Thursday, February 9, 2012

L'Afrique







I've scoured the environs of Libreville to find some sort of surfable craft, hell bent on riding the tone-nail high peelers that roll in from the Gulf of Guinea onto the welcoming beach breaks inside the Gabon Estuary.  Mais, il ne devait pas etre.  Until I wandered into a friend's warehouse-garage-shed thingy and spotted these two examples of astute craftsmanship tucked away behind all variety of crumbling francophone automotive gear and just around the corner of some equally crafted bacalao.

A few things I am glad I remembered, and wish I'd remembered with even more aplomb while packing for my short jaunt to Central Western Africa (or Tips for the Fellow Traveller):

1. That old chestnut "cotton kills" is mostly true.
2. Wool saves, even in heat.
3. T-shirts only make people think you're low-class.  Pack button ups.  You just look sharper.
4. On that note, always always pack a suit.  You never know when it will help you get a bump up from economy class or when you'll need to meet the president of a country.
5. If Pele is around, have someone take your picture with him.




2 comments:

Rebecca Olive said...

(nodding)

YES! To everything!!

Surfsister said...

Speechless.

Wow!