I thought that my last update before I leave Port Gentil (the boat is ready, meaning we leave Port Gentil tomorrow, finally!) should at least be a little festive, so the stores of chimpanzees, elephants, crocodiles and snakes will have to be put on hold for a few weeks until I’m sunning myself in Malawi, I’m sure you guys will manage to hold on till then. In the mean time, I thought I’d give you lot a little idea of how I spent Christmas and New Year out here, in the jungle, and with no signal. See, its alredy shaping up to be an fun story!
On the 23rd of December, after Christophe Boesch had left the day before (he visited Ozouga for a few days just to check on the project whilst he was in Gabon sorting out some paper work and such), everyone from the project, except me, Matchado and Loic, were leaving for the holidays, most venturing up to Libreville. As the signal coverage at Ozouga died the day before, the three of us decided to go to Yatouga to see if the situation was the same there, hoping that it was not. On the way out, we were dropped off with all our bags in the middle of the savanna so that were able to walk the 10km through the forest back to Yatouga. Even on the way to Yatouga we managed to find elephant, or well more specifically, it found us as we didn’t even noticed it till the last minute… And we finally arrived in Yatouga to…. No signal! Awesome! This was shaping up to be a very isolated Christmas. But just as we thought all hope was lost, that evening by some miracle the signal returned, and we were all very happy. But this was unfortunately only very transient. By the next day, were back in a dead zone. Loic got on with making a new fishing net, whilst me and Matchado tided up the camp as no one had been using it for the past 2 and a half months, and all of us were waiting with anticipation and hope for the fabled return of signal, and all to no avail. We spent Christmas Eve drinking beer and really rough local gin whilst playing Gerram (hmm, just tried to spell a French name phonetically, that’s never going to work…) and Uno (check, uno, finish).
Needless to say, I went to bed horribly late and woke up with a God awful hangover at 0630 in order to go out fishing with Matchado on Christmas morning. We managed to catch our diner, and then I headed straight back to my tent to try and sleep the worst of the hangover off. I woke up at around 12 in a fucking sauna, with my head hurting just as much, if not more than before. Merry Christmas! I tried to console myself with lots of biscuits and chocolate whilst watching films in the ‘office’, but even this had a limited effect. Matchado’s method was a little more direct, with him consoling himself with yet more gin and pastis (genuinely have no idea how the hell he managed it). After watching, ok I’m slightly embarrassed to admit this, but they’re Christmassy films and I’d just read both the books (hmm possibly making it worse), Bridget Jones’ Diary and the Edge of Reason (urgh, its a lot worse to say that out loud), we went back out on the lagoon to set the nets, and then I went for a swim in said lagoon despite the fact that it was actually a really cold day (well maybe 22/23 degrees, cardigan weather out here!). By this point it was time for diner, and for Christmas day we ate the fresh fish in a chocolate sauce. Its not real chocolate, but its what they call it out here. It’s made from the nut of a fruit called Irvenga which is found through out the forest in Loango, and a favorite food of the chimps and gorilla when in season, which it was at the time. For the whole of diner I had to refuse Matchados drunken offerings of gin, the memory of the night before still fresh in my mind (and banging at the back of my head).
Boxing day was spent pretty much as Christmas day, but the day after was slightly more interesting. Loic and Matchado had set the nets out the night before, and then went to collect the catch, but we caught more than just fish. At first I thought it was a crocodile, as Loic kept on describing it to me as a ‘crocodile-like’ animal, and I had no idea what he was talking about. Well eentually it turned out it wasn't a crocodile, but it did, however much it pains me to admit it (and I did feel very guilty eating it), taste really really good, especially after living off fish for 3 and a half months. So good in fact, we ate it for the next three nights, with plenty left over…
The next day, due to lack of signal, we decided to leave for the lodge on the northern edge of the lagoon, where we were to spend a week or so living in the local village with a couple of the eco-guides who work at the lodge. After the hour and a half boat we arrived at the lodge to… you guessed it, no signal! Wahoo! It turned out that the problem was not with the aerial closest to Yatouga, but one further out past the lodge, fantastic! But all was not lost, after only a few days, the signal was restored, so all was good, and I could get on with reading whilst lying in a hammock. I spent my days in the hammock, and my nights in the bar, needless to say it was a very trying time.
One of the guides we were staying with, Remy, organized with the owner of the bar, Crystelle, a party for all the children on new years eve day, and I was asked to help out. We had popcorn, sandwiches, biscuits and juice for all the little ones of the village. They loved seeing themselves on my camera, and loved even more being allowed to have a go with it, and I had a really enjoyable afternoon playing around with the kids. About half way through the party we had even more visitors, as the French military who were in the area for a few days wandered by and was wondering what was going on. When they found out, they got all their supplies of biscuits and sweets and water out and handed them around for the kids, it was all really nice and an amazing atmosphere, and felt good to make the kids happy, as they don’t have that much.
For the evening, we got invited around to Narcisse’s house, who works for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), for a bbq and drinks. We had fun at his, with the conservator (the manager) of the park, and a few friends and family. After, at around 2am we all went over the village to the bar, where all the locals were partying it down, and we joined in the fun there, drinking and dancing all night long. At one point, the French military found out where we all were and then they also joined the party, making for a very fun evening. I think it was possibly the best new years I’ve actually had, and one that’s going to be veryt difficult to beat.
On New Year’s Day the village was very subdued, and in true style I spent it lounging about in the hammock and eating biscuits and sweets with a few of the local girls who were obviously feeling the same way. Later that day I was then shown what was for diner, and asked if it was ok. It turned out to be monkey stew. I had always told myself that I would eat monkey if given the opportunity, but faced with the actual choice, I had a horrible niggling feeling in the back of my head. I decided to suppress this feeling and tell it to shut up, and got on with trying the monkey, which still had its skin… And it tasted…weird. Almost like beef, but with a bit of a ‘gamey’ taste, like you get with rabbit or pheasant. In the end (after trying it again the next day for breakfast…) I decided that I didn’t actually like it, and have no idea why everyone else seemed to love it. Evidently we all hard at work conserving the wildlife here, not to mention the fact that I ate Red River Hog just a few days ago in Port Gentil…
Over and Out!
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