It was gutsy flying home for a mere ten hours after the Michigan Midwest Fly Fishing Show Sunday night instead of heading directly to Gabon. I nearly didn’t make it back to Idaho because of high winds and snow. But the fish gods were watching and I landed in Idaho Falls around midnight then made the drive home. An oncoming Dodge pickup whacked a moose on Pine Creek Pass. It was after 1 AM. Thankfully it wasn’t me. When you travel like I do every night in your own bed is like gold.
I rested a couple hours then sipped a coffee with Granny. Granny headed for work and I for the West African country. I was so tired from the exhausting show season that the 30-hour journey from Jackson to Atlanta to Paris to Libreville, Gabon went by in a blink of an eye. Between sleeping and looking at the flight map to see where we were.
I met up with my friend Mike LaSota in Paris. Then I didn’t see Mike again until we immigrated into Gabon. Immigration was a circus! As Americans you must get your VISA in advance but getting the VISA paperwork transferred to your passport upon arrival took more than two hours and cost $100. We made it though and good news, our luggage was waiting.
This Gabon adventure is through my friends of Tourette – Fight it in Africa. As you know by now, my South African friends run a good show and once Mike and I left the rigors of customs we were met by a Tourette agent named Habiba. Habiba grabbed a cab and took us to overnight here in Libreville at the Hotel Tropicana. Mike and I nailed some dinner and I sampled the local brew called, Régab. We managed to stay up till 10 PM before collapsing to our rooms.