|
There will be 3 hotelnights at the start and the end of the expedition, the rest of the time we will be camping. From Makokou we will descend the river by pirogue (canoo) to the Kongou falls. There we will stay for the night in the permanent campsite near the falls. Next, we will proceed to the bai in 10 days, 1 or 2 days of rest included. At the bai we will stay for 2 days before continuing to the Gare de l'Ivindo. From there we will be travelling back to Makokou with a WWF car. With the exception of the rest-days we will set up a new camp each day. Most work will be done by the guides, but we set up our tents. We will take special dried 'adventurefood' with us to save weight when walking; 15 kilos is usual.
Day 1. Depart from Schiphol at 20:50. The night flight with Air France requires a change in Paris.
Day 2. Arrive in Libreville around 06:15. At about 09:30 we continue with a flight to Makokou that takes one hour and then we go to the Belingua Palace Hotel. The afternoon is free to rest or to visit Makokou. In the evening we dine in the hotel.
Day 3. In about 3 hours time we float down the river by pirogue to the Kongou waterfalls, where we stay over for the night. We have the afternoon to explore the falls and the environment. In the evening we dine at the campsite.
Day 4. Today we walk. We rise early and breakfast at the campsite. For the time being this will be our last breakfast in the land of the living. We check the rucksacks again, making sure they are not too heavy. The guides repack their rucksacks so there are enough provisions for the whole group. We now follow the compass heading south and walk until early afternoon. We will have covered about 8 km and set up camp in a suitable spot, near water. The guides level an area for our tents, look for dead wood for the fire and fetch water. This will become daily routine. At the end of the afternoon we prepare our expedition meal.
Day 5. The day begins early in the jungle, about five thirty. We pack everything away and breakfast on coffee or tea and another variant of our 'adventurefood': the meusli/cruesli version. We redefine our course for today and we get going.
Day 6. Now we are deeper in the jungle we see more animal tracks and the chance of a face-to-face meeting with a jungle elephant increases. We walk gently and rest regularly to enjoy the surroundings. After about 8 to 10 km we make camp again.
Day 7 - 10. The coming days we continue our course to the Langoué bai. If we can keep a steady pace and run into a beautiful spot, we can decide to take one or more rest-days to explore the environment and to track game, without rucksacks in this case.
Day 11 - 13. The Langoue bai is a long-drawn open area of about 18 km in length and 8 km in width. We approach the bai from the south-eastern side and from there we go in the direction north-west, while in the meantime we stay alert on game on edge of the wood. At the north-west side of the bai there is one of the most beautiful observation-posts of the WCS. We will stay there for a day.
Day 14. From the WCS observation-post we walk to the point where the transnational railway passes. At the Ivindo station we are picked up by a WWF car, which brings us back to Makokou. We again stay at hotel Belingua Palace.
Day 15. Return flight to Libreville at 11:00. We stay in the Tropicana Hotel which is situated on the beach and also known for its good kitchen.
Day 16. Visit Libreville. For those who wish to, we visit the large Mont-Bouët market in Libreville and the National Museum. The beach at the Tropicana is also an attractive alternative. At 22:40 we depart Gabon, again a night flight.
Day 17. We change flights in Paris at 06:30 and arrive at Schiphol at 08:40.
|
