Lingering in Libreville

Jimmy was there to meet them and guide them in to his place. This is Mariana’s cousin who lives and works here. Even in this traffic, the police stopped them to ask for papers etc. but they made it to the apartment and were soon relaxing and Jimmy was getting lunch going.

He arranged for some of them to stay with him and one couple with his Dutch friends who live not far away. The men changed into town clothes and went to do the visa enquiries, dentist appointments and new glasses for driving.

When they got back, they started preparations for a braai that Jimmy organised that evening. The place was full of activities: cooking, grilling, making salad etc.. It was a very lively gathering.

The next day was her birthday and they got dropped at the apartment where the ever patient Jimmy was taking them on their rounds. Hans to the dentist, Coen to the optician and then the SA embassy again, and then move on.

The dentist was quick and efficient and he also spoke some English that Hans understood perfectly what he was doing. The optician was a bit more ‘folklorique’, a constant commentary on behalf of the man himself – comments about just anything and everything going on. And the glasses were ready, they did not have to leave a deposit or anything and he made them anyway. Coen was satisfied.

The embassy did not have much news for them at that stage, so they went to buy a pie for a snack while waiting for Jimmy. After that they moved into an area where they found all the embassies they were looking for to ask for visa forms and other information. In less than 20 minutes all this was done and they were on their way back to the apartment. They had a few requirements to get at the shops but it was between 12 and 15h and all the shops close for siesta in this place.

Birthday picture

Later, under the rain Jimmy took them to a little supermarket not far from his place. They got the requirements for that evening’s dinner. Back at the apartment, the prawns had to be cleaned, fish cut and Elismé was assembling the various paella ingredients. Finally, Marjolaine and Willem arrived and the assembly was complete for dinner.

It was excellent. There were prawns in there from Benin and Gabon, the rice was from the Songhai centre in Porto Novo, the lobsters were from the Gold coast and the soles from Accra. This hearty meal was followed by a ‘death by chocolate’ type of pudding and then every one, fat and happy, retired to their various beds.

Brake repair at Jimmy's apartment

While the men were sorting car issues and documents the next day, Marjolaine took them on the commercial rounds of Libreville. She was cooking dinner that evening and was getting the supplies needed for the event too. They also stopped at a nice café to have some real coffee and carried on with the purchases under a steady rain.

By noon, they were done and drove home to have a bit of lunch and a rest before starting the food. In the meantime papers were being done at great expense and time in town. In Gabon, if you do not have your passport on you at all times you need a certified copy of it at least and that has to be signed by the local police!

Dinner at Willem & Marjolaine

Dinner preparation was coconut chicken and she did that while Marjolaine went to walk her dog. Pitta bread served as rotis that evening and pudding was pancakes with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

This was hosted by Marjolaine and Willem and when the others arrived they discussed the cars and the places worth a visit in Gabon and they got to the table. It was a very animated dinner.

The men were again going out with Jimmy on the embassy rounds. The RoC visa seems to be rather straightforward but expensive and they needed guarantees for Angola. It was not reassuring not to know what was going on and what to expect but one has to be satisfied with what one got in these parts. The SA embassy was already finding some answers for the group and the rest they had to do.

Meanwhile, Marjolaine took them to Petit Paris, a place not far from the market where there are shops of all kinds. It was mainly fabric hunting there. It was not crowded but traffic was not flowing and it was getting a bit hot, in the end they parked in front of a bank and walked the rest of the way.

There were truly nice things in way of 100% cotton fabrics. They bargained, discussed, looked and enjoyed the whole process. After that they went to a bit of a more upmarket shop, the one that sells fabrics from the very advertised dutch company Vlisco. It was fascinating, there were other fabrics there too and everything was tempting.

After a brief visit to the supermarket, they got to the apartment where they prepared lunch and took a rest while waiting for the men to get back from their errands.

Coen got back exhausted but luckily they had eaten something on the way and were not weak with hunger as well. He went for a nap while she went with Jimmy to his office to do some blogging.

At dinner they discussed the proposed visit to some park south of the country, Omboué, where an authorisation from the Shell company was needed for access.

There was still a letter of authorisation for the car that had to be fetched at the RoC embassy and Coen still had to do the rear brakes on the car. Jimmy took her to the embassy for the letter, which was ready while Coen worked on the car.

Sunset at beach

They spent the afternoon resting and reading until it was time to leave to watch the sunset at a hotel in the suburb of Sabliere. They were lucky, as they got closer to the place the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. There has barely been any sun all these days they were in Gabon – rainy season has started.

It is a fairly clean beach where loads of tree trunks have beached (from the logging activities) and serve as wave breakers.

Soon, they were joined by two other couples and it was 11 people for dinner at the Sunset Hotel. She had grilled fish, Coen had lamb chops and the others an assortment of brochettes, pizza, salad etc. This was also a very animated affair.

New Stadium

The following day was an outing to Cap Estérias and Cap des Pères. They had breakfast with Willem and Marjolaine and then went to meet the others for the outing. They passed by the newly built stadium – built by the Chinese and supposed to be finished for the CAN, which starts in January 2012.

Forest project just out of town

It is all more or less a stone throw from Libreville but the state of the road being what it is makes for a rather bumpy ride most of the way. On the way they stopped and walked a little in a forest project. The original idea was a good one but that slowly went into neglect. Now they mention the various circuits one can do in the forest but they are not marked and getting lost is a risk.

Cap des Pères

Cap Estérias

Cap Estérias is a small coastal town with a lighthouse. The beach is also littered with tree trunks and other thrash that the sea brings in. It was very calm when they were there and the sea was cleaner than she was told it is. They took pictures and walked on the rocks for a bit and then went on to Cap des Pères.

The place seems to be ‘owned’ by the military that have access to the nice beaches there. But they just pushed the boom open and drove up to the one kiosk where they had some drinks and chips while taking in the view.

They shopped for the road and had dinner of seafood bisque and pancakes. They all shacked up at Jimmy’s that night.