25 December, 2011
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| The canteen is decked out with decorations… | … and messages on the windows. Little cakes for desert on 23rd. |
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| Hermann (of chocolate éclairs fame) getting all Gangsta! |
Well, Christmas Day arrives, or rather Xmas Eve (the Frenchies celebrate more on Xmas Eve it seems). We had a proper feast of food cooked on an outside braai. Little crazy since night time is when the tiny insects come out and dive bomb anyone silly enough to be walking around. They appear to have an affinity to South Africans….
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| Two little golden pigs are WEEEEEE!!! | Braai on right, food ahead, booze on left. Ready! |
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| Many posing for various photos. I was a bit late… | The drinks table very popular… |
Obviously there isn’t too much that we can do in a camp in the middle of the jungle, but they dished out some beers and wine for all of us, and “Papa Noel” came out and gave everyone a sweet, but other than that it was really just about sitting around chatting to the guys with some Gabonese music in the background. Apparently one usually stays up until midnight, which is when the kids would open their presents – how the hell do you get them to go to bed after that!?! But given that I can’t easily join in any conversations, and in spite of a couple of guys who speak English coming to chat to me to help me feel included, I faded around 10pm. I know what its like to feel obliged to entertain someone when you’d rather be chatting to your mates, so I felt it only fair to let them off.
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| Santa makes an appearance and dishes out sweets… | … then gives us a little impromptu dance before |
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| Stan (my heli guy) also taking pictures madly | Dinner is served. Turkey, pork (shame), mutton, beef, prawns and calamari |
Kinda a good thing, too, since I was up and flying by 8am this morning! And in this heat a hangover just wouldn’t work! Thankfully it was only to Coucal for a couple of hours, and now back to camp for the rest of the day…. Some heads are looking a little tender and the general noise in the canteen for lunch today seemed quieter than usual… I thought I have to at least post a few pics to show those interested how we do things in Gabon…
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| Xmas cake…. First nativity scene I’ve seen on a cake! | Coucal has an arched walkway of palm fronds |
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| Coucal’s Xmas tree. Looks more like storm damage… | … until you walk around the front… |
Merry Xmas all!!!
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| “Fweeeeep!!” |
Happy Xmas to you Grant!
ReplyDeleteI've been battling for 15 years here for the right to open my presents on Xmas eve...in vain! This is the way it works : families or friends get together on xmas eve, eat, drink, exchange presents (a few, not a mountain - in Belgium the kids get presents for St Nicolas on the 6th of december rather than at Xmas) with the kids around....everybody stays up till midnight, time at which people kiss and wish each other Merry Xmas. Then the kids go to bed, the adults to some more grazing and drinking and the bliss comes on Xmas day with a lie in for the parents whislt the kids have the whole day to play with their presents! There is no boxing day (yes, yes, sometimes continentals miss out on a bankholiday, it's not always the other way round). Anyway, I hope that Xmas cake was yummy....although I have my doubts....;-)