Gabon?
 

Can anyone give me an idea of what it costs to travel in Gabon? Is it possible to travel with very limited French? Any help is appreciated.

Some knowledge of french is helpfull off course. Mechanics are ofte Nigerians, and they speak english. And if you're lucky you stumble in to an english speaking Cameroonean.

I don't remember Gabon is being more expensive as other countries in the CFA zone. All probably depends on the levels of comfort you desire.

[This message has been edited by Robbert (edited 28 August 2005).]

Diesel: 330-400 CFA/litre (more expensive inland), Petrol slightly more expensive.

Hotels: 16,000 CFA/night is cheapest decent place in Libreville (Hotel Tropicana, book a few days in advance), in other towns 5,000 - 10,000 CFA is standard for a double room with a fan, 12-17,000 for air con/tv. If you stay in a village, either with the Chief or camping, its best to contribute 5000 CFA per night and buy him a beer.

Food in 'cafeterias' is about 3 x the price of Cameroon but still cheap - 1,000 CFA for omlette, coffee and bread, 1,000-1,500 CFA for a big plate of meat/fish and rice/manioc/bannanas. Fresh grilled fish is excellent, especially in Libreville and Lambaréné, 1,500 - 2,500 CFA for a big fish and fried bananas. 'Western-style' food in a restaurant starts at 5,000 per plate, only in the bigger towns.

Beer: 400 CFA /bottle (640ml) in big towns, 500 CFA in small towns.

Prices as of August 2005. 1,000 CFA is approximately 1 Pound or 2 dollars.

If you do go, don't just do what the others do and go to Libreville - see the cool places like Mayumba, Lambaréné, Ikobey, Plateau Batéké etc. Gabon just created 13 National Parks, so plenty to do.

HTH

Hi,

We crossed Gabon about one month ago, and indeed it is only slightly more expensive than the other CFA countries. We stayed in mission posts most of the time, and we never payed more than 5000 CFA per night. You can find the GPS data and prices on our website www.midlifesafari.be.
For the national parks, it is true that new ones were created, but all completely lack infrastructure, even roads to get there. Only the Lope park is ready for visitors, and that is very expensive. By chance we got very cheap in Mayumba NP (very beautifull indeed), but again they don't expect any visitors there yet.

Have fun in Gabon