Into the Heart of Madness - This is Gabon!

[gatoratlarge]

2 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

"There was no light. The cold wind pierced his wet clothes.  He began to shiver, and felt his friends did the same. The elements were crashing onto them. He tried to find the light but all he could see around was grey. Darkness. This was no longer quirkiness. This was serious. They had stopped laughing long ago. Nobody would come. And he started to realize that this could well be the very end. Not of the trip. The very end. Fear crept into his heart. He put down the makeshift cover they had been given to brace against the elements and looked out. He saw the man who held their fates in his hands. And he saw that man cry and pray.

 

There was no light. And he started to wonder if there would ever be one again for them."

 

 

WOW!  I can't wait for this part from @michael-ibk!  In order to hasten it's arrival, I will get us closer....a bit closer....not all the way there, but closer...

 

So since @michael-ibk mentioned it, here's one of the guards standing toilet sentry at the bai---nothing goes unrecorded with this crew!

Before leaving the bai:

 

We missed our chance at red river hogs here in Ivindo at the bai---apparently the staff bringing us lunch (or was it breakfast?) encountered a herd of them on the hike to the bai---they quickly scattered...That would be the closest we'd get on this trip to seeing them and perhaps something to return to Gabon for...

 

I had to look up the term for a group of hogs and this is what it said:  "The name for a group of pigs depends on the animals' ages. Groups of older pigs are called a sounder of swine, a team or passel of hogs or a singular of boars." 

 

I think we meant well but there wasn't a square inch not covered in tent with six of us plus guides and staff on the tower-- splitting nights on the platform at the bai with half staying back at Rock Camp makes more sense in retrospect.  So we hiked back to Rock Camp knowing we had a loooong day of travel ahead...the staff sprung for the wine that night and we had a great time with them at dinner...

we had a brief spotlighting attempt around the periphery of the rock camp with Vianet.  In a tree just outside the dining hall an owl was taking up real estate.  But other than that our attempts to see a bushbaby or much else was thwarted.  

 

I retired again to my chalet which had been switched to the other side of the same hut as before, but facing away from the tv lounge.  My chalet was split down the middle and shared a wall.  I thought that maybe this was done to cut down on the potential noise from the tv lounge .I was wrong....I'm quite sure it was never a thought  ...and it was movie night again!  The generator  droned on!  The staff hooted and laughed and shouted at the movie, after a half hour or so, a door opened on the other side of the wall and light flooded into my room, the floor bounced as someone came in and plopped into the bed.  I could hear them (him/her?)  lightly start to snore, light still illuminating my room around the edges of the wall!  Again, perhaps a little later than before, the generator cut out, movie night had concluded and the staff, none too quietly made their way down the paths just outside my chalet!   

 

Departing Rock Camp, the ladies hitched a ride on the quad---the rest set out on foot:

The obligatory Big Tree Photo:

 

Eventually we made our way back to the road head only to discover one of the trucks wouldn't start...I'm always amazed that in almost every instance, they are able to get them going again even after 20 minutes or so of trying...and I was back in the 2nd truck again with the reincarnation of Richard Petty drafting his NASCAR rival but never passing!  

 

So off we raced first on the narrow jungle roads, then on the red dirt roads through the forest toward the logging town of Ivindo...we reached the log camp and commissary first (where we again loaded up on Pringles and Coke---never know when or where your next meal may come we had learned from experience!)  and it was there where we needed to check in as it was Sunday.  The ferry across the Ongooue River apparently does not run on a Sunday and we needed to get to the other side to catch our midnight train...so permission from the "BIG BOSS" of the logging camp was needed to send for the ferry operator to make a special trip to get our convoy across the Ongooue.   Only we arrived around mid day and the BIG BOSS was taking his daily nap.  He gave strict orders not to be awakened until after 1P and it was clear no one dared defy his orders.

 

So we had a little time to kill until the BIG BOSS awakened....some wondered since it had to have been known for a long time we would be travelling this route on a Sunday why this wasn't pre-arranged?  Some refused to consider the ways of Gabon...what if they had known a month ago?  A year ago?  What if we told them we'd be back in a few days on a Sunday on our way to Ivindo??  Would that ferry operator have been sitting at his post waiting for our convoy??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Of course not!

 

So we spent time checking out this rough and tumble little village on the railroad tracks, where life revolved around the cutting and stacking of giant logs, and the railroad....it didn't take long before we found ourselves in trouble...

 

Some shots around Ivindo town:

@Kitsafari has spotted a bird!  

 

I must say I really enjoyed this time in an African Village---these kids chasing a Dust Devil reminded me of the simple joys of life:

This little girl playing house and tying on the doll as African mothers do:

and this little cutie:

 

So the BIG BOSS finally awoke from his nap and said that we could cross the river but not until 4P since another vehicle was coming from the opposite side at that time---so we had more time to kill in Ivindo and as they say,  "Idle Hands are the Devil's Play Tool" some of our group went walking around town and by chance took a picture of the Gabonese Flag which flew proudly over two places:  the School and the Chief of Ivindo's House...

 

It was soon after that we all had the pleasure of meeting the Chief of Ivindo (the 4th Most Important Man in Gabon---according to none other than the Chief of Ivindo himself ) I mean there was President Bongo, The Governor, The (forgot this one) and the Chief in that order...he was likely roused from his nap by the smell of money!  As we were informed that photographing the Gabonese Flag over his house comes with a fee...Vianet did not seem to take this too seriously and the number of times he mentioned it and a few other points became so repetitious that his sobriety came into question.  I bought him a juice box of wine and he settled in...poor Josep knowing the most French became his interpreter!  

 

The Chief of Ivindo was chewing on a twisted root that hung out of the side of his mouth --- he said it was an aphrodisiac!  And with seventeen children he might consider chewing on that root unnecessary!

 

Some shots around the Log Camp  

 

So after a few hours waiting in Ivindo town we headed to the ferry to cross the Ongooue....guess whether or not the ferry operator was there?  Of course he wasn't!  But in a hour or so, a truck roared up and the ferry was fired up and we were transported to the other side where another vehicle had been waiting since before we arrived...

I'll let others pick up from here but a sneak peak of Booue town through the broken pane of glass in our freshen up "Splendid Hotel" room --- again, the best baked chicken dinner of the trip

 

And a random shot waiting in the train station VIP Room later that night:

Edited September 26, 2019 by gatoratlarge

[Atravelynn]

We all love the tree frog.  Tell me again how the bai-sharing worked and how long you spent in it.  I know you all slept there. So glad you all saw gorillas and elephants.  And a sitatunga bonus!  Nice sitatunga hoof shot, @michael-ibk and you have blossomed into a novelist right in front of our eyes.

 

Those looking-up-into-the-tall-tree photos are a fantastic perspective, @Kitsafari!

 

@gatoratlarge, did I read that right that you shared a room with an unknown a staff member who snored?

Edited September 27, 2019 by Atravelynn

[gatoratlarge]

@Atravelynn no, to better describe it, my particular chalet was split in two. One room shared a wall with the other room. It's just that the floor boards were connected so walking on one side caused the floor boards on my side to creak and the wall wasn't particularly solid or thick so when the light was on in that room, it illuminated mine around the edges of the wall and high ceiling if that makes sense 😅

 

 

[SafariChick]

@Atravelynn so we arrived at the rock camp around 5-6 pm one night, slept there. Next morning we hiked to the bai and stayed all day on the observation tower, all slept there, spent much of the next day there and then hiked back to rock camp by dinner time and slept there once again.  So only one night at the bai but we were all there together. 

 

The vehicle that would not start as we were leaving Ivindo was said to have a faulty battery. There was some procedure I did not understand involving putting in a new battery and giving a jump to the car then taking it out and putting the old one back in saving the new one for another time I guess? But then the car still needed pushing to get it started. The first time didn't quite work:

 

 

but once Josep got involved, then they managed to get it going 

 

 

I may have these reversed! 

 

I think I was the one who started to lose my cool the most about the ferry situation. We'd been told we should get up early and hurry because we should get to the ferry before 2 pm. I thought this meant that it stopped running at 2 pm but apparently it wasn't supposed to run on Sundays at all. I could not get over the frustration of all the people accompanying us, who KNEW we'd be going back on a Sunday, somehow not being aware that the ferry doesn't run on Sundays? And I was initially annoyed at having to 'waste time' sitting around in the dusty little village of Ivindo. Not that there was anything so great in Booue, where we were going back to, but I was worried we would miss our train later that night heading towards what was supposed to be the nicest lodging of the trip - I was ready for a little more comfort! 

 

As it turned out, the whole hanging out in Ivindo experience was quite fascinating and certainly better than spending more time in Booue town! The whole experience with the chief of the village, who called every woman he saw over to talk to him, and was clearly enamored of his power; and watching the children playing and people going by was actually very interesting. I fell in love with the little girl Joel posted about. When we first saw her, she was trailing behind what was probably her older sister and crying quite hard. I felt so bad as her older sister seemed to be ignoring her. I tried opening my arms to her to comfort her and she ran towards me, then I realized she had something in her mouth that she was not happy about. Upon closer inspection, it was some rocks! I didn't know the words in French to tell her to spit them out but luckily one of the Ivindo employees was right next to us and he did. So she spit them out and then clearly her mouth needed wiping. All I could think to say was "serviette" (Napkin) looking around helplessly for one. The Ivindo employee just used the little girl's dress to wipe her mouth, and that worked too! Then she wandered off, and later we saw her playing very happily in the dirt and sand.

 

Some photos from Ivindo town: 

 

This server had a shirt that was puzzling to me. It seemed to say "Good girls go to Heaven; Bad girls go to Butlins" - still didn't figure out what Butlins is - if anyone knows, let me know - I'm sure it's not in Africa!  

 

 

Viannet had ordered food here since we were going to be here straight through lunch time but everyone else was afraid to eat meat there so he canceled the order. However, he forgot to cancel my vegetarian order of pasta so I ate it without incident (it was so large that Viannet and Josep also had some of it and we all were fine). Once again the Pringles saved everyone else who didn't eat some of the pasta.

 

Village residents walking by 

 

 

Waiting for Godot ... I mean the ferry

 

 

And my favorite little girl:

 

 

 

 

 

and some photos once we got to the ferry, where we had to wait some more - as always, some of the group used the time to look for birds:

 

 

Ivindo employees (including Candy) waiting also:

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by SafariChick

[SafariChick]

After we finally got through on the ferry to the other side, our drivers speeded ahead to reach Booe. This is the same town where we stayed at the house rather than the 'guest house' which was called Hotel Splendor, I believe. This time, we were actually going to use the guest house, but we were only scheduled to be there for some hours, not the whole night. This is fortunate because the place was really quite something. We were initially to have only 2 rooms to share between the 6 of us to wash up and prepare for our next phase. Viannet splurged and got us THREE rooms - woo hoo! So we only had to have two people to a room. The amenities varied quite a bit by room as it turned out. @Kitsafari and I lucked out with the best room - it actually had running water in the shower, although it was hard to tell that at first and I think Kit "showered" first using a bucket, and only after that, I discovered the shower actually worked! Our room also had working lights and AC. This was not the case with all the other rooms.

 

We got our larger luggage back (having left it at the house at which we slept and it happily had made its way over to the guest house) and reorganized our things and had just a couple of hours to shower and get ready for dinner and the next train. We gave our larger luggage back to Viannet who took it to the train station, as once again it needed to be checked in hours before the train. Then we ordered dinner which as others have said was actually very good - they had chicken and I had pasta.  Eventually we made our way back over to the train station to wait for the train. I cannot even recall what time the train was supposed to arrive, but it was late. We waited for it for a while, watching some beautiful wildlife specials on the tv in the waiting room narrated in French. When we finally got on the train, we encountered David, the director of research from Lope who had led us on the mandrill treks! It turned out he had been sent on a mission to try to help ameliorate some hippo-human conflict. He had heard that we would be having a car pick us up at the train station and taking us to a town called Lambourene and he was hoping we wouldn't mind if he got a ride with us. We did not mind.

 

Some photos of our room (the chair broke as soon as I sat on it):

 

 

 

 

[shazdwn]

11 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

"There was no light. The cold wind pierced his wet clothes.  He began to shiver, and felt his friends did the same. The elements were crashing onto them. He tried to find the light but all he could see around was grey. Darkness. This was no longer quirkiness. This was serious. They had stopped laughing long ago. Nobody would come. And he started to realize that this could well be the very end. Not of the trip. The very end. Fear crept into his heart. He put down the makeshift cover they had been given to brace against the elements and looked out. He saw the man who held their fates in his hands. And he saw that man cry and pray.

 

There was no light. And he started to wonder if there would ever be one again for them."

Brilliant, just brilliant 

[Soukous]

I'm not sure why, but I'm saving this multi authored TR for a rainy afternoon read. Bring on the rain!

[Kitsafari]

@Atravelynn there are really 3 floors to the observation platform which is raised from the ground by short flight of steps. each floor is pretty small, sufficient to put three dome tents literally  next to each other. each tent had a single mattress stuffed into it, so we would not sleep on the floorboards. so we six took up the two upper floors while Vianet and a couple of rangers slept on the first floor without tents. 

 

This trip report is cruising along at a very quick pace, as if to make up for the hours "Waiting in Gabon".

 

Perhaps I'll drag it a little to reflect the languid indolent minutes we spent at the Ivindo village.  What's the point of stressing over things out of your control? why put pressure on yourself on what was supposed to be a holiday?

Gabon was a learning and new experience for me after all those cushy safaris where your end-to-end point is efficiently and smoothly covered, where you zip from one place to another without inching through the dust of the earth or the sounds of the real people living their real lives or the smells of the towns. 

 

whatever you do, do NOT wake the boat master. we wait on his pleasure. 

 

So, while some might think it was a waste of time just waiting, and waiting, I took it to sit back and relax and observe the village of Ivindo - 

 

Observing the women in their Sunday best and beautiful clothes going to church, the men a few tables away enjoying the Sunday rest with bottles of beer,  the goats wandering freerange around the village and crossing the train line, making me wonder if any of them had been killed by the trains, the empty cargo train marked GSEZ Mineral Port sitting on the rails as if waiting to be loaded and all ready to take off, an empty WCS truck by the railway line, people (including our camp staff members) having lunch at the restaurant across the little path, the kids playing on a mound of sand without shoes reminding me of my childhood playing on a similar mound of sand and imagining myself king of the hill, the creative kids making toys out of anything they could lay on, the African harrier hawk soaring above us, the village chief self-importantly walking around the village to make sure we weren't harassing the villagers and the man who put the dried fish on a foldable table to sell or to dry it, I wasn't too sure. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The minutes ticked by, hugely lightened up by the entertaining rotound village chief, who had his mantra all well rehearsed for us foreigners. As it was interpreted to us by Josep - on entering the village, you have to pay your respects to the chief, who is also chief of many nearby villages, he would serve us food and show us life in the village. First he joined Josep who was eating by himself, then @gatoratlarge who was fascinated with him joined them, and with a brilliant stroke sweetened up the chief with a carton of wine such that the boss forgot to press for payment for the flag photo, then @michael-ibk joined them, followed by @SafariChick whom the chief demanded to join the group. Only I and @AndMic sat slightly away at the next table, although the chief bugged Josep to tell the Chinese woman, who apparently changed her nationality to Filipino woman, to join the table. Josep knew better than to call me over! Phew! I think it was because Josep was so tired listening to that mantra all over again.

 

That was one of those experience that I will keep in my memories because of the unexpectedness of it and because of how real life can be when you are out of the ordinary road kept aside for pampered tourists, and are forced to take a diversion. 

 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

15 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

 

"There was no light. The cold wind pierced his wet clothes.  He began to shiver, and felt his friends did the same. The elements were crashing onto them. He tried to find the light but all he could see around was grey. Darkness. This was no longer quirkiness. This was serious. They had stopped laughing long ago. Nobody would come. And he started to realize that this could well be the very end. Not of the trip. The very end. Fear crept into his heart. He put down the makeshift cover they had been given to brace against the elements and looked out. He saw the man who held their fates in his hands. And he saw that man cry and pray.

 

There was no light. And he started to wonder if there would ever be one again for them."

 

 

 

It all began innocuously enough. 

 

as mentioned earlier,  this was to be a long haul to Loango National Park - a train ride to arrive at 4+am at Ndjole, where we had to wait for daylight before a ride on the road for another 1.5-2 hours to Lambarene, have breakfast in Lambarene, then a 5-hour ride on a speedboat to Omboue,  and finally a 2-hour ride on land to Iguela Lagoon where Loango Lodge and its comforts awaited us. Having become so experienced in just a week and a half, I added a 25%-50% in timing to those estimated travel hours. 

 

So we took the train to Ndjole. For a change, we weren't travelling first class but found ourselves in second class carriages although Guillermo said at the beginning of the trip that his guests always sits in the best seats. Perhaps they bought the tickets late or it was a popular day for travel and the first class was sold out.

 

I'd noticed in earlier rides that very few people keep to the seats they were assigned to. It felt very much like a free for-all and sit when you spotted an empty one. Only the brave ones who bought second class tickets chose to sit in the first class but seemed to make a beeline for the toilet when the train inspector came along. So when we came to the 2nd class carriage, it was no surprise our assigned seats were all taken. Poor Vianet had to cajole and force people to evict our seats amid some loud protestations such that he had to resort to the train inspectors to intervene. 

 

when we finally settled into the seats, I think only Michael managed to catch forty winks. I was exhausted by the long walk from Rock camp, the long wait at Ivindo and the long drive to Booue. I was nodding off but kept waking up from the uncomfortable position. the quick train ride was only about 3 hours? the others may have the time, but still half asleep we staggered from the train, manoeuvred our way to the 1-metre drop into blackness, then carefully picked our way to the sparse station, David Lehmann in tow. 

It appeared that there had been an accident in the darkness in the area, so the authorities have banned travelling on roads in the night. Thanks to @michael-ibk, the ladies and AndMic stretched out in the van to have a bit of a rest. 

 

A glimmer of daylight found us on the road to Lambarene, a seemingly popular town among foreign tourists as the famous Albert Schweitzer Hospital and Museum is located there. We arrived close to 8am I think. The boatman and his assistant who would be steering the engines were there to take the large luggage pieces but told us to take our time over breakfast which we had in the hospital canteen grounds. David took leave of us to go chase up some hippos very keen on taking up city life. I'm afraid we lingered. the grounds were very pretty, the birds were just chirping and flitting among the flowering trees. 

I wouldn't even bother putting up the birds. Michael saw far more than I did and his photos do such justice to the beautiful birds.

 

 

So by the time we were ready to wave goodbye to Vianet, who would not join us for the next stretch, it was past 9am. and the boatman didn't look very happy that we took our time. But Vianet very happily waved us off - finally, he's freed of us whining, whinging spoilt tourists. 

 

The boat started to push off the beach and the engine died. The assistant skilfully turned it on again - shades of our first failed trip to Akanka washed over us, but the boat moved ahead. A few times along the river, the engine died and I mentioned to the main boatman - he seemed in charge or was the owner of the boat - that he needed a new boat. He said this was a new boat, but I probably should have said he needed a new engine. In fact, two new engines as there were two on the boat. 

 

 

The boat wasn't big, and I was worried. I vaguely remembered we had to go through what looked like the sea, and I was anxious that the open seas would toss that boat around and get me seasick and I didn't want to throw up on the others. besides there wasn't room to lie down either if I got giddy. In fact, there wasn't much room to move an inch. Josep, Safarichick and I took the first row with little space between us, michael, Gatoratlage and AndMic took the second row and being guys, they were probably quite squashed. 

 

But it was a beautiful morning - clear and bright, unlike the cloudy skies above Ivindo which made photography so difficult. At first there were things to see along the Ogooue river - a market, plenty of buildings, other boats passing me. 

 

 

 

After we left the buildings far behind, we started looking out for birds along the way. Palm nut vultures were everywhere - my first sighting was in Lope, but there were plentiful here with lots of juveniles. They do so well  here. African darters were hogging a tree with young ones chirping for food. Terns were out as well but too far for my camera but a flock of great white pelicans ( i think - Michael can correct me) got me excited. 

 

 

 

 

we stopped at a sandbar to look at the hippos in the river. I was surprised there weren't more of them but they could well be under our very  boat for all I know. a pair of pretty grey pratincoles were on the sandbar. 

 

 

Then my photos ended at that time. 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

The boat ride was a loong ride. Jane and I took a loo break sometime along the river. We weren't sure where we were, but the river seemed never-ending. Four hours into the ride, I asked him were we near? he said yes. I'm not sure when we entered a huge lagoon -  at that time, I thought we had entered the mouth of the river but up to today, I'm still not sure. I looked at the map, and there is no clear tributary that links Ogooue River to the Lagoon Nkomi where Omboue is located at. I got excited when we entered the huge body of water. surely we are closer? I asked him again where are we heading? he pointed ahead and said something about a telecom tower and I saw one far ahead and excitedly told the guys we are almost there near the telecom tower. 

 

But then we passed that tower, then another, yet another, and still we were going. The waters became choppier as the wind started to whip up. The engine died a few times again and the assistant was taking longer and longer to revive it as the boat rocked and rolled on the waves. A few small fishing boats were out at sea, and our boat nearly crashed into one and probably ruined the fisherman's net as the boat men got a earful from the fisherman. the engine died again. after 5 mins or so, or maybe it was shorter but I was getting more anxious by the minute, it started again. 

 

It was more than 5 hours, then 6 hours, then 7 hours and I asked him again, where are we going. He threw his hand ahead and say there - the tower. There were several in the distance. Then the daylight began to fade as the winds became stronger and whipped the boat around. It was harder to drive against the winds which was sweeping the waters into the boat as we crashed against the waves. the boatman passed us a huge tarpaulin and we took cover under it but it was of little use as the waters splashed into the boat, and onto us again and again. 

 

It got darker, we were wet and it was getting more chilly. No fishermen were out at that time. 

 

Then the engine died again. There we were, islands were far away - faint and fading in the darkening brooding skies. The boat rocked and rolled as the waves tossed us around and waters gushed innto the boat. Michael asked the boatman if there was someone we could call but he ignored him. we were all very silent at that moment as the enormity of what was happening dawned on us. 

 

I was a  mixture of anger, frustration, fearful, high anxiety. I supposed I was scared too, scared that we were lost in the open waters in the dark and no one would find us. I wondered if I was scared that the boat would tilt over - but I pushed the thought away. what was dominating my thoughts was how full my bladder was. of all things, why did i feel the urgent need to relieve my bladder now??!!

 

I was furious too, for the boatman being lackadaisical and not having a plan B and not wanting to call anyone for help. 

 

So I picked up my satellite phone and called Sangeeta in the US.  

 

 

 

 

[kittykat23uk]

@SafariChick butlins is a famous British holiday camp brand.

[kittykat23uk]

@Kitsafari oh my goodness! What a scary situation, what a cliffhanger to leave us on! 😱😱😱

[janzin]

OMG! Don't keep us in suspense too long! 

 

 

[kilopascal]

OMG Is right!  Now I’m going to have to check all day for the next installment. 

[Atdahl]

Wow, just wow!  I can't believe what you have all been through on this trip and it seems like the worst is yet to come.  You are certainly all tougher and more patient than I would ever be.

 

I can't help but think that a book needs to come out of this "adventure" somehow.  Between the wonderful writing and fantastic pictures I am sure you wouldn't have problems selling it.  I think you already have a very fitting title...

 

"Into the Heart of Madness"

 

Alan

[Alexander33]

Well, first of all, I’m glad you finally got your gorillas, @gatoratlarge .  And I’m looking forward to more, as @michael-ibk has promised us (and the introductory photo assures us). 

 

In between, wow, what an expedition. I can’t say I’m exactly feeling pangs of envy here, but sharing such an experience with likeminded compatriots as yourselves takes it to the next level — a real adventure. And all of you are such great storytellers. Since you’re all narrating here, you obviously made it through, but I can’t wait to hear how you managed to do it!

 

And, perhaps most importantly, you’ve generously shared the ultimate secret — Pringles and Coke, the Gabonese safari elixir for those in the know. 

[Atravelynn]

This has passed from an unpredictable, roughing-it adventure to an "Oh sh|+, we are in deep trouble" emergency.

[Sangeeta]

So I picked up my satellite phone and called Sangeeta in the US.  

 

And if you thought all the drama was happening on the Ogouée river in Gabon, you would be only partially right! That morning, I had gotten a phone call from a close friend and neighbor that her husband was not doing well at all and she needed help getting him to the ER. So I dropped everything and ran over, and we called the ambulance. The techs took her husband away in the ambulance, and she decided to ride with me in the car behind the ambulance. There we were - sirens blaring, cars pulling off the road to make way for the ambulance and us - and you guessed it, the phone rings! At first I thought I'd let it be until we reached the hospital, because the ambulance was streaking along and I was doing my best to keep up with it. But some inner voice made me glance down and I saw this unknown number on the screen, but it looked like a Singapore country code. I asked my friend to please put me on speaker with the caller. Sure enough, that was Kit!

 

Sangeeta: Hi

Kit: We're stuck on the river.

Sangeeta (incredulous and thinking that I am imagining this): Who is this?

Kit: It's Kit! You know, Kit!

Sangeeta: What? Stuck on the river??

 

I was in shock and perhaps Kit has a better recollection of the conversation that ensued. I can remember thinking, oh my god, I need to stop NOW to call Gabon, but I am literally zipping down the parkway, chasing an ambulance with a friend whose husband is on his way to the ER. I think I blurted all this out to my friend, who to my eternal gratitude, told me to pull over immediately. Her husband was in safe hands, she said, and she understood that I needed to take care of my buds at the other end of the world...

 

So I stopped and called Guillermo, who was in Cameroon at the time. But he picked up right away, and got in touch with the lodge asap and I called Smita in India to ask her and the India team to follow up with him while I dropped my friend off to the hospital. I think I had 2 heart attacks that day myself... 

Edited September 27, 2019 by Sangeeta

[kittykat23uk]

You couldn't make this up! They should turn this trip into a movie! 

[SafariChick]

So what I remember is when we were having breakfast, the boatman being very nonchalant as we asked what time did we need to leave. No problem, take your time, he said smiling. So we did, having baguette and eggs and the birders taking photos, many of us using the loo for the last time before the long (but we had no idea how long!) boat trip. When we got in the boat I remember it being about 9:30 a.m.  And the boatman looking at us and saying "We really should have left before now." What?! then why didn't you say so? He also said "There are people who are supposed to be picking you up when we arrive. I hope they will still be there."  Again - what? Why say such things? Apparently, as in a suspenseful movie, it was foreshadowing?

 

It was constantly repeated that this would be a 5-hour boat trip. He said the same thing.  We stopped once on a sand bar to look at hippos in the water (my photos aren't good enough to bother posting) but there was nowhere to use the bush loo.  Eventually, we were 5.5 hours into the trip when I asked him "Are we almost there?" He pondered for a moment and said "Maybe another hour and a half?" I said "what? I thought it's a 5-hour trip?" He said "Well, I just remembered that it's the dry season and it can take longer as we have to go around sand bars" You just remembered?! This is your job - how could you have forgotten that? So it was at that point I said well if it's another hour and a half, I need to pee. And we found a spot to pull over and @Kitsafari and I got out to do so. The guys amazed me by not taking advantage of this loo break. I think they were sorry.

 

Kit has told the story very well from there. Before Kit called @Sangeeta I had heard something like a phone ringing somewhere in the boat. The boatman was not paying attention, he was back with his assistant trying to make the motor keep going and seeming a bit frantic.  I thought it was probably someone calling trying to find out where we were and I think that was right. So after Sangeeta called Guillermo, Guillermo called the boat man and he finally answered. He talked to Guillermo in French for a bit and then handed the phone to me saying Guillermo wanted to talk to me.  So I spoke to him. He said that they had been worried about us, that everyone knew we were very late and that the people from the lodge were still waiting at the landing spot for us.  He said they were trying to see if they could get a boat to come rescue us. But that it was very difficult. Both the national park and the lodge were trying. The problem turned out to be that we were in a lagoon near the mouth of the ocean trying to come in to land but the lodge itself is on a DIFFERENT lagoon. That's why we were being picked up in a car and driven to the lodge. You couldn't connect easily to the lagoon at the lodge from where we were coming from. 

 

So we continued to float and move a bit then float and move a bit - but every time we lifted up the plastic sheet the boatman had given us to look and see where we were, we seemed no closer. I was absolutely drenched on my outside leg and butt. At first when we'd put that plastic around us we started laughing hysterically at how absurd it was - how did a calm river turn into this choppy water splashing in on us constantly? But after a while we were no longer laughing as it got darker and darker.

 

FINALLY, the boatman seemed to get the hang of feathering the engine so that it mostly stayed on and I think the water became less choppy also. At last, we limped in to shore at about 7:30 pm - 10 HOURS AFTER WE'D LEFT!!!

 

The boatman actually raised his hands to the sky and thanked God. He said he didn't know what happened, that this had never happened before.  We all raced off the boat to find a place to pee. When we took the luggage out, I opened my suitcase to look for some dry clothes to change into but no luck - everything inside was wet, some things soaked and others just very damp. 

The very nice drivers from the lodge came to help with everything and gave us "lunch" that they'd brought us. They had been waiting there since midday.  After we ate some of that, we all got into the two vehicles they brought, exhausted, and sat for the very bumpy ride back to the lodge (I think it was closer to an hour than two hours, thankfully!) When we arrived, we were greeted by the very friendly managers of the place - two different people named Matt and Mathieu and another fellow whose name I'm forgetting - he left the next day for a trip and we didn't see him again during our stay. They were very kind and helped us get our things to our rooms.  They offered us dinner (it was now probably 9:30 pm) but none of us felt up to another meal - we all staggered off to our rooms where I took out and eithe hand-washed or hung up every single article of clothing to try to get them dry. Thankfully, there was AC in the rooms so this helped. I took a shower and collapsed in bed! More about the actual Loango Lodge, which was absolutely luxurious in comparison with our prior lodgings, in coming posts!

Edited September 27, 2019 by SafariChick

[Galago]

Wow! Just Wow! And phew!  This had me on the edge of my seat. @Kitsafari you had a satellite phone! What a life saver that turned out to be. Thanks for posting the map. I can see how you had to go overland to get to your destination but, while I was reading this, I was worried you were going to have to go down the coast in the open ocean 😨

And going back to earlier posts, the pictures of the village and its inhabitants are great. And the story of the chief is hilarious. Loved the Butlins t shirt because it adds just another surreal touch to the whole weird saga.  

[Kitsafari]

Just reading back what @Sangeetaposted made me laugh out loud. I can do that now that I'm home, safe in my chair typing this!

 

Poor Sangeeta - I didn't know the predicament she was in when I called her on the phone. 

 

I basically rattled fast: Sangeeta, we are stranded here - in the middle of the - I don't even know where. the engine died and is not working, the wind is blowing hard.

Sangeeta: Who is This?

Kit : It's Kit!

 

So that set off a series of phone calls, and when the boatman finally answered his phone and G spoke to Jane, it sounded as if the lodge would try to send someone. or perhaps I had misunderstood. But I didn't know at that time that the two lagoons were not connected and I didn't hear Jane above the noise.

 

But looking around in the darkness and with the boatman refusing to turn a light on in the boat, gradually, we knew no one was coming. whatever happened, our lives were in the hands of the two boatmen. 

 

When the engine finally got started, I decided to speak to the boat - silently of course. each time the engine sounded as if it would fade and coughed, I would encourage it - come on you can do it, just a bit more. At first  we peeked at the direction we were going, we seemed as if we going in circles and not making any progress. but slowly, spots of light at the far horizon. and slowly and slowly, the lights began to twinkle - a promise we were almost there. then the lights began to bear some shape and form, and then hope began to rise and I gave up a desire to pee right there in the boat. 

 

when we made landing, i was the first to jump out of the boat and went straight into the bushes. That was the best pee i've ever had. pardon my bluntness and crudeness. at that time, it was all that mattered. and oh yes, finally reaching good old firm ground too. 

 

@Galago you can't imagine what a relief having that satellite phone was at that point. not that it managed to really rouse up any rescue. 

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by Kitsafari

[pedro maia]

This is a great trip, everything going on as planned and some great characters are showing up, the Chief would fit perfectly in a Gabonese remake of Twin Peaks.

[SafariChick]

A few photos from the journey 

 

Hippos:

 

 

 

One of the few other boaters we saw

 

 

and a few photos from Lambarane - where we had our breakfast. The wallpaper was quaint and the food simple but good. I liked the wall calendar system in the breakfast room, and tried to change it to be accurate, but they didn't have all the right numbers - I think it was August 5 - but close enough! The scene before we left was idyllic - no sign of what was to come!

 

 

[Galago]

@SafariChick the wall paintings are lovely.  I'm curious about the calendar as it says 'done by the psychiatric services'. Any thoughts on why or when?

Edited September 27, 2019 by Galago