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I've recently been informed that my Gabon Adventure will be cut short due to no fault of my own and I will be returning to the US in a few weeks. My adventure officially ends at the end of February but I plan to take a short much deserved vacation before my return stateside. Until then enjoy the latest news and happenings direct from Gabon. :)
So I'm trying to wrap up my Gabon adventures with as many activities as possible and this one over the weekend just about takes the cake. I attended a football match played by the Gabonese nationals with the old timers vs the younguns. The match ended well and one of my co-workers gave me a ride, with the promise of coupee coupee (bbq meat hot and fresh off the fire cooked outdoors of course) but alas we didnt find any on our drive to the match a few miles out of town. :( I was completely starving after the game of course so he decided that we would go find some "mouton" after the match. We found some in a little neighborhood right off a national highway and decided to eat "a la Gabonaise" in the shady Customer area in one of the Total gas stations. Imagine an outdoor night club during the day in the grassy area of a gas station with tables and chairs and dance music blaring over the gas station loud speaker and patrons buying beer and wine in the gas station shop as youw would in a bar (no mix drinks though). :) The area was extremely packed with no empty seats and was a buzz with multiple conversations going on.
So picture us, 4 castels (one of the local beers) on the table and we are sitting down and starting to unwrap these aluminum foil packages of mouton when there is a loud thud and the hugest, ugliest large orange/green half lizard half crocodile part alligator beast (about as big as a 6-foot tall man and as wide in my estimation) is less than half a meter away from me. I am frozen in shock as is my co-worker and just about everyone else around us. The beast is momentarily stunned from the fall and doesnt move initially and when it does move everyone starts screaming and scatters, running away in all directions overturning tables and chairs in all the mele. I almost had a heart attack but luckily I didnt soil my pants and I grabbed one of the bottles of beer and took off, turning over a few chairs in the commotion. This mini dinosaur wannabe, takes off running climbs the wall and hops over it. Needless to say no pictures were taken and a youtube worthy video wasn't shot. I'm staying away from trees from now on until I get out of Gabon. Hopefully this will be my one and only such experience.
Can you guys imagine if this thing had landed on top of me or on top of our table (and stolen our food, did I mention that I was hungry)? I found a picture online of what I think that I remember the beast looked like. The colors are off but imagine oranges and greens and huge (at least 2 meters long and about thigh high).
BTW I've since learned that this beast is eaten by the locals and tastes better than fish, it's called a varan. I have no desire to find out how true this is which is probably not surprising. :)
So picture us, 4 castels (one of the local beers) on the table and we are sitting down and starting to unwrap these aluminum foil packages of mouton when there is a loud thud and the hugest, ugliest large orange/green half lizard half crocodile part alligator beast (about as big as a 6-foot tall man and as wide in my estimation) is less than half a meter away from me. I am frozen in shock as is my co-worker and just about everyone else around us. The beast is momentarily stunned from the fall and doesnt move initially and when it does move everyone starts screaming and scatters, running away in all directions overturning tables and chairs in all the mele. I almost had a heart attack but luckily I didnt soil my pants and I grabbed one of the bottles of beer and took off, turning over a few chairs in the commotion. This mini dinosaur wannabe, takes off running climbs the wall and hops over it. Needless to say no pictures were taken and a youtube worthy video wasn't shot. I'm staying away from trees from now on until I get out of Gabon. Hopefully this will be my one and only such experience.
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| Scary Dinosaur Beast Wannabe |
Can you guys imagine if this thing had landed on top of me or on top of our table (and stolen our food, did I mention that I was hungry)? I found a picture online of what I think that I remember the beast looked like. The colors are off but imagine oranges and greens and huge (at least 2 meters long and about thigh high).
BTW I've since learned that this beast is eaten by the locals and tastes better than fish, it's called a varan. I have no desire to find out how true this is which is probably not surprising. :)
Apart from this little adventure the rest of my time in Gabon was pretty uneventful with only cockroach, lizard, dog and cat sightings. I've been keeping a low profile and staying away from trees since apparently huge animals tend to hang out in them intent on scaring the you know what out of unsuspecting people.
