Be careful travelling in Gabon - we were detained by the authorities for 9 days! (1 Viewer)

[Mike Hunter]

Hi all

I've posted a series of linked tweets on X / Twitter explaining what happened during our trip to Gabon (Sept to early Oct 2023).

https://x.com/MikeeDeedee/status/1711007958916571627?s=20

Hopefully those interested will be able to access the tweets but if not I can elaborate on this forum if needed.

Mike

 

[Mono]

Sounds a very scary experience. Did you get any sense they were just after bribes or was it just a power trip? Or incompetence!

 

[James Lowther]

Thanks for the write up. Must have been a terrible experience.
James

 

[Mike Hunter]

Sounds a very scary experience. Did you get any sense they were just after bribes or was it just a power trip? Or incompetence!

Scary and intimidating. Definitely not bribes, I think we were in the wrong place at the wrong time, with a change of rules within Gabon relating to visas (visa-free regime seemed to end abruptly following the suspension of Gabon's membership of African Union and Commonwealth), but not communicated to the wider world for many days, resulting in chaos and confusion with Gabon. Local politics and power struggles should not be ignored though.

Mike

 

[Mike Hunter]

Thanks for the write up. Must have been a terrible experience.
James

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger 😠

 

[delia todd]

Hi Mike. It would seem you lived through a bit of a nightmare.

Unfortunately, as I don't have a Twitter account I'm unable to read your tale.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Wow, what a way to start a trip 😅 Nine days is pretty heavy 😐

 

[foresttwitcher]

I can't read it either, unfortunately.

 

[Mono]

Here is the story copied from Twitter...

Not long back from Gabon where we lost 9 days of 20 due to being detained by police. Without explanation, and at gunpoint initially, we had to go to Franceville, then told to fly to Libreville (at out own expense), the police justification: 'they couldn't protect us' (1)
The police, waiting for us in Libreville, bundled us into vans, raced at high speed through Libreville to the national police HQ, where we were split up, had our passports and phones removed, & interrogated. Erratic driving appeared to be designed to lose our embassy support (2)
We were eventually allowed to go to a hotel in Libreville though at one point it looked like we might have to stay in a deportation compound (embassy staff pressure helped here). We talked to other detained tourists, one couple reported having been beaten up by police (3)
It was then obvious the police were doing a systematic search for all tourists, forcing them back to Libreville for processing. We were required to return to the national immigration HQ the following day for further interviews (4)
Later that day the head of the immigration service confirmed we had entered the country legally, and police had made a mistake. It seems that with visa-free travel ending, police wrongly assumed that anyone in the country must be there illegally (5)
I suspect there was more to it than that as we, and a number of other tourists we spoke to, were detained from the province sympathetic to the deposed president. No amount of explanation in Franceville could dissuade the police from forcing us back to Libreville (6)
Gabon is a country in transition, under sclerotic military control following August 2023 coup with internal power struggles. If free & fair elections aren't held within two years, then they will become even more isolated (currently suspended from African Union & Commonwealth) (7)
The birding in Gabon is superb and the colonies of African River Martin and Rosy Bee-eater will live long in the memory. But so will our treatment at the hands of the Gabonese authorities (8)

 

[foresttwitcher]

Here is the story copied from Twitter...

Not long back from Gabon where we lost 9 days of 20 due to being detained by police. Without explanation, and at gunpoint initially, we had to go to Franceville, then told to fly to Libreville (at out own expense), the police justification: 'they couldn't protect us' (1)
The police, waiting for us in Libreville, bundled us into vans, raced at high speed through Libreville to the national police HQ, where we were split up, had our passports and phones removed, & interrogated. Erratic driving appeared to be designed to lose our embassy support (2)
We were eventually allowed to go to a hotel in Libreville though at one point it looked like we might have to stay in a deportation compound (embassy staff pressure helped here). We talked to other detained tourists, one couple reported having been beaten up by police (3)
It was then obvious the police were doing a systematic search for all tourists, forcing them back to Libreville for processing. We were required to return to the national immigration HQ the following day for further interviews (4)
Later that day the head of the immigration service confirmed we had entered the country legally, and police had made a mistake. It seems that with visa-free travel ending, police wrongly assumed that anyone in the country must be there illegally (5)
I suspect there was more to it than that as we, and a number of other tourists we spoke to, were detained from the province sympathetic to the deposed president. No amount of explanation in Franceville could dissuade the police from forcing us back to Libreville (6)
Gabon is a country in transition, under sclerotic military control following August 2023 coup with internal power struggles. If free & fair elections aren't held within two years, then they will become even more isolated (currently suspended from African Union & Commonwealth) (7)
The birding in Gabon is superb and the colonies of African River Martin and Rosy Bee-eater will live long in the memory. But so will our treatment at the hands of the Gabonese authorities (8)

Thanks Mono.

 

[delia todd]

Thanks Mono.

 

[498 Ramblin Alex]

Gabon is certainly my dream destination.

Please share any useful tips concerning locations and guides.

Alex .