In August 2012, I visited Lopé National Park. I had planned on returning to Libreville by train on the Train Omnibus l'Equateur, which was scheduled to arrive at Lopé station at 2:55am, and then travel overland from Libreville to Lambaréné to visit the Albert Schweitzer Hospital. The Trans-Gabon Railway didn't arrive at Lopé until eight hours or so after it was scheduled, so instead of returning to Libreville, I decided to get off the train at Ndjolé, the nearest station to Lambaréné. Very few people departed at Ndjolé and I'm pretty sure I was the only tourist who got off at that station, where there were no services or taxis.

Before departing from Lopé, I contacted my agent in Libreville and requested that she arrange for my driver to meet me at Ndjolé, which he did, albeit a few hours late (apparently he suffered at least one flat tire), which I spent as the lone passenger at Ndjolé station. From Ndjolé, it was a two-hour drive to Lambaréné.

I stayed at L'Hôtellerie de l'Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, which is located on the grounds of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital. I spent the next day visiting the museum (which displays Dr. Schweitzer's bedroom, piano and library), Dr. Schweiter's grave and a cage containing a pelican (Dr. Schweitzer apparently kept a pet pelican, named Parsifal, although that was not the specimen in the cage).

It took approximately four hours to drive from Lambaréné to Libreville (the drive was frequently interrupted by local authorities, each of whom inspected my passport).

The best part of the trip was the train journey from Lopé to Ndjolé. Since the train ran eight hours behind schedule, I was able to travel during daylight along the Ogooué River, which is non-navigable due to rapids between those two stations and is unspoiled.