Running in Gabon: Arboretum Raponda Walker

While in Libreville, Gabon -- see my previous post for an introduction to the country -- I ran all the way to the Arboretum, on the road getting to the North of Akanda, Cap Estérias, and in particular the restaurant Resto-Cap (ex La Marée), where some in power in Libreville like to have lunch, on weekends in particular.

The Arboretum is about 10 miles North of Libreville. It's named after Mr. Raponda-Walker whose mother was from Gabon and father from the UK. André Raponda-Walker (1838-1910, Wikipedia) is said to have been able to remember the name of 1,000 plants. Nature preservation was his passion and the Gabon did very well on ecology under the 50-year ruling of the Bongo dynasty. Hopefully that will hold...

The road itself isn't interesting, border dangerous, especially on weekends (I did that run on Monday morning, that helped). But I was looking for a long run so needed the miles. Otherwise, there is a parking at the entrance of the park, if you have a car, or hail a taxi. A tip if you run it: as always, on the left side, against the traffic. The road is wide enough, there is room for cars to pass. BUT, if you don't see traffic coming toward you, be super careful, there maybe a car or truck behind you passing another one. There are frequently deadly accidents...

Regarding the park, the trails are well marked and good conditions, that is HURT style in quite a few sections. HURT? In our North America ultra running world, it stands for Hawaian Ultra Running Team, a club formed in the eighties which hosts a 100-mile race named after it. With gnarly trails and ton of roots. That's where the comparison stops: HURT is a grueling race on a 20-mile loop (5 times) and 24,500 feet of cumulative elevation. The trails through the Arboretum are rolling but, apart these roots, nothing difficult. Well, except a few tricky creek crossings on the red loop.

The red loop is the longest one, about 10 miles total, including the green loop you'll have to cover first.

I even took the extension or detour to the beach so I covered the entire park while I was at it.

Here is a flyover (click on this link or the picture below).

And more pictures, below. Overall, I would definitely recommend a run in the park, it makes you appreciate the forest which is so abundant in Gabon. And the trees, so high. In a very safe setting and no risk to encounter wild animal. As for the road, not so much, if you can get a ride up there from Libreville. Another tip: carry a lot of water! I am not used and trained to run in humidity, I sweat so much, I had to stop in a small shop on the way back to buy a large bottle of water, despite carrying two handheld bottles. And I stopped two more times to water my head at water stations along the road. It was only 80F (26C) but the humidity killed me! Well, not literally, but it was challenging.

We had a family lunch so I had to get back for noon, with only 24 miles on the GPS. Later in the afternoon, I went back to the beach I described in my previous post. For a total of 28 miles. Hence the inclusion of sunset pictures in the above flyover video. Not a fast run with the humidity but, no, it still didn't take me the whole day to cover these 45 kilometers, phew!

So, do I like Gabon? It was quite special to get back to Africa for sure! My next posts will be about nearby São Tomé and Principe, which I found way more attractive. Now, I would admit that a week in Gabon, and mostly in Libreville, doesn't do justice to the whole country. I haven't seen gorillas for instance, although I as told there are better place to see them in the wild, in other countries, and for cheaper. As I noted above, tourist isn't well developed in Gabon, making excursions quite pricey. With that, I may not visit again soon, there are 40 other countries for me to visit before!

The road toward the Cap Estérias.

No recycling in Gabon and burning garbage in a container next to the road (I had to run through that smoke on the way back, yikes!).

Getting to the Arboretum.

The parking.

The headquarters (rangers are there on weekends, to collect a fee; apparently not enough visitors during the week to justify their presence).

The trailhead.

The map showing all the loops, including the longer red one, plus detour to the beach.

Tall trees (vertical panorama mode)!

And many roots.

One of the creek crossings.

The bifurcation to the beach.

Steep trail down to the beach.

A crab trap which looks like it worked!

That crossing was easy, with the functioning bridge. The next one, not pictured, was an adventure!

Getting back to the park entrance.

Local market on the way back to Libreville.

The only sunset we had during our stay.

At the end of the beach of La Sablière, paintings of the blazons of the seven provinces.