Gabon and Sao Tome & Principe

Africa-Gabon-Libreville   Gabon on paper has a lot to offer . Wildlife and great Beaches. Well that passed me by . The city was one of those places that was devoid of charm. The main Presidential Palace had the best views and took up the prime real Estate. 

Libreville has a very busy Post office. There was a very impressive Philatelic Shop around the corner. Of course as usual there was no one there , at least there was staff. I spend some time there selecting stamps to use on my postcards. However they would not sell me any stamps with face value. I was not  impressed. They did try to sell me stamps that were older and included a stamp made of wood. It was showing a Concord plane. It was beautiful. They told me how good the price was compared to the stamp catalogue and then produced the catalogue to prove their point. I am sort of sorry I did not buy the stamp. On the other hand I was not amused that I could not buy any new stamps including the New President stamps at face value. I told them they were in same league as North Korea and Libya.Both had dictators and Gabon must be the same.. So the stamps here were purchased over the counter at the regular Main Post office in Libreville. I see they were issued in 1982, 28 years ago at that time.. ! 

Africa-Sao Tome & Principe-Sao Tome  Soa Tome is a beautiful country to visit. It has it all. Beaches , very friendly people and a old Colonial feel to the town. I was very impressed. Also that the Immigration officer insisted on getting me a receipt for my visa. No bribes here were asked for or expected. So I was charmed. I spend a marvellous 3 days here and loved every minute of it. A real Tourist highlight in Africa. Even the old shops were so interesting. A brilliant surprise to end this African trip. 

The Post office had moved since my guidebook , but I found it ok. The Post office had many stamps and also a Philatelic Counter. So I purchased these Silver foil stamps.  . The Post master told me that I did not need to use these stamps as they were much more expensive then the stamps I did need to mail postcards back. Here all was possible and very helpful. So the most Beautiful Island with a very helpful Postmaster to finish my West African Trip.