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There will be 3 hotelnights at the start and the end of the expedition, the rest of the time we will be camping. From Libreville we fly to Gamba, where we will prepare ourselves and spend the night. The next day we sail to Loango National Park via Gamba's lagoon (also see 2007). After we have set foot ashore we will be heading north through the forest and subsequently will be walking southward by the beach in 12 days all together. 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. Departure from Schiphol in the evening. The night flight with Air France requires a change in Paris.
Day 2. Arrival in Libreville in the morning. We then fly to Gamba, which takes about an hour and go and stay at Chez Bastien. The afternoon is free to rest or to visit Gamba. In the evening we dine in the village.
Day 3. We rise early and breakfast. 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. In about 3 hours time we shall sail to the outmost southern end of Loango near Sette Cama. There we start our walk and we look for a nice spot to camp later on.
Day 4. We now follow the compass heading northeast 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 - 8. The coming days we continue our course towards the north. 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 9. We now change our course to the west and use the day to make our way to the beach. It is really a magnificent moment to go through the revelation of the sea at a desert beach after having been in the forest for so long.
Day 10 - 13. Along the beach you have a clear sight on animals coming from the edge of the wood. It is therefore relatively easy to spot elephants, potamochères (wild boar) and possibly hippopotamus. We continue to move southward.
Day 14. We have ourselves picked up by boat at the point where we started our expedition earlier. On the way we make a short stop at the small WWF museum at the official entrance of Loango. Then we go back to Gamba, where we arrive in the afternoon and take a good rest. We dine in the village and if we like we can explore the nightlife.
Day 15. Return flight to Libreville in the morning. 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. In the evening we depart Gabon, again a night flight.
Day 17. We change flights in Paris and arrive at Schiphol early in the morning.
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