surfing

NASA: Gabon; 2005

With such open access to the Atlantic, this region has regular surf. The geography of north west Africa tends to shield the coast from any swell with a northerly or north west component. During the winter however (June-August), large low pressure systems from the South manage to travel along the coastline and deliver regular south west to westerly swell.

The further north you travel the more attenuated this energy is but anything that arrives is often of a very superior period and very neatly stacked. Unfortunately the main swell window on this coast tends to correlate with the SW monsoon which delivers light onshore winds from about April to September. Early morning sessions are the go in Gabon during this period. Make sure you go and say hello to any other surfer you encounter on this coast, as you may not see another for a very long time.

what to pack

Rich Niewiroski Jr.: 62 mm ultra-violet, fluorescent, and polarizing lens filters. Camera used was a Canon 400D; April 9, 2007

Trainers, loose clothing - everything for the hot weather. Definitely take along some bug repellent spray, good sunscreen and sunglasses! Better take your medicines with you (esp. anti histamine tablets), as the brands can be unfamiliar and cost more.
Make sure you pack an adapter (will allow you to plug an appliance designed for one type of outlet into another type of outlet), first aid kit and some medicines that you personally need, because a prescription can be extremely expensive. A map will be very helpful!

So take your camera and make sure you have enough space on the card or plenty of films with you.