Central Africa/Congo Basin

We left Rojas Island in the morning; spent an hour on a boat crossing the Gulf of Guinea, spent another 2 hours in a van crossing the island to Sao Tome airport; and then spent an anxious few hours wondering whether all of us would get on the plane for the flight back to Libreville. In order to maximize our chances, we got to the airport very early and stood around in the heat until we could board. This time, we all made it on the plane, but the wait was very long because the flight departed quite late. <br />
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At this point in the trip, we were originally scheduled to go to Equatorial Guinea. Turns out, except for U.S. citizens, Equatorial Guinea wasn't issuing visas. Given the political climate in the area, that shouldn't have been too surprising. Whatever. Akos had to scramble to come up with a last minute alternative. Lope National Park in Gabon was it. Upon arriving back in Libreville from Sao Tome, we piled into 3 taxis and took a hair-raising 1 hour ride to the train station for an overnight train trip to Lope. It was now after dark and there we were.... 11 white specs in a veritable sea of black. In my entire life, I've never felt so out of place.

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We left Rojas Island in the morning; spent an hour on a boat crossing the Gulf of Guinea, spent another 2 hours in a van crossing the island to Sao Tome airport; and then spent an anxious few hours wondering whether all of us would get on the plane for the flight back to Libreville. In order to maximize our chances, we got to the airport very early and stood around in the heat until we could board. This time, we all made it on the plane, but the wait was very long because the flight departed quite late.

At this point in the trip, we were originally scheduled to go to Equatorial Guinea. Turns out, except for U.S. citizens, Equatorial Guinea wasn't issuing visas. Given the political climate in the area, that shouldn't have been too surprising. Whatever. Akos had to scramble to come up with a last minute alternative. Lope National Park in Gabon was it. Upon arriving back in Libreville from Sao Tome, we piled into 3 taxis and took a hair-raising 1 hour ride to the train station for an overnight train trip to Lope. It was now after dark and there we were.... 11 white specs in a veritable sea of black. In my entire life, I've never felt so out of place.

wasmugmug 117