Franceville

Franceville sits on the upper Ogooué in the southeast, founded as a settlement for freed slaves in 1880 and now the region's main city and the terminus of the Trans-Gabon railway. A large biomedical research institute operates there, and the uranium mines at nearby Mounana produced one of the strangest scientific findings of the twentieth century when the ore at Oklo turned out to have sustained natural nuclear fission around two billion years ago.

What you actually see

• The railway terminus - the eastern end of the Trans-Gabon line.
• The Ogooué - the river the city sits on in its upper reaches.
• The research institute - the biomedical centre based in the city.
• The Oklo connection - the nearby ore body that sustained natural fission two billion years ago.

When to go

June to September is the long dry season. The rains from October are heavy. The city is hot and humid year round.

Honest expectations

The city has little in the way of sights and works mainly as a base. The Oklo site itself is a working mine area and not open to visitors. Facilities are limited and expensive.

Nearby

Poubara is upstream, and Lékédi Park is south.