[IBD: Gabon] Last Day in Libreville

After three weeks, IBD Team Gabon’s life in Libreville has come to an end. Here are some of the things we’ve learned along the way:

·    Images of President Bongo (basically a democratic dictator) are everywhere – wall prints, button-up shirts, and on billboard signs, like this one, which reads: 40 years - Peace, Unity, Stability and Progress:

• Paper products such as napkins, toilet paper, and paper towels are a precious commodity. Don’t leave home without a roll of toilet paper.
• The cost of taxis is not based on a meter but rather distance, time of day, and cab driver’s mood. Always set the price before getting in the cab (1000-1500 CFA).
• Mosquitoes are strangely lethargic here – a quick clap can result in one smushed ‘skeeter.
• There are more stray cats than dogs here. These poor kitties are usually over-looked and desperate for attention.
• Running is an oddity. Every time we went for a run around our neighborhood, we received not only stares from every passer-by, but also shouts of “Ils sont fous!” (“they are crazy!”).
• Our botanist friend Manuel once told us, “The Gabonese got rich at the wrong time in history” referring to the proliferation of tacky 70s style architecture:

•  Flexibility and patience are critical to doing business in Africa. A 10 o’clock meeting may not start until 1 pm. Someone says that they will email you a document the next day, and you have to send a courier to go pick up a paper copy… three weeks later. You tell your British client that you need someone to take you to the airport for your 11:15 am flight, and about 15 minutes after the time you should have been picked up, he sends you a text saying that you’ll be picked up at 11:00.
• Many residents of Libreville display a very French sense of “malaise”, seemingly perpetually dissatisfied with life. However, a quick bonjour or bonsoir accompanied by a smile will nearly always result in a reciprocal greeting.

[IBD: Gabon] An average day working in Libreville

IBD Team Gabon’s daily routine in Libreville:

1. Le petit dejeuner: A light breakfast consisting of French bread with butter/jam/Nutella, and powdered coffee w/powdered milk.

2. Head to the old office of the Wildlife Conservation Society so that we can check email before our first interview.

3. Pile into the back of a sedan or smelly taxi and head to our first interview.

4. Wait anywhere from 15 minutes to over two hours.

5. Our WCS client introduces us, and Sergio masterfully drives the interview in near flawless French. Kris and Charlene listen intently and scribble notes in EngliFrench.

6. We pose for a formal photo:

 

7. If we’re lucky, we have lunch at a random restaurant. If not, then we have ham & cheese baguettes at the hospital cafeteria across the street.

8. We head to our afternoon interviews. Continue to sweat in our business clothes.

9. Work at the old WCS office.

10. Hail a taxi to head home:

11. Go for a run (while the locals stare and/or laugh at us) or unwind in the living room:

12. Eat dinner, cooked by our chef/housekeeper Pierre.

[IBD: Gabon] Bienvenue au Gabon!

I am writing on behalf of my IBD Team (Charlene Chen, Sergio Gonzalez, and Kris Harders). We are in Gabon working on a feasibility study for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s proposed Rainforest Discovery Center in the Mondah Forest 20 minutes north of Libreville. The mission of Bois des Geants is to inspire local Gabonese to appreciate their country’s best kept secret: its biodiversity.

 

After a couple of days in Bronx, NY visiting the headquarters of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), we flew from JFK to Paris (7 hrs) and then to Libreville (6 hrs), where we landed at Aeroport International Leon M’Ba. We are staying at the WCS lodging, where we have our own rooms, own bathrooms, a Gabonese chef named Pierre, an Equitorial Guinean security guard named Alejandro, and a house cat named Gin (her sister Tonic ran away).

 

We spent Saturday morning hiking through the Mondah Forest, which is where Bois des Geants would be constructed:

Then we spent a week conducting 8 interviews of officials from the ministries of Tourism, the Environment, and Education, a travel agency, construction company, the national school of water and forestry, a bank, and the national agency of national parks. Each day we increase our understanding of the culture of Gabon, which is a complex melange of French and Gabonese attitudes.