This place was really marvelous. I felt something I believe I had never felt that much strongly. Being almost alone and contemplating the exotic landscapes and seascape that Nature was offering us was mesmerizing, as if I was living ten thousand years ago. As if I was the first one to set foot on this part of the world. A sort of rustic yet almost initiatory, energy-filled context.
84mm - 1/800 - F/5.6 - ISO 200
116mm - 1/640 - F/7.1 - ISO 200
I know my pictures do not totally reveal it, but the seashore was surrounded by luxurious vegetation, alternating with a savanna-like environment. I don’t have decent pictures to show of this, but there were a few ponds with water-lily around our camp. We could also hear crickets noises in the tall grass nearby, as well as many birds tweeting.
84mm - 1/500 - F/7.1 - ISO 200
90mm - 1/500 - F/6.3 - ISO 200
135mm - 1/1000 - F/5.6 - ISO 200
After a good lunch in the shade of a sort of large grass hut under which had been put some tables, we eventually went to the sea and stayed there for almost the whole afternoon, playing in the big waves (once again my photographs do not exactly do justice to their size) as if we were still children.
Ousmane, Rémy and Rémi (yeah, two of them)
18mm - 1/250 - F/6.3 - ISO 200
Rémi, Marine and Julien
24mm - 1/1250 - F/6.3 - ISO 200
Ousmane
41mm - 1/2000 - F/6.3 - ISO 200
There was a lot of driftwood on the beach…
250mm - 1/1000 - F/8 - ISO 200
24mm - 1/1250 - F/6.3 - ISO 200
Fishing
55mm - 1/640 - F/7.1 - ISO 200
…but also lots of crabs which were moving incredibly fast as we approached them. Hard to catch !!
250mm - 1/3200 - F/5.6 - ISO 200
250mm - 1/1600 - F/5.6 - ISO 200
Rémi
55mm - 1/1000 - F/7.1 - ISO 200
Look at how great the landscape was ! Marvelous !
18mm - 1/800 - F/9 - ISO 200
18mm - 1/1000 - F/8 - ISO 200
As sun the was decreasing, we went back to the camp. Cocktail hour. On the picture below you can spot two Congolese beers : Mutzig (green bottles) and Turbo King (brown bottles). One day I’ll tell you more about them.
Pierrick and Julien talking about politics
32mm - 1/100 - F/5.6 - ISO 400
We went to the top of a nearby hill to watch the sunset, but unfortunately there were some clouds near the horizon line, so I couldn’t shoot the magma-like ball I was expecting.
29mm - 1/60 - F/6.3 - ISO 400
We had gathered some dry wood, and spent the night around a joyful fire (mostly mastered by Ousmane, thanks man!), eating chicken and potatoes. How great this was ! The ambiance was friendly and I assume we all spent a great moment talking on the beach like this.
27mm - 4" - F/8 - ISO 200
During the night, I recorded the sounds coming from one of the ponds I mentioned earlier. If anyone knows what kind of animal produces the melodic/rhythmic sound you can hear in the sample, I’m interested to know more about it…
Getting asleep was a bit hard for me because I was afraid there could be spiders, but luckily I did not see any of them !
Time for me to end this article… You’ll have to wait another day before reading part 3 !! Do share your feelings about these pictures : would you like to be here ? Do you think we forgot something ? Anything you wanna know ? Just post a comment below and I’ll answer you !
A Geologist In Congo 