This is still day 2 of our trip inside Gabon back a few weeks ago (before the world changed).
After 5 hours riding along the Ogooué river, we are so happy to stretch our legs in the tiny village of Omboué, and we start wondering if the buzz that the motor of the boat put in our ears will ever stop. Now we hop on a fantastic-looking safari converted Land Cruiser with 3 comfortable benches on the outside deck and a tarpaulin roof to protect us from the sun. The vehicle quickly reaches a dirt road. We are leaving civilisation behind to spend a few days in what many experts refer to as Central Africa’s most beautiful national park : Loango.
The park is not easy to access. Of course, you need a very strong 4×4 to get there, but that is not enough: without a mix of supernatural and local driving skills, you will either get stuck in the mud in the middle of the jungle, or in the sand somewhere in the savannah. On the benches at the back, it’s all bumps and jumps, hang on, and try to forget that you are sweating by the gallon and have not eaten anything for 7 hours. We arrive at Loango Lodge after the two longest hours of the week. The scenery suddenly makes it all worthwhile.
Now I need to make an announcement (or a confession): I have managed to wipe out from their SD card all the photos that my father took during his stay in Gabon. Don’t ask me how, all I know is that it never happened to me before, and that this time it did happen. A few hundred beautiful and pro-level photos, all gone. So what you see now on the blog are Fruzsi’s and my photos, made with our modest camera. They’re all right, but nowhere close to my father’s, especially those of the animals in the park. Voilà, the painful truth is said now.
After a comforting late lunch, we take a small boat for an evening discovery of the Iguéla lagoon and its inhabitants. We quietly glide along the banks. Sometimes our guide stops the engine and all is so quiet. We spot the 2 eyes of a hippo. Then an elephant surges out of the woods above us, munching his dinner (sorry – no photos, now you know why). A few minutes later, we see monkeys playing at the top of the trees.
Then, as the sun is setting, we reach Pointe Sainte Catherine, where the waters of the lagoon meet the sea. A world-famous fishing spot supposedly – but besides us there are no human beings in sight.
Tanad stories from Gabon 