Getting out of Gabon

Road through concession

Logging on the way

After coffee and biscuits and a packing process we were back on that bad road to the main road south. They were exhausted just thinking about it. But we made it to the north gate of the Shell concession in good time and there we had to wait for the convenience of an escort car that arrived about an hour later. After passing out of the east gate and 


getting to the logging barrier at Mandji they decided to push to Mouila.

There they found Hotel du Lac Bleu that has recently had a bit of renovation because the president was visiting. They were lucky the visit was over the day before and there was a room free for them, the Malherbes could then camp in the parking for free.

The room was comfortable, quiet and had air con. They opted to dine at their restaurant after she negotiated the choice of meals. They had some refreshments at a bench next to a disused swimming pool and then had hot showers in the room before going for dinner. Coen spent some time in their wi-fi area getting updated on news and e-mail.

The men chose the buffet which was made up of local food and the girls had pasta. There they discussed the plan to go further the next day.

Wake up to coffee and biscuits and leave Mouila before 7h that morning. It was still cool and the sky overcast. Outside Mouila it became a dirt road in a reasonable condition for most part, a bit corrugated here and there. At Ndende they did the formalities of immigration and customs: forms to fill and stamps in the passports – the stamp had run out of ink!

On to Doussala and then the road got a bit worse and they got to 3 rusty drums across the road. A barefoot girl popped out of one of the wooden houses and came to move one of them – no questions asked. After that there was the very obvious red and white boom. The place smelled of garbage, there was garbage along the road where they had to stop to do the formalities.

This was in a hut where the immigration officer was sitting at his desk with the poster of a yacht on the wall. The customs’ guy was not there and had to be called – his motorbike seems to have run out of fuel because his children were playing with it.

Eventually the paperwork was done and they waved us through much to the indignation of the guys from a truck nearby – they had to unload the truck for inspection.

Slash and burn in the country side

The country side is very much the same as in Gabon but with more slash and burn, the villages are dirtier and poorer looking and less trees due to rather savage logging that takes place in this country. At one point they saw flames from some gas/oil operation somewhere in the mountains.

Bridge over

From there on the road gets very interesting. At first it was these big holes filled with muddy water, the Chinese were working with a grader so we must be thankful that the other holes were filled by the time our cars passed. After that it was laterite roads, which have not seen much maintenance for a bit. It had not rained for a while and dust had accumulated on much of the road – it felt like sand roads, the cars were digging as they passed, it was very difficult to keep a steady course and make good speed.

Tea break by roadside

There were a few roadblocks and at Kibangou we were stopped and the men had to get out of the car and go present the passports for the guy to fill the details in his book. He said that after Mila Mila the road gets better. Hmmm, more kilometres of bad road and then Mila Mila and then it gets better but not for long. Quite a stretch before the N1, it gets laborious again.

And then came the round about where the N3 (where they were) and the N1 meet. This is a nice and new piece, complete with roundabout. They chose to sleep in Dolisie that night, so they went into town. There they started looking for the hotel that appeared on the GPS. Not very satisfactory, and they moved on to fill the car at the Total when she saw a catholic mission on the other side of the road.

She went to enquire and they did have a room and they said the others could camp for free. They inspected the place and called in the men with the cars. They parked and move some of their things to the room. She was cooking that evening: involtini with corned beef.

Coen and Stephanus were so tired that they just wanted to sit and have some refreshments and do nothing. The girls were getting the dinner sorted. They had set up the tables in a part of the garage that was free for them to use.

There was a cold water shower in their room. They all showered there and set up for bed. The mattress was a bit thin and the bed creaked at every toss and turn. But then things went quiet and they managed some sleep. That night it poured quite a bit. When they started packing in the morning, it was still dripping a bit.

She chose to drive to Pointe Noire. This is a new road, a few deviations around the bridges and some road works and land slides but otherwise great surface. It goes up into the Mayombe and down again to the coast, thus it is a winding road and they could not do too much speed on this one either.

Road works in the mountains

The scenery was interesting. The Chinese have cut through the mountains to make the roads. They were still clearing some places of the trees there. Logging trucks were seen on that road that morning. At the rate this is going, they thought they have to absorb as much of these views as possible because it will change drastically in the next few years.

Driving through market

It was Sunday and Pointe Noire was a hive of activity. They took the difficult road into town, they only wanted to fill the cars, get some supplies and head for the border the same day. But they found themselves in a very busy market suburb and finally, with the help of a policeman walking in front of the cars and her hooting at every turn, they managed to get onto a main road into town. The town roads are not very good – some potholes and broken in parts.

There, they filled the cars and got some supplies and headed out of town. The road further south is good and they made it to the border it was after noon. The procedure on the Congo side was quite simple but not quick. There she sat in the heat of the car and watched the comings and goings. The customs officer at the border was quite good at giving people a hard time and then he collects something out of the barrow of some vendor passing through. Then comes the handicapped on their wheelchairs full of provisions – there is an agreement that the handicapped can cross borders in these parts without paying taxes.