My favourite experiences on this trip
- Tracking lowland gorillas in Loango
- Akaka river cruise
- Bird watching excursion with Praia Sundy
- Turtle nesting on Praia Grande
- Chocolate tasting at Claudio Corallo
- Quad biking around Principe
- 11-course degustation menu at Roça de São João in Sao Tome
There were lots more cool experiences, it seemed like this trip had a lot more unexpected cool things than most (maybe due to lack of any details on tourist attractions for either country on the web, we didn't have any expectations).
We had picked Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe because they rank near the bottom of the list for international tourist arrivals in the world. In both countries there were very few other tourists who weren't expats or visiting expats. It took quite of bit of emailing to organize the trip. It was the most difficulty I've had trying to arrange local flights -- the flight schedule was only posted two months in advance, and Canadian credit cards didn't work on their website. I couldn't find a local travel agency or local hotel that would book on our behalf, and finally found one (1) travel agency that could book the flights, Africa's Eden. They also had a relationship with Loango and the Roca Belo Monte in Principe, and we ended up booking half the trip through them. Payments for hotels for both countries was either through bank transfer or Paypal. Fortunately you can now do international money transfers through online banking, in the past it meant a trip to an actual bank in person and a steep fee.
We were lucky with the weather -- we really just had one day rained-out in Tassi. The other couple times it rained it didn't impact us (and actually added to the atmosphere at Roça de São João). The temperature wasn't too hot (I think the hottest was 30C) but it was very humid everywhere.
We didn't really see much of Gabon, just the capital and one national park. Despite all the stories on the web, we had no issues getting our visas (multiple entry visas at that). We had to submit a lot of documentation, but no more than what we've done for some other countries like Mozambique or Djibouti. With the visa in our passports we had no problems at the border. We both really liked Libreville, it has a nice buzz to it, although maybe a little short on things to see. Once you get outside the capital, there's plenty to do in Gabon's 13 national parks (10% of its land area!). Loango was really cool. We were lucky that they've just recently (mid-2017) habitualized lowland gorillas and that we got to see them on our excursion. If we had more time we would have liked to have visited some of the other national parks.
Principe was a lot of fun. We were really busy with activities -- stand-up paddle boarding, snorkeling, quad biking, trekking, turtle watching. Somehow we also found time to relax by the beach, and have candle-lit dinners in the courtyard at the Roca :) We really liked the charm of Roca Belo Monte, they've done a great job of restoring it. I was surprised at how much we enjoyed the turtle nesting -- I think because it's organized through researchers who take care to minimize the impact to the turtles. All the beaches on Principe were amazingly clean, and the water was really calm. We were also lucky (yet again) to get into the Praia Sundy -- I think their website accidentally let us book into their soft launch. The kitchen at Praia Sundy was amazing.
Sao Tome was a little more touristed, although that's relative to Principe. I'm glad we rented a car, it's a great way to see the island independently. The roads are in good condition and paved. For most of the trip we were staying at full board places (Loango, Principe) so it was nice to check out the food scene in Sao Tome. We had great seafood everywhere.
Overall it was a really relaxing trip!
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