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16/17-2 Libreville, Oyem

At 8 am, just out of the aircraft, we met Pauwel, the WWF Minkebe project ranger. He immediately rang Philibert Owono and Mark Ella Akou in Oyem to inform them of our arrival. Owono is the local representative of the Directorat de la Faune et Chasse (DFC) and Akou is the man who has most contact with the pygmies. Later that morning we went to the DFC Ministry with Hervé (WWF). The dossier was missing, so a new letter was typed for us. After three rounds of correction this could be presented to the official responsible for issuing Minkebe permits.  
 
            We met Christy in Oyem. Later that evening Philibert, Mark and his right-hand-man Ivert came to our hotel. We made swift progress; we could borrow two tents from them and two carrying racks. They would come and assist us with purchasing tomorrow. They chartered 3 Fang and 2 Pygmies for us, (our team was complete).

The following morning Mark and Ivert came with a standard purchasing checklist that was used for WWF bush trips. It was based on the number of persons and days and was a big help. In the afternoon we took a taxi bus to Minvoul.