Sunday

Tomorrow morning I leave Iguela. I’ll go to Port Gentil for one night and then fly to Gamba, which is a town on the next lagoon south, the N’Dogo. This lagoon is much bigger and I’ll only have a week there, so I doubt I’ll see all of it. But the idea is to get a sense of the place and meet some of the people working there. My boss Buddy surveyed this area a few years ago and listed it as one of the eight most critical areas for manatees in West Africa, so I’m looking forward to following up his work there! I’ll be the guest of Bas Huijbrugts of World Wildlife Fund.

Before I leave Iguela I’d like to thank the three guys who have spent two weeks in a boat with me, mostly in the rain, always covered with Tse Tse flies (and not always happy about it). They have great senses of humor and made my 12 manatees sightings here possible.

Brice and Pierre, getting in touch with their feminine side.Tim demonstrates Tse Tse fly defense gear.My best bird photo so far… a Blue-breasted Bee-eater