Port-Gentil

Port-Gentil sits on Mandji Island in the Ogooué delta, beside Cape Lopez, Gabon's westernmost point, and it is the centre of Gabon's oil industry and its second city, with a population that has grown on the back of offshore production since the 1950s. It has no road connection to the rest of the country: everything arrives by air or by sea. Beaches run along the ocean side, the town is laid out flat and low, and the atmosphere is more industrial than anything.

History

The Portuguese navigator Lopo Gonçalves sailed near Cape Lopez in 1473, and in 1722 the pirate Bartholomew Roberts was killed here in a battle with the Royal Navy in Cape Lopez Bay. The French founded the settlement on Mandji Island after a treaty with the Orungu people in 1873, and it served as a base for Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza's journeys inland; a customs post set up in 1894 became the core of a trading town dealing first in rubber and ivory and then in timber, above all okoumé for plywood. Named after the colonial administrator Émile Gentil in 1900, it grew as a timber port, opened its first bank branch in 1928 and expanded quickly once oil exploration began, from 4,500 people in 1947 to 21,000 by 1960; an oil refinery followed in the 1960s, and the St Louis Church dates from 1927 (Wikipedia, Port-Gentil).

Highlights

• The island position - a city on Mandji Island with no road to the mainland.
• The oil industry - the offshore production that built and sustains the town.
• The ocean beaches - the sand running along the seaward side.
• The delta - the Ogooué mouth surrounding the island.

When to go

June to September is the long dry season. The rains from October are heavy. Flights from Libreville run daily.

What to expect

There is very little for visitors and the town is industrial. Prices are high because everything is flown or shipped in. There is no road access at all.

Nearby

Sette Cama is south, and Loango National Park is beyond it.

Key facts