Libreville

Jourdain, Cecilia and I needed to make a day trip recently to Libreville (the capital city) to renew our passports. Although we transfer through Libreville airport four times a year to get from Manji island (where Port-Gentil is located) to Paris and back, we had never actually seen any of the city itself.

The bumpy plane ride to Libreville was nothing new, but excitement was still in the air for the young pair who got to skip school for our outing! (I should add here that our poor little 8-month-old Noah is going to have to wait for his US citizenship, as this trip is just a bit too, um, adventurous for me to want to take him at this point.)
As usual, the kids scooted right up behind the pilots to watch them magically work those levers and dials as they do. I myself prefer to pretend none of this is happening while I look the other way, pray for no turbulence, and simply hold my breath until we land 40 minutes later... Of course I do this all while keeping my "mom is calm and in control of the situation" face. As we took off over the ocean towards Libreville our plane headed directly over our private weekend-getaway island, which is the long fish-shaped vegetation surrounded by white sand to the right in the picture. Towards the bottom of the island, on the right, you'll notice a square of sand with a small black dot set into it. That's our cabana and the clearing around it. The black water between the island and the mainland is a deep river that winds around and heads inland just out of the picture.

This was our first day-time approach to Libreville, and it was only then that I realized the city is not quite the thriving metropolis I had always assumed it was.
Once in town though, and on our way to the embassy, I understood the city was at least big enough for a billboard boasting the past 40 years of dedicated public service of President-for-life Omar Bongo.
The city, it seemed, was even big enough for a second billboard advertising the "40 years of economic and political decisions" of President Bongo, resulting --naturally-- in "peace and stability".As our taxi drove us on to the embassy I couldn't miss the next billboard explaining that Bongo and his wife are helping in the fight against HIV AIDS.
Most importantly though I discovered that Libreville is so thick with propaganda that if I kept on taking pictures of it all I might not have much memory left in my camera for the rest of the day's events.

The three of us needed new passport pictures, so we stopped en route at a crowded photography shop. Once inside I turned to see Cecilia next to me holding her breath for so long that I thought she might pass out. "How can you STAAAAAAAAAAND it, Mama???? Can't you SMELLLLLLLLLLL how much it stinks in here?" I thanked God no one in the shop understood English and quickly told her not everyone has a shower in Libreville. At the US Embassy things smelled a bit fresher, but as we were the only ones in the room there was much less entertainment to keep the kids occupied.
We put our coloring books to good use...
and made up for the boredom with a quick pizza and swim before catching our bumpy little flight back to Port-Gentil.

School

He always complains and often cries when I bring him to school, but it seems to me Jourdain enjoys it plenty once I've left... Here he is with buddies Vincent (left) and Johan (right).

Lobster Lady

One day, about a year and a half after we had moved to Port-Gentil, a woman from Togo came to the door carrying 20 kilos of live lobsters in a pan on her head. It was a very big pan. She introduced herself as Odile, and wouldn't I like to buy 10 kilos of lobsters? I ought to add here that the sun was high in the sky and relentless (at least 35C / 90F), and she had a 2-year-old child strapped to her back. Since I do like lobster and happen to have a soft spot for women walking down the street with 20 kilos of stuff on their head carrying a baby in the hot sun I called everyone I knew in town and we bought her whole load. Needless to say I quickly became Odile's new favorite customer and found myself buying lobster a bit more regularly than I might normally in another situation.

Here's our guard Herve and the kids "playing" with one of our new friends.
I should also admit that while I enjoy eating lobster (MMMMm...lobster and mango salad at the beach!), I really don't enjoy the boiling-alive-in-a-pot aspect to the whole ordeal. Odile quickly assured me she wasn't as worried about it as I was, and before I knew it she was in my kitchen taking care of business.
Note lobster in pot to the left and Odile cleaning up to the right. I doubt the guy at the fish counter at the supermarket back home would be as kind...
So, anyone planning to come to Gabon for vacation is welcome to join us in a delicious lobster salad, with the compliments of Odile.

Cabana View

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago with the aim of tempting certain friends and family members (You know who you are!) to come vacation here with us in Port-Gentil. This was the view on a Sunday looking out from our beach cabana. The ships in the background are oil tankers heading off to Houston filled with unrefined Gabonese oil, and if you can live with that as a bit of an eye sore it's worth coming and hanging out at the beach with us some weekend!

We're Back!

Ok, so we haven't actually been anywhere, but I've been locked in my office completely engrossed in a long and painful legal translation that was due today. As of 4:35 this afternoon though I am a free woman and back on track with the blog!


The latest is that somewhere between my last post and today Noah learned how to crawl! Here he is revving up his motor below. He's only just kicking it into first gear this week, but I assume by the time I post next he'll be chasing the cats around the house at a nice pace.

More to come tomorrow!

They're back!

The USS Fort McHenry and its crew are back in Port-Gentil this week for a second round of training for the Gabonese Navy. Today I start interpreting for the Maritime Law class. Hmmmmm....Better bring my best dictionary!

Backyard Flora

Living on the equator has its advantages and disadvantages. Giant cockroaches climbing up through the drain of your bathroom sink, for example, is one of the more unpleasant aspects to life with constant heat and humidity. On the brighter side, however, living in the tropics means year-round beach weather and really cool plants growing effortlessly in your backyard. Here's a sampling of what's growing behind our house:

This beauty is called "l'arbre du voyageur" (the traveler's tree). I've been told the name stems from the fact that its leaves always fan out from east to west, pointing the way for any lost desert trekkers. I don't know if I buy that one, as our neighbors' trees seem to be pointing in all different directions. Others, however, have told me that the name is due to the fact that each branch contains potable water down at its base, always ready to quench the thirst of lost desert trekkers. Testing this theory, I asked Amadou to cut a branch off so we could inspect its insides. While it was indeed filled with water, I haven't yet dared drink any...
And here is a flower called "la trompette de la mort"(trumpet of death). I'm told you shouldn't boil it to make a drink. Fine by me. We've got a whole bush of these pretty things.
We also have numerous hibiscus bushes around the house. These grow with great ease in this climate, and Cecilia enjoys picking the flowers for inside decoration and an occasional tropical behind-the-ear look.
We are fortunate enough to have a great deal of these heliconia flowers growing in a few different spots around the house. They sure make a beautiful bouquet on the dining room table!


Here's a wide shot of our mango tree...And then there's the baby banana tree we planted a year and a half ago that grew to full banana-growing status only recently. Seems like a long time to grow bananas to me, but it was definitely well worth the wait!

Here's the plant from a distance. If you look carefully you'll see a large, purple flower dangling down in the middle. The bananas grow row by row beneath each petal of the flower.
As each petal lifts up to reveal a row of mini-bananas (look closely under the raised petal here), the flower grows slowly southward, reaching closer to the ground while a new row of bananas is revealed under each layer.

As you can well imagine, the kids and I had our eye on that bunch of bananas in the backyard as it grew bigger and bigger over the months. I figured we'd have to pick it while still green, but I didn't know exactly how green. Then one day, like magic, Amadou announced that it was time. So we cut the darned thing off and boy was it heavy! Home-grown bananas have a much sharper flavor than those cut and shipped to the store, and with all the mangoes we've collected from our mango tree we sure are enjoying Gabonese fruit these days! I plan on letting a number of these bananas go black so we can use them in our next batch of banana-mango bread. So while life on the equator may not be perfect, I quite enjoy that the kids' school snacks are baked with fruits grown right in our tropical backyard! Yum.

Port-Gentil Parking Technique

So here's the side view of a gutter safe enough to drive your 4x4 over when parking in front of the stores on the main street in town. While it certainly looks topsy turvy, experience so far has proven that this is nothing to worry about. Of course I do try to aim just right when pulling up, as any large, loose cement block lying in the way could do enough damage to my car to get Olivier all worked up. Now compare the above to this less-well maintained gutter cover in front of the main pharmacy in town, just a little way up the road. You've got to pay some serious attention to what you're doing when parking, but even more so when backing out into traffic. Any false move -- however slight -- and your steering wheel may slip just enough to get you seriously wedged into an unpleasant spot.


My solution, therefore, is to drive in at an angle and take up as many parking places as it takes to ensure my saftey coming in and out. I've heard some non-driving bystanders (such as the ones to the left in the picture) whisper "regarde comme elle se gare" (Look at the way she parks), but to be quite honest, I don't see any alternative.

Park with Care

As my experience in other African countries is quite limited, I am not able to compare Port-Gentil to most of the rest of the continent. I'm often told by those better traveled than myself, however, that our little town on the west coast of Africa is a hidden pearl among many much less pleasant places. Since I really do like this town and the life we have as a family here I am ready to agree that we are very lucky to be living in Gabon, and in Port-Gentil in particular.

I had to chuckle recently though when I was told that one of the nicest aspects to our town is that the drainage is at least covered, something unheard of in most countries running up and down the coast. (And when I say drainage I mean water and every piece of paper, plastic and refuse that somehow ends up collecting down in there.) Well, up until then I hadn't really gained a full appreciation for the drain covering in town, as there are gaping holes pretty much everywhere you try and park, and I am constantly having to tell the kids to watch out for the big hole of gunk as they jump out of the car. I'll go out and take a few shots of some of the more, um, traditional parking spots tomorrow, but until then keep in mind that these images here are of my car parked in a GOOD place.

Touring the Ship

When chatting on the island that Sunday the officers agreed that Monica (Dutch), Gina (South African) and I could bring all six of our kids for a tour of the ship later in the week, even though they're all much younger than 10, the minimum age to board. By the time the day arrived everyone was pretty worked up to see the Big American Ship up close!
As I knew there'd be lots of ladder climbing, we got them geared up in sneaks and shorts (although Cecilia would have much preferred a dress for such an outing).

Once aboard everyone was pretty much in awe of all the machinery and metal everywhere. It was just like being in a movie!
A pretty patient sailor named Purley was assigned to give us a tour of the entire ship, explaining as best he could to a pretty rambunctious audience.

I actually think the moms were more interested in the tour than the kids...
Until we got to the bridge which pretty much fascinated us all. Of course I'd love to explain to you how this here equipent works, but then I'd be giving away national security secrets. Sorry.
And then there were the big-gun-torpedo-thingies (I don't think that's the actual technical name) which shoot out thousands of bullets the size of a shoe in 1.2 seconds. As I looked around I figured the gun must be manned by........
the silent look-out guy standing near by.
We did our own looking-out too while on the ship, but we were just trying to see if we could see the African cockroaches from this high up.As we left we realized we were quite privileged to be given such an opportunity to see this type of ship. I just hope the kids are old enough to remember it one day!