Libreville, Gabon

Yesterday we had read up on Libreville and there wasn’t much we wanted to see.

Had breakfast (Royal Palm has great breakfasts) and then geared up for our day. It was really overcast (there was a lot of rain last night) which kept the temperature in the low 20s this morning. At breakfast we ran into the travel writer we had met at Loango and chatted with her for a few minutes.

We started walking north along Boulevard du Bord de Mer which as its name suggests runs along the coast. We’ve been within a few km of the Atlantic for the entire trip, I would say over half of it within sight of the water. (Technically some parts were other bodies of water such as the Gabon Estuary for Libreville and the Iguéla Lagoon for Loango).

The traffic was really slow (Bord de Mer runs the length of Libreville and is the only north-south route). This was the first time we’d been here on a weekday to see the traffic. It actually wasn’t too bad, but does bottleneck at the intersections. We decided to walk rather than a slow taxi.

First up was the Musée National des Artes et des Traditions. From our research we’d be lucky to find it open. Even the travel writer at breakfast had wished us luck.

Anyways it was in fact open. Paid our 2,000 CFAs each (about $4) and entered. The ticket person was also our guide. He gave explanations about each of the displays (in French, which was fine for us). It’s a pretty decent museum with pieces in good shape.

Continued north along Bord de Mer. There’s some interesting 70s architecture, although not as unique as Maputo. Walked by the Porte de la Liberté and Presidential Palace. Looked them up in the guide book but there was limited info. Basically just said not to take pics of the Presidential Palace.

We reached Quartier Louis, where the cool restaurants and night clubs are. It’s also home to a couple churches that were listed as interesting sites in the guide book. The old Ste-Marie Cathédrale has a nice facade but with the overcast sky not a great pic.

We then checked out a couple art galleries to buy souvenirs. First was Galerie Olima which had really good quality stuff. It was getting close to noon (when everything shuts down for siesta until 3pm) so just got their hours for tomorrow and then carried on. Sculpture Konogo was close by. We actually met Maitre Konogo, a famous Libreville sculptor, working in his shed. He showed us some pictures of him with Gabon VIPs as well as pics of his more well-known sculptures. Unfortunately the items for sale at his place weren’t very good quality so we carried on.

We couldn’t find any of the othe places listed in the Bradt Guide (although it is over four years old). Google maps didn’t know about them either, in fact google maps not been very good at for any places in Libreville, it was way better in São Tomé.

We were in the middle of Quartier Louis and the lunch places were just getting going. Tried out some street food - quarter grilled chicken, deboned and chopped up to order into half a baguette served with choice of toppings: mustard, mayo, onions, ketchup, for 1000 CFAs ($2). Got one each, and then got a pop from a nearby shop. Stood in the shade and ate. I spilled some mustard on my shoe. The locals seemed pretty tickled that tourists were having street food for lunch.

With the energy boost we decided to walk home rather a taxi. Stopped by Hôtel Le Cristal cause the Bradt Guide said they had art on display. Also I was starting to overheat (the sun had burned off the morning clouds and it was getting warm) and the hotel had great a/c.

We stayed for a couple coffees and a dessert. For some reason we received a lot of attention from the staff and management, asking how the service was and if we needed anything else. One of the managers came over to type in the WiFi password (he pronounced it ‘wiffy’ which I found pretty funny, although there’s no right or wrong way to pronounce it). They even comped us the coffees and gave us a discount on the desserts. We’re not sure why, maybe they thought we were some of those social media influencers types.

The cool air and caffeine gave me enough of a boost to continue on home. We walked through the busy commercial Centre-Ville. We both agreed that Libreville has a nice vibe to it.

Walked a little past our hotel to get water from the supermarket and look for Le Sud, the restaurant we were planning on for dinner.

We went back to Le Sud around 7pm, probably a bit early to eat in a hip town on a Friday night. The fish was cooked perfectly and the sides were nice, but overall not a standout (especially being rated #4 on tripadvisor). However it was conveniently close to our hotel (less than a five minute walk). We had eaten at the hotel every other night (due to late evening flights in, and Christmas when everything was closed) so it was nice for a change. Walked home around 9pm, just as the restaurant was getting busy.