Feeling pretty groggy from the night before, I stumbled to the taxi rank to find a taxi back to Ndjole and the train station. Eventually I found one and we drove around town for quite a while rustling up some other passengers. I was crammed in the front and the windy road didn’t do much for the hangover, we got to Ndjole and I think I was on the verge of bundering.
On the taxi was a nice Morrocan chap (Mustafa) who was travelling to Franceville as well, so we decided to travel together. We had a bit of a wait at the Train Station so went in search of food and drink in the nearest Mauritanian owned shop. Being with my new friend I was priviledged to receive some of the genuine Arabic hospitality, they were very pleased that I had visited Mauritania. So after the lengthy greetings they got the tea on the go, and we ate some sandwiches. At the end Mustafa went to pay for us both, but the shopkeepers insisted that we pay nothing.
The train turned up on time and it was pretty spangly by African standards, which you should hope so too for the price of a ticket. There were quite a few other whities on the train all headed for Lobe National Park. Unfortunately for me its out of the price range, in fact so is the whole of Gabon which is why I took the train all the way down to Franceville near the Congolese border.
The train journey was long but Mustafa was very kind and kept me awake with numerous bottles of Coke. We arrived at about ten at night, Mustafa insisted on finding me a taxi and then had a stern word with the driver should he have any intention of over charging me. The taxi took me to the pay by the hour Motel and I slept well.
I spent a few days in Franceville which had a real frontier town feel to it. Primarily I was looking for transport out to some of the surrounding countryside and waterfalls. Unfortunately it proved to be pretty impossible as I would of had to charter a taxi all to myself. I made friends with the Congolese night guard who gave me advice on transport into Congo (Brazzaville), the next day I set about leaving Gabon.
