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the Degree Confluence Project
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Gabon

4.1 km (2.5 miles) NNW of Moutassou, Ngounié, Gabon
Approx. altitude: 113 m (370 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 2°N 169°W

Accuracy: 2 m (6 ft)
Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: View to the South #3: View to the West #4: View to the North #5: View to the East #6: GPS reading #7: Ground Zero #8: The Confluence Hunters #9: Track at the Confluence #10: Termite mounds #11: The questionable bridge

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  2°S 11°E (visit #2)  

#1: The Confluence from 10 m distance

(visited by Rainer Mautz and Elionora)

21-Nov-2016 -- This is the second out of two reports reaching confluence points on our round trip through Gabon. The story starts from 0°SN 10°E.

After visiting the home of Albert Schweitzer in Labarene and spending the night there, we headed further south to Mouila. After passing a corrupt police control south of Mouila, we left the N1 at a distance of 10.6 km from the confluence point and turned into a side road. This is an unsealed long distance road that continues for another 100 km to the west. Besides a questionable bridge the road is in relatively good condition. Once we took a wrong turn ending in a young oil palm plantation. Until we realized our mistake, our car was already covered with mud.

We parked our vehicle at a remaining distance of 1.3 km. To my astonishment, a track pointed directly to the confluence, such that we just had to follow the track without stepping into the grassland. The confluence is just 10 m from the track! So this was actually an easy visit. I assume that the previous visitors were not aware of this road, such that they decided to walk all the way from the main road N1, adding up their round trip distance to 16 km.

I should note that there were footprints of a person walking barefoot on the track. Right at the confluence we saw him in some distance, but decided to quickly turn back to our vehicle after the visit in order to avoid any trouble.

Our story ends here. We were not able to visit other confluence points on our trip, as the road conditions and the infrastructure turned out to be extremely poor. Even on the national highway, our 4WD got stuck in the mud, many roads were blocked, such that we had a deviation of 800 km. In addition, some towns were out of gasoline and not to forget that we encountered 41 police checks with different levels of demanding money from us. The last three days of our one week trip, we were focused mostly to make it back in time to Libreville – so there was no time and energy left for confluencing. More pictures can be found at mautz.net.

CP Visit Details:

  • Distance to a road: 1.3 km
  • Distance to a track: 10 m
  • Distance of car parking: 1.3 km
  • Time at the confluence: 2:20 PM
  • Measured height: 114 m
  • Minimal distance according to GPS: 0 m
  • Position accuracy: 2 m
  • Topography: flat
  • Vegetation: grass savanna
  • Weather: partly cloudy, 27° C (felt temperature)
  • Given Name: The Mysterious Bushman Confluence


 All pictures
#1: The Confluence from 10 m distance
#2: View to the South
#3: View to the West
#4: View to the North
#5: View to the East
#6: GPS reading
#7: Ground Zero
#8: The Confluence Hunters
#9: Track at the Confluence
#10: Termite mounds
#11: The questionable bridge
ALL: All pictures on one page