12 November, 2011
Today was the revisiting of Banio2. This camp is about 30mins flight north of the border with Congo. Its 2.5 hours flying time from Port Gentil, but a pleasant flight. It is exhausting, however, if you haven’t slept very well the night before and you get a 30min refuel break before heading all the way back to Port Gentil. I literally had to sing rude songs to myself the whole way back to keep myself from falling asleep. Surprised at how well I still remember all the Kevin Bloody Wilson lyrics I learned at school & varsity…
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| Apparently it is Autumn in Gabon. But only some of the trees know this. | The mist/steam/cloud which develops immediately after rain passes |
This is where I saw all the elephants last time, and managed to get a quick shot of a few as they bolted for cover. I always thought that the elephants I usually fly over in game parks run because they remember the last time they heard a helicopter, they woke up with a vicious hangover. But these guys ran like hell too! Guess its the vibration they don’t like (they are all about vibrations after all).
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| What the coastline looks like. Plenty lagoons since there’s no topography | Elephants charging for the treeline |
Passing a number of lakes on the way I noted just how many homesteads there were LITERALLY in the middle of nowhere. I have often marvelled at how the South African rural dwellers manage to survive so far from roads etc, but these guys are HUNDREDS of kilometres from any roads! Predominantly located around the numerous lakes, so presume fish is a staple diet. If any of them are vegans they’re going to be miserable! (and skinny!)
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| Banlio2 from the air. The helipad | Awesome helipad of wood, though |
Banio2 is a shithole. It is a tiny camp which looks like its in Mozambique, rather than an equatorial country. I feel sorry for the passengers I drop off there. I couldn’t live there for a month at a time. Apparently it is also pumping oil, this little camp is within about 2-3km of the coast, but that means nothing because there is nothing around it for many kilometres in any direction…
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| This water bladder provides water for the camp (other than drinking water which is bottled) | Banio 2 camp – like a resort |
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