely as the only mundele within about 250 square kilometers. Anyway, as my french was already improving and he was speaking slowly and clear, we found a lot to talk and the four-hour journey to Okoyo passed fast. By truck this would have been a trip of half a day – at least!

Michel and the Chinese

Okoyo is a nest with about 3000 habitants, not so long ago without a tarred road, still without electricity or running water. For the road construction workers, housing is a little bit different for sure ­ their houses have air-conditioning and all the other comfort, moreover, there is even satellite internet! Michel occupies some locals as cook, house keepers, etc. When we arrived around midnight, the cook served us a great dinner, which was followed by something I have already dreamed for a long time ­ really good cheese. Well, I am staying with a French man here! In Okoyo, there is not an awful lot to see: there is a small market, one shop, which is better sorted than the others (does not really mean a lot), an elementary school, a hospital (without doctors and without interior arrangement or medicine, because the doctors who have originally worked here, took everything with them to their own private clinics in Brazzaville), there is a police station and various churches – that's it basically.

City center of Okoyo

Not far away, there is a quite big river. On the shores, Chinese workers build two ships at the moment. These ships are supposed to transport goods for the road construction on the river. For sure, as there were so many Chinese people here, local children called me again Chinese…. A lot of my time in Okoyo, I enjoyed staying in the air-conditioned house, it was nice by itself not being on the move at the moment, and I simply took it as a resting place from traveling. I read a lot, watched French TV und spent quite some time at the net, trying to find out about the best way to reach western Africa. All that came with good food, cheese and ham sandwiches, beer, champagne, red whine, pasties, just anything one can imagine. All these things need to be bought in Brazzaville, about 9 hours by jeep. For sure, all these items are imported from Europe, and there is only one shop in Brazza selling all this stuff, probably at whooping prices.

Road to Gabon

As the road here is in a terrible condition, it is used by only few trucks. Which transport goods from Gabon to RC or vice versa. Another possibility are sometimes Chinese trucks which go once a while from Okoyo to Franceville to organize supplies for the road construction. During my four days with Michel, there was only once a truck going to the border with Gabon. And this one we managed to miss. As my visa for RC was only good for 15 days and it was already about to be finished, Michel decided, that he will send me by jeep to the border. One day, one of engineers has to travel all the way to the border anyway to take some photos of the road and the bridges, so why not now.

Road to Gabon

So, I left Okoyo as I came – in a fancy jeep with a driver. However, this part of the road was by far the worst, I travelled on this trip so far….It was 80 kilometers to the border. Astonishing enough, it took us only 4 hours, as the driver was really a good and brave man.The road was really cruel. Here, I also want to say thanks to Michel for his friendship, for organizing everything for me and for being a great host. The border between RC and Gabon are about 20 kilometers from each other, and I was glad that the jeep was allowed to take me all the way to the Gabonese border post, as for sure, in between, there was also no traffic! Crossing of the RC border post was kind of stressful, as the official could not read tourist visas and strictly stated the visa was already expired. It needed some time and argumentation skills to make him allowed me to leave. To be on the safe side, I also just refused to understand the bad word cadeau (present) …. So, after a while he just gave up and let me go.

Oyo and the stupid thief

Well, I spent more time than expected in Brazzaville, as I was a kind of suspicious of maybe having malaria. So, I wanted to be sure and do a test in a clinic, before heading in the bush. The test was negative, so the following day, I boarded a bus to Oyo.

Oyo

Oyo is the place of the president, here he was born. As a decent president should behave, he looks after his native country and so Oyo has definitely better infrastructure, better streets, schools, administrative buildings and even soon a hospital than other places about the same size (about 10,000 inhabitants). Oyo is also connected by a narrow, but very good tarred road with Brazzaville. Therefore, the coach trip for these 400 kilometers took only 5 hours. In RC, people are very friendly towards strangers, but, nobody thought of me a tourist. Usually, foreigners come here for business.
In East Africa, I was often called mzungu; the equivalent here is mundele (white person). Here, I encountered something a bit bewildering, as lots of children called me Chinoise the french word for Chinese. Well – as in many other african countries, also in RC it is mainly chinese people, who are working in road construction. Local children make quite obviously no difference between foreigners from Asia and Europe, and as I am obviously not black, I must be Chinese. No doubt about this!
In Oyo, I visited the most important things by motorbike: the residence of the president, the huge villas for the big family of the president, the cemetery where the favorite daughter of the president and wife of president Bongo of Gabon is buried, the lodgings for the ministers of the president… Not difficult to find out without even being there, this is the town of the president! And the locals are proud of it.

Oyo

Construction work

Hairdresser, Oyo

In between all these palatial buildings, there is also space for normal citizens. In Oyo, they have a big, well organized market, a harbor for cargo and passenger ships, and a few supermarkets usually run by Lebanese and Mauritanians and all-important: a small chicken barbeque, where half a chicken was sold for only 3 US! Currently, the most important streets around the president palace are a big mess and about to be paved soon, as in mid march, the president will held a big party with many African presidents and all available ministers. Apart from dust and noise due to the road construction, most of the habitants along these roads did not have running water or electricity since weeks, as both was put down because of security reasons. This also affected my hotel, but a bucket shower with water from a nearby river is nothing unusual in Africa, and they also provided candles in the hotel. A problem was the heat at night – 30 degrees centrigrade in the room without a fan is somewhat unpleasantly warm…. Although I am already quite African when it comes to temperatures after more than 8 months traveling here, but, however, 30 degrees is definitely too much. Anything more than 27 degrees for sleeping I still rate as a bit uncomfortable…

Market, Oyo

The original plan was to stay in Oyo only one night, finally, I spent three nights here. The reason was a little bit weird, as I was robbed the first evening – by a young man, which appeared first quite nice and normal. We visited his family and friends, exchanged telephone numbers when we sat together in a small local bar. When I went to the bathroom, I asked him to take care of my backpack. Better not to take a bag in African public toilets… Shortly after he accompanied me back to my hotel, which was very nice as it was already dark, especially; as there was no electricity and the streets were dotted with gigantic holes due to the road construction… The fact, that the camera was missing, I realized only the next morning, when I packed! As I had the telephone number of this guy, I took my miserable french and called. He stated he does have the camera and, moreover, left Oyo this morning for work. I explained in drastic words, that I will finish him in this small village of 10,000 souls, if he does not hand over the camera. First, I went to the police, accompanied by a few hotel employees, some neighbors and other interested people (finally, there is some action in sleepy Oyo), then the military. After that, a lot of people wanted to help and swarmed out in the whole town to tell everyone on the street, whom we search and why… Well, in the early afternoon, the guy got cold feet, and camera was delivered to the hotel by a small boy…

Marietta from Oyo

After that day, I was probably known by at least half of the population of Oyo as the mundele with the camera! In Oyo at least I was not rated any more as Chinese! After all, the delay had many positive sides. First, I got to know Tayssir, a Lebanese and hotel and restaurant owner. As he offered me a special room rate, I moved into is hotel. Moreover, I got to know an absolutely charming local lady, Marietta. We had a lot of fun at the market, went to a tailor, I even tried myself in crushing seeds and palm fruits at her home… I always knew that I am not very good in cooking, but I even failed in crushing seeds into fine powder… Something else happened because of this delay: At Hippocamp Hotel in Brazzaville, there is a book for overlanders, where people can write down their reports about their travels and share their experiences on the way. A lot of people raved about Michel in Okoyo, who happily helps out travellers passing through, even providing them with an AC room in his own house, nice food and all other amenities. He is the big boss for the road construction project between Oyo and the border to Gabon, and for sure, as it was on my way anyway, I wanted to visit this hospitable french guy in Okoyo. It turned out, that Tayssir knows Michel! He gave him a call and so we found out, that the following day, Michel would travel by jeep from Brazzaville via Oyo to Okoyo! I took that as a great sign of destiny and got ready for a lift for the following day! The road to Okoyo is under construction, and therefore still a bad road. This part, I was about to travel by truck.

Nice and safe in Republic of Congo

Brazzaville

Once you made it into Brazzaville, the place turns out as a very pleasant city. Brazzaville has many restaurants, some hotels, well sorted supermarkets, some internet cafes and lots of taxis. Actually, everything, one needs. There is not so much to see, but this is nothing unusual for African cities. There are a few monuments, a handful of interesting buildings, the city has recovered from the war quite well. First, we paid Ecofac a visit. This is the park management for the Odzala National Park in the north of RC. It was very difficult to find out where the office is, then it was difficult to get info about the park. Supposedly groups go to the park soon, but nobody knows, when. It depends on the number of the participants, how expensive the trip is. So, the question of the group size and of course also of the date is not unimportant. Unfortunately, today, after 5 days in Brazzaville, I do not know more than on the first day. Africa makes me mad sometimes…. But well, on monday I will try again, and if there is no info, I will leave on tuesday towards Gabon.

Taking a bath in river Congo

Shahid is on his way home to the US. We had a great trip through Angola and DRC and have lived our Angola dream. With him it was definitely easier to travel in these both countries and of course also much safer, logically also cheaper, as lots of expenses can be shared. Thanks for the great time, Shahid!

Brazzaville

I will continue by myself now, first within RC to a small place called Oyo, from there a very bad street leads to Franceville in Gabon. This bad road is only travelled by trucks not by public transport. Okay, something new, I did not have trucks on this trip yet!  The next mail will probably come from Gabon, about the continuation of the journey to RC and Gabon. Greetings from Brazzaville. I am always happy about mails.
A few days ago I got the great news that friends of my parents have decided to support Monica and the children in the soupkitchen in Katutura near Windhoek financially. They donate 1000 Euros, so four other children can go to school for a year, including school uniform, books and writing utensils. In the name of Monica and the children many thanks to all who gave some money!!!!!

Deported back into DRC!

Kinshasa, DRC

The way back, we took it easy and went by plane. The flight was an air-screw machine with 25 seats and we needed just 75 minutes to reach Kinshasa. We did not plan to spend the night in Kinshasa, but leave after another visit of the arts market immediately by boat to Brazzaville. Well, this was the plan. But things can change very fast, especially in Africa… It took about 2 hours to go through the paper work at the border and till we had the tickets for the boat. So, finally, we crossed the river Congo to Brazzaville. On the other side, a local agent was supposed to help with the paper work there. However, that is, where the problem started. For some reason the immigration officer at the beach in Brazzaville had a problem with our agent, there was a big palaver, shouting and there we already knew, there is something going totally wrong…. The result was immediately delivered: we were escorted by uniformed like dangerous criminals to the boat and were deported to Kinshasa! Just imagine – pushed away by the relatively sure and somehow friendly RC back to DRC. And logically without valid visas for DRC, as they were stamped with the crossing the border of course…. This put the authorities on the other side into big problems, at last they gave to us new visas for only 60. – US per person.

Kinshasa, DRC

Just before it was getting dark, we found ourselves with full luggage on the unsafe streets of Kinshasa. At this time it is anything but easy to find a hotel room. The next day we tried our luck once again. At 7.00 am, we went to the border office at the boat in Kinshasa to meet the chief officer there. He called several times the chief at the other side, until he gave his okay that we could travel. At 10 am, we left again by boat to Brazzaville.. However, this would have been too easy: the officer on the other side again did not want us to enter. Though this time we had pre-booked a hotel in Brazzaville by phone, but the officer did not want to accept that. He wanted to see a reservation on paper. So, we had to call the owner of our hotel to come and fetch us at the beach! We were really happy when he finally arrived. It did not take long and, finally, the paper war was over.