Libreville, Gabon

Our flight was Saturday at 6:35pm. We got most of our packing done on Friday night so we weren't too rushed on Saturday to get to the airport. We had booked our flights back in June through Heather's cousin Cindy and got a great deal for Business class. I hadn't realized this also meant we skipped the line up through security, which was a nice bonus, especially over the busy Christmas season. The agent verified our visas to Gabon in Toronto; I thought they would only check before the flight from Paris but I guess it makes more sense. (Airlines are responsible for flying you out if you're refused entry to a country, so they check to make sure your papers are in order before you board.)

The food was pretty good on Air France, and we both slept for the latter half of the flight. The Air France lounge at CDG was under renovations and the temporary lounge was packed (woe is us). It was a short connection, just enough time for a coffee and pastry, and then we were off to Gabon!

We napped a couple times on the second flight and arrived relatively rested in Libreville. We were one of the first people to disembark and I accidentally followed the first class passengers to the VIP immigration, before one the VIPs helpfully pointed out the normal immigration checkpoint.

We already had our Gabon visas and the immigration official whisked us through in no time. Her ink pad was getting dry so the stamp is barely visible, but oh well. Then we waited over an hour for our luggage (reminded me of being at Pearson), but they all arrived. Everyone was very friendly around the conveyor, moving carts out of the way to let people pass and generally being helpful.

There was a final checkpoint leaving the secure area, where the official asked if we were students (lots of students were returning home for the holidays). We said, no, we're tourists, at which point she got suspicious. Oú allez-vous? cause no-one comes here as a tourist. We said we were going to Loango, and she nodded approvingly and waved us through.

Outside the terminal it was packed with families and friends waiting for the returning students. We found the taxi line and took a taxi to our hotel. We could smell the ocean as we drove, and I remembered that the road from the airport to town ran right along the coast. It was a pleasant temperature, about 26C, and pretty humid.

We checked into the Royal Palm around 7:30pm. We cleaned up and went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. According to Heather's research it was one of the better restaurants in town, plus on Christmas Eve we weren't sure what else was open. We sat at a table outside. We were the only guests at first, but a couple other tables filled in later on. We were still a little full from the Air France food, so split the seafood platter and a couple large Régab (the local beer). The seafood was excellent, it was super fresh and cooked properly. A good start to the food on this trip!