10/1/12 The very arduous return to SA…

 

10 January, 2012

Yes, I have been quiet, but being back in civilisation brings with it a mass of responsibilities and activities making blog updating difficult.

The jetty where cargo ferry and passenger boats dock for Onal	The jetty with a boat very similar to ours

I left Onal camp on the 10th January, after having sat in my cabin for 10 days (over the third of my tour) without flying a minute due to paperwork not having been done by the Gabonese authorities allowing us to carry on operating in the country. This meant that all transportation to and from camp was made in boats. Since Gabon is essentially mostly low-lying, the majority of the population makes use of long, narrow “speed boats” for getting around. These can be anything from dugouts (a hollowed out tree trunk) to decent, metal-hulled boats such as the one we were to travel in. The problem is it takes over 5 hours to get to Port Gentil on these boats. And the times vary greatly depending on the health of the engines and what you hit underwater while travelling. Part of me wanted to cry just at the thought of 5 hours on a boat instead of 45mins in a plane, while the other part was kinda keen to experience a boat ride in Gabon. This latter part was short-lived.

Beautiful scenery-monkeys & birds making a noise across the water	… and water loaded with fish!

We arrived at the “docks” down the road from Onal camp at midday to await the boat bringing people up from Port Gentil (including the pilot replacing me). Since the boat is travelling through unpopulated jungle there is no means of getting an ETA or in fact any communication from the skipper. We just waited. At 13h30 the boat finally rounded the bend in the river and docked (apparently they hit something on the way up which delayed them). I had a 15min handover chat with the new pilot before boarding the boat for the trip to Port Gentil.

As we pushed away from the bank I did a little mental arithmetic and worked out that we “should” get to PG just before sunset if the trip only took 5 hours. Cutting it a little fine for my liking, but nothing to be done about it. We started up and puttered off. Still puttering slowly round the first bend, I hoped we’d hit a bit of speed or we’d need a week to get to PG. As if on queue the engine stopped. Engine cover off, plenty head scratching, engine cover on. Restart and at crawling pace we TURNED AROUND and headed back to Onal! More mental maths confirmed that even if we left at first light the next day I’d never be able to make my flight! Since I was again flying back via Addis Ababa my flight left from Libreville around midday the following day, and I could never get to PG, then fly to Libreville to be on time for my flight out. Doomed, I tell you. Doooooommeddd!!!!

All aboard the Sweat Express!	Now why can’t I sleep through it?!

As I wailed aloud and beat my breast an engineer from the camp drove down to fiddle with the engines. Clearly a very good fiddler as within an hour we were on our way again, and this time both engines were firing on all cylinders (well the one they each had, but you know what I mean). The trip itself was fairly uneventful. The pain in my ass, however, deserves mention. The seats were curved fibreglass seats (like in a canoe or a paddle boat at the beach). No cushion. In addition to which we were all required to wear a life jacket; a massive orange one like the old lifejackets my sister and I wore as kids for waterskiing (when you can barely see past the huge orange bits next to your face). And because it rains all the time in Gabon, the boat (which seats around 24 passengers) is completely enclosed with a massive canvas roof and walls. So it absolutely bakes inside! They open the front flap for a through-draught but it doesn’t keep you cool. Eventually (after about hour 3) I removed my lifejacket and sat on it. Sod the rules.

Awesome skiing water!	There be fresh air outside!!

The sun started setting as we belted along the winding channels towards PG. And in this part of the world the sun doesn’t really set, it falls off the edge of the earth. In 20 minutes I couldn’t see through the dirty plastic windows, but we were still pelting along at break-neck speed. Even once it was completely dark (and in a river channel in a jungle that’s pretty damn dark) we still kept going. I hoped the skipper had a radar installation on board, but I suspected he didn’t.

Small villages and huts now and again along the bank	Slightly more established village with a church

Suddenly, as we passed a tiny village of a few huts on the side of the river we throttled back and the skipper shouted across to the folks on the bank. I had no idea what was said but the passengers in the boat erupted! Everyone started shouting at everyone else but all I could hear was the odd word from the skipper, “risque” and “dangereux”. When one of the passengers began chanting “You can’t drive a boat” in French the skipper hit the throttles again and we continued into the darkness. Great, I thought, how the hell am I going to save my laptop and ipad when we crash and sink?!

Scaffolding in Addis, even for quite large buildings	No metal scaffolds visible anywhere!

Within 10 minutes we finally rounded a bend to see PGs lights across the bay and everyone, particularly the skipper, no doubt, breathed a huge sigh of relief. We docked at 20h30, but at least we were in PG and I would make my flight!

See rows of satellite dishes in garden	… and cables from each flat to a dish (bumpy bus ride produces blurred pics)

The return flight with Ethiopian airlines and their movie system which didn’t work as well as the grotty hotel I spent the night in in Addis isn’t particularly important, and this blog has gone on enough. But one note is that it was marvellous to be doing the return trip as someone who now knew how the system worked. All the mass confusion and stress from the trip up was replaced with focus and the speed to elbow my way to the front to avoid most of the queuing. I even got to help a couple who looked as lost as I did on the way up.

Water tanks on the roofs of most buildings through Addis	Such a smart little travellin man!