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Our First Visitor…Ariana Visits Gabon…Trip to Loango National Park

20151029-IMGP7648At the end of October we were very happy to have our first visitor to Gabon, my best friend Ariana! After spending a few days in Paris to celebrate her 35th birthday we flew altogether back to Gabon. We eased her into her first African experience by spending the first few days doing a bit of relaxing, visiting the beaches nearby our house, 20151029-IMGP7653watching the elephants coming through camp to eat all the ripe mangos, and kayaking around the lake.

 

 

20151030-IMGP7691 But over the weekend we took a boat and headed up north through the lagoon to Sette Cama where we stayed in the Shell Hut and arranged for a guide to take us for a couple of hikes into the amazing 20151030-IMGP7708Loango National Park. Before arriving at the hut we of course had to stop at the newly semi-improved BBC Treehouse. I was really impressed that Ariana, who is extremely scared of heights, actually climbed all 20151030-IMGP7712the way to the top and even crossed the rope bridge! That night we enjoyed some drinks on the beach, just steps behind the hut, while watching the sunset.

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all smiles at the start of the hike

The next day we picked up our guide in Sette Cama at 6:30 for an early morning walk in Loanga. We decided to start with an easy 2 hours hike that takes you through the forest and 3 separate savannas. We came across several groups of monkeys (mostly red capped mangabeys), a massive snail, and some fairly 20151031-IMGP7736impressive spiders. I found walking through the forest was really magical; Ariana, who lets just say isn’t the most outdoorsy person, may have found the experience slightly less magical. 20151031-IMGP7749Or at least that the impression I had as she asked every 10 minutes if we were almost back to the boat yet and continuously tried to in vain to swat invisible insects away from her face. This probably wasn’t helped when at one point, after our guide pointed out a large spider web and then demonstrated where to walk around it, Ariana then walked through the side of it 🙂

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Giant snail, it was bigger than my hand!

 

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We all survived the hike and to our surprise Ariana even raved about how much fun she had! After a bit of relaxation at the hut, we dropped the boys (two of our 20151031-IMGP7823friends arrived that morning) off on the beach near the lagoon mouth and we went in search of hippos in a little river off of the north side of the lagoon. 20151031-IMGP7802It was a successful search and we spent about a half an hour watching a fairly relaxed group of hippos bob up and down in the water checking us out. We also spotted some rosy bee eaters, pelicans, and a red capped mangabey monkey hanging out in the mangroves.

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After meandering up and down the river for a couple of hours we headed back to the beach to see what the boys had caught (unfortunately nothing this time) and then all headed back to the hut for a (fishless) dinner

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The next day we had another early wakeup call and tried to mentally prepare ourselves for what was to come….a 6 hour hike through the heart of the Loango National Park!

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Getting from the boat onto dryish land
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more spiders
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giant monitor lizard
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our guide Kasa
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lovely scenery
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massive trees, small people
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yet more beautiful trees
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We finally made it out of the forest an onto the beach
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Herd of buffalo on the savannah next to the beach
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Herd of buffalo on the savannah next to the beach
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Cute!
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Pure Beauty! The only thing we’re missing is a surfing hippo…

We were all pretty exhausted after the long, hot hike, but everyone agreed that it was an amazing experience.

Part 2 of Ariana’s visit to come in the next blog post

More Adventures in Gabon…Crocodile Search

In Gamba we have a Smithsonian research group that studies a variety of subject ranging from developing strategies to ease human-animal conflicts and discovering new species of animals to analyzing the impact of industrial practices on local ecosystems. I met one of the visiting researchers, Matt, who specializes in research on crocodiles in Central Africa, and asked him if I might be able to join him on one of his trips to search for new nests. Lucky for me, he agreed and one morning in October I set off in a boat with a small group of researchers and volunteers to go check on a nile crocodile nest he had recently found. Our journey took us into the Ndogo lagoon towards the Moukalaba river. After about 45 minutes we anchored the boat on a patch of land nearby the nest. We hiked up the muddy bank and across a small savannah, keeping a careful eye out for mommy crocodile. Unfortunately there was no sign that the crocodile had been anywhere around the nest for at least the last few days, most likely abandoning her nest after realizing humans had been poking around it. The crocodile population here is pretty small, mostly due to overhunting for many years. So we sadly made our way back to boat.

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On the way back to Gamba we decided to take a little detour into an offshoot of the Moukalaba river to see what we could see. It was an absolutely beautiful place, lined with fluffy papyrus plants and raffia palms. I gleefully snapped away, hoping that some of my photos may capture the magic of the area.20150925-IMGP7236

And then our crocodile expert spotted them! Two slender snouted crocodiles sunning themselves on a fallen tree in the river! Crocodiles around here tend to be very shy and run away at the first sign of people, but these two seemed very relaxed. They just hung out on their tree as we made several passes by them in the boat.20150925-IMGP7242

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We continued down the river, finally returning back into the lagoon and heading back toward Gamba. On the way back Matt and Tobi, one of the head researched at the Smithsonian that I’ve been helping out run the Nature Club at Yenzi, asked if I would like to join them after lunch to look for crocodile nests in one of the coastal lagoons. I happily agreed.

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After lunch they picked me up and we headed towards Colas beach. This would be a little different trek than our morning excursion. Instead of the large boat with 100hp motor we would be using their small aluminum dingy with a 12hp motor to explore areas of the shallow lagoon.  Matt already had some ideas where to look so we crossed the main body of the lagoon and headed towards a narrower section that apparently goes on for several miles through thickly vegetated areas. Soon enough we found a sandy bank that could be a potential nesting area so we stopped the boat, all got and started walking around (in the middle of no where in potentially crocodile/hippo/elephant/snake infested territory) looking for loose sandy areas that could indicate a nest and started poking long sticks in the sand. Apparently if there’s a nest the stick will easily go several feet into the ground, otherwise it just goes a few inches in. No nest, so we started wanderingfurther around in the bushes. After a few minutes of searching we headed back into the boat to go further up the lagoon. Soon the water became shallower and more plant filled and the motor became useless. That’s when Tobi and I grabbed the paddles and used man power to continue on. We would paddle on a for bit before Matt would spot another potential nesting spot and we would all jump out and begin our search again, but again with no luck. Back in boat we would go, sometimes we could use the motor for a bit before we had to go back to paddling. It was turning into quite an adventure… and then it got real… Anybody who know me well, knows that while I’m crazy about all kinds animals, I’m not a fan of spiders, in particular them crawling on me. So as we continue down the lagoon the waterway is getting narrower and the bushes and trees are overhanging further into the water. And all I can see as tree branches and bushes are headed straight for my face, in slow motion (paddling isn’t getting us anywhere very fast) are spiders crawling all over them. Of course I’m in a boat with two seasoned field biologists who aren’t at all bothered by these harmless little spiders, so I’m trying to keep my cool, casually as possible dodging branch full of spiders after branch. Eventually I was busted when they advised me to put my camera strap around my neck in case we went overboard, I had left it sitting on the bench in front of me and it was now crawling with spiders that I clumsily tried to remove with the end of my paddle before hanging it around my neck. So between the paddling through the thick brush laden water and doing my best to avoid the hundred of spiders, all in the middle of the humid mid-day heat, it was turning into quite an adventurous afternoon. We continued further up the lagoon for a another hour or so continuing our search unfulfilled before giving up and heading back to the car. It was quite an amazing day!

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The BBC Treehouse in Sette Cama, Gabon

20151011-IMGP7546With Ariana coming we decided to do some maintenance on the BBC treehouse. Floorboards were bad, the ladder was missing some steps so it was becoming quite an adventure just to go to the top. 20151011-IMGP7548Not to mention the safety hazards while climbing up…At the top there is a bridge, a big rope with some side netting, leading to the other side where another platform is. All providing a great view over the jungle. Just as it was designed by the BBC. 20151011-IMG_5536The hut was build some 8 years ago by the BBC and featured in their tv show. The goal was to provide a place for researchers to study the red capped mangabeys, which apparently are a rare species if you consider the world. To us they are quite normal as they roam the trees around our house quite frequently….anyways Ariana was coming and the hut needed some repairs, after years in the jungle 20151011-IMGP7568being exposed to the elements this was needed very much….we wanted to show her the hut so some upkeep was required. We went up there for the day, brought some wood, nails and elbow sweat…all worked out well and the hut was safe again to climb up…at least for a couple of weeks…20151011-IMGP7573

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Whale Watching off the Southern coast of Gabon

The sea is teeming with life off the coast of Gabon. Dolphins frolic close to shore, sea turtles lay their eggs on the beaches from December to March, and humpback whales give birth and mate off the coast from June to September. The last weekend in August we had the immense pleasure to be invited to be go whale watching with Daniel on his boat.

Teun left on Saturday morning with Daniel and few others to try their luck at fishing and then camping on the beach. Unsure of how my body was going to take to the potentially very choppy water, I decided to not go for the full two days on the boat, but instead left on Sunday morning with a few other to meet them.

Apparently Teun and the rest of the first group spent the whole afternoon on Saturday trolling to no avail (saw loads of whales though, from what I heard it was actually pretty comical how many whales there were, like oh look another whale…), so unfortunately after landing on the beach they set up camp and went to bed without a fish feast that evening. 20150830-IMGP6652whales However, the next morning on their way back to pick us up Teun and Angus both got bites on their lines in quick succession. And after the battle to end all battles (I believe there was blood, sweat and tears shed) Teun pulled in a massive rouge! (African red snapper I believe). As you can imagine, when Teun came onto shore to meet us he was beaming with pride as he displayed his mighty catch.

 

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After a change of crew we set off for the open seas. We had a nice ride down the river for about 15 minutes as Daniel joyfully explained the dangers of exiting the river mouth and how to navigate through the breaking surf to get out to the ocean without capsizing the boat and potentially drowning us all. As we neared the breaking waves we were instructed to hold on and we all braced ourselves for some serious rocking, but hopefully not rolling. 20150830-IMGP6683whalesHe navigated out into the calmer waters with ease and we began our search for whales.It didn’t take too long before a splash in the water was spotted and soon we were within meters of a small pod of humpback whales! It was really amazing being so close to such huge and majestic animals. 20150830-IMGP6665whalesOne was particularly curious about us and popped up what seemed like right next to the boat and twisted its massive body around on the surface to get a good look at us. 20150830-IMGP6671whales

For the next couple of hours we enjoyed the peaceful surrounding of the sea and the gentle lull of the waves as we searched and found several more whales. We were also joined by a group of dolphins for a bit, they had fun swimming in our wake and we clicked away trying to get decent photos of them.

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For the most part the whales were pretty lazy, just popping up to get some air, with a little bit of tail action here and there, but then we came across one that treated us to a little acrobatics leaping out of the water and landing with a huge splash. It. Was. Awesome!20150830-IMGP6778whales 20150830-IMGP6792whales

But all good things must come to an end. We said our good byes and headed back to shore. 20150830-IMGP6773whales

 

Easter Weekend, Gabon Style

Sorry, this is a long over due post, but better late than never 🙂

IMGP2069-140Over Easter Weekend we were invited by our new friends to go camping with them at the Ngodo river mouth on the IMGP2074-142southern edge of the Loango national park. We happily accepted, they even provided us with everything we would need for camping! Teun and I had just started our training to be boat captains the weekend before, and because we were taking Daniel’s boat up to the camp site and I got to get a bit more practice.

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IMGP2078-143 IMGP2083-144 IMGP2087-145IMGP2089-146Daniel brought the boat into the shallows so we couldoffload all of our stuff, and lets just say nobody packed light… IMGP2090-147 IMGP2096-148

IMGP2099-149 But after several trips up and down the beach carrying all of the “necessities” we were able to set up camp

 

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And the boys went in search of firewood…

 

 

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Then it was time to relax, which meant fishing…

 

 

 

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It was absolutely beautiful at the beach; warm, but with enough of a breeze not to make it miserable for sleeping

 

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There was quite a feast for dinner! This weekend was the start of the celebrations for Daniel’s 40th birthday, so there were beautiful speeches and champagne to celebrate! It was a very memorable evening.

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After “a little hiccup” (the boat ended up getting flooded with water when the tide went out and it tipped over and then the tide came back in…) we loaded up the boat and set out on the slow ride (only 1 of the 2 engines was working now) back home.

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The somber mood turned more jovial again when we spotted a small group of hippos! After weeks of wishing and hoping to see them, I was over the moon to finally get the chance.

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