6th May 08

Date: 5th May 08
Location: Cap Esterias, Gabon
Weather: Clear blue skies and sunshine, 36°c
Status: Ready to move east and find the way down to Congo, relaxed and refuelled!

After a day in the capital Libreville yesterday sorting out a few internet things, spending some money on some good food and soaking up the atmosphere of one of the best cleanest cities in Central Africa so far, we hit the road again.

This time it was retracing the route we’d taken in a few days before so knew what to expect.

The day started slowly as we waited for everyone to gather speed to leave, a habit which is becoming too regular so had to mention it and finally we left our comfortable surroundings around 7.30am.

First stop the airport to get money changed, speak to the national parks office about the next few days which was a struggle as I had to do it and they didn’t speak English unsurprisingly. It reminded me of the French oral exam I took at 16; struggling to hear the person on the end of the phone as the tannoy announcement with the latest flight departures blared in the background and then trying to respond, but I managed it and after finally sending home the postcards I wrote 5 countries ago we were on our way.

After a few hours we stopped for brunch and then continued on until the we finally hit the split in the road which took us to the park. A simple 11kms on a bonne route was the advert, but this again is Africa and 4 hrs later we were still struggling on the bouncy dirt road through the jungle. An hour before sundown we decided to find a bush camp for the night and fell on our feet yet again as the track we followed took us onto a little hillock which overlooked the entire river and surrounding countryside.

After a bland dinner we went to bed ready for the early start in the morning to get to the park as it opens.

End of day location: Bush Camp, Nr Oyem, Gabon
Distance covered: 320km