Safari in “Survivor” Territory

In need of a holiday from the stresses of city life, Djin and Tonic took themselves on Safari to Nyonié for one night – tight budget!

On Wednesday morning, we left our Precious at the Auberge in Libreville and caught a taxi to the Marina to get the boat to Nyonié. (It's only possible to get there by boat. Imagine!) Peggy was allowed to come too. Imagine that! And, the lodge at Nyonié played host to the Survivor Gabon team, which is the TV show that got Jen going on Gabon. More imagination! Luckily, we didn't have to eat any weird things – in fact, we ate more lettuce and butter than the rest of our 5 months away. Nor did we have to do any weird tricks, apart from donning our bikinis and frightening everyone else off the beach.

The boat ride there was pretty uneventful with good weather, so we could enjoy the scenery across the Gabon Estuary and through the mangrove swamps without worrying about falling out. It was a small boat with only one functioning engine and was stocked with supplies for the lodge: baguettes aplenty, a whole case of Famous Grouse (Jen was pleased), and loads of soda but no tonic water (we were worried). Peggy is turning out to be a real old sea dog.

 

The boat pitched us out at a village, where we were collected by the lodge's safari bakkie. Not quite the safari vehicles we have at home and a lot more bumpy, but still fun. At the lodge, we were met by the charming Bernard and owner, Betsy (a Frenchman) who invited us to make ourselves at home. We didn't need much encouragement and climbed right in. Jen assessed the bar stock and reported the dirth of tonic. O-la-la! She did find several varieties of pastis and tried a few out in her coke. Bel refused to adulterate her rare coke treat and drank one quickly so she had time for the next. (We're a bit cheap and scaly on the Djin and Tonic tour!) Peggy instantly made friends with the resident dogs and dashed off to hunt the licorice allsorts agamas (lizards).

Just as we'd devoured the bowl of olives (French imports), the lunch gong went. We were thrilled to find MANY bottles of chilled Bordeaux Rouge to accompany the delicious onion quiche and salad shared at the communal dinner table with a French family on a military posting to Gabon and a Spanish couple visiting Gabon for a cultural event. After lunch, the Europeans retired for a siesta while the scruffy overlanders explored the beach. On such a splurge, it seemed a waste to sleep.

At 4pm, everyone piled into the safari bakkie and we shot off on a “game rally”. I say “rally”, because the speed at which we travelled was rarely less than 40km/h with no stops, not even for sundowners. Bernard sped up to forest elephants and goaded them into charging.

The Europeans loved it. We were horrified. Back home in the dark, dinner was waiting. More lettuce, buttery vegetables and le Bordeaux Rouge froid to fuel discussions on “the state of Africa” until the wee hours, which put paid to Bel's hope of an early morning walk in the forest.

The following morning we did a bit of birding before breakfast. (What? No eggs?) Then we played on the beach before lunch. (Yes! More Bordeaux!) And then it was time to throw our stuff in our bags and get the boat back to Libreville. We found a huge fish thrashing around the deck of the boat when we climbed in – the driver had fished it out of a sandbank on his way to fetch us. Peggy was terrified. Then the driver couldn't get the second motor started, so Jen took the helm and added to her travel CV.

Crossing the estuary, we were bashed by huge waves and got completely soaked, so were in a need of a stiff gin on arrival back at the marina where we managed to change into dry clothes before heading back to the auberge to dry out after a fab Gabonese safari.

 

We've had a fantastic time in Gabon and would recommend this place to everyone. Next stop Cameroon, where we'll be running our programme in Belo in the North-West region for 6 weeks. Allons y!