Visits to EG

I (Kimber) have been to Equatorial Guinea (EG) four times this year. I have more more trip in two weeks. My first trip was in early April to help out with a hazard review of a couple of processing units. That trip was right before the MS 150. As a matter of fact, I returned to the US on Thursday and rode in the MS 150 on Saturday and Sunday. I put up an earlier blog post about the MS 150. In preparation for that though I rode a borrowed bike in EG one Sunday on an adventurous and tough ride.

The bike I borrowed was a small women's bike but it was bigger than any of my bikes at home. I could still ride it but I had to be careful. Also, the gears I most needed didn't work well so sometimes I would just come to a stop in the middle of a shift. Oh well.

The ride started at the Marathon compound. We then rode about 4 miles on pavement through two round-abouts to a dirt trail. Now one is very careful on the pavement and always happy to make it off the pavement alive. Cars have no respect for bikes there and it is a bit of taking life into your own hands. And you ride as fast as you can through the round-abouts. The steady up hill started once we got off the pavement. The road was gravel and actually in good shape considering it is a road to several quarries. I managed to ride tot he lower quarry but it was a hard ride. The climb is from sea level to about 2400 feet in 6 miles. I didn't realize the incline until we turned around and I didn't pedal for 3 miles. Only applied the brakes. And although the climb was hard, the heat was killer. I think the temperature ended up being about 110F with the humidity factored in. I was really beat by that. And you didn't want to stop because then the bugs piled on.

I did survive the ride and would like to do it again. Maybe on a cooler day. Maybe some day I will make it the 1000 feet higher to the upper quarry. Something to look forward to.

As if that wasn't enough of a day, I participated in something called a hash that Sunday afternoon. A Hash is an organized walk or run (depending on what you are in the mood for). You have no idea the route before you start but the walk will be about 3 miles and the tun 5 to 6 miles. The trail is marked by a set of volunteers and they lay false positive trails as well. So you could follow what you think is the correct trail and have to turn around at the end of it to find the correct trail again. The walkers have a few false trails but the runners have many in order to get them their mileage. Also, when you see a route marker you are supposed to shout “On On”. If it is a false route you shout “On Back”. It is rather comical. Here are the three volcanoes that make up Bioko Island. The largest and darkest is the volcano just outside of Malabo.

There is an organized break in the middle for beer, water or soda. I go for the water but many go for the beer. They seem more relaxed when they finish. Afterwards is a bit of a ....... session. The Hash leader calls up various groups of people, say first time hashers, people who will be leaving EG, the trail marking group, etc. When called you must sit on a block of ice, sing a song, and chug a small glass of beer or water. Then put the empty cup on your head. Of course as you can predict, if there is anything in your cup, you have to chug another cups worth. Lets just say I was tired after all that. The whole thing ended with a bite to eat. What an adventure.

After that, I took the opportunity to support a colleague from Texas City who has helped organize a weekly Non-Denominational service on the compound each Sunday. When he is on rotation, which he was while I was there, he provides the message. It was a real pleasure to worship with him and the other men there. I think I was the first “sister” they have had. I will always look for those guys on my visits to give an encouraging word.

Right before I left I also ate at a restaurant call Hot Rock. You can order their specialty which is some sort of meat or fish that you cook at your table yourself. They bring the meat along with a piece of granite that has been in a 600F oven for 9 hours. You then cook your own meal on this rock. Be warned, don’t touch it. I ordered a steak which was fantastic. My colleague ordered prawns which were also great.

Here is a picture of the EGLNG Jetty. It is often referred to as one of the wonders of the world. It is an amazing feat of engineering and extremely impressive.
My second trip to EG was a two day trip. I didn't get to do anything exciting except arrive, work, eat, sleep twice and leave.

My third trip was to help out with some internal audits and building location studies. I took this opportunity to go hiking at the Monkey reserve on the south end of Bioko Island. It was during the rainy season but the weather for the hike was nice. It was surprisingly cool. I had only a t-shirt and shorts so I had to borrow a jacket. I think it might have been only 60F as the reserve is maybe at 4000 feet. The hike was quite pleasant. We walked for a couple of hours and saw several birds, beautiful plants, and butterflies. We also met this guy. He was minding his own business but very interesting. There were also wild begonias but the flower was much more like an orchid flower. We also saw some Turacos, although never a good view. We saw four but they were always in front of the sun so we couldn't see their color. I also saw an owl which is quite uncommon. Unfortunately we didn't see any monkeys. Here is a picture of me on the hike as well as a picture of one of the many millipedes we encountered. Yes they are big.

After the hike we had an incredible meal. The two guys i was with brought Brats for the appetizer. Then we had grilled steaks with mushrooms and onions, baked potatoes with all the fixings, and rolls. Everything was grilled or wormed up not he grill. There were even chives for the potatoes. It was the most amazing food I have had in EG.

We drove all of the rest of the way around the island on the way home. Unfortunately the weather was quite bad by then with pouring rain and thick clouds. So in actuality I didn't get to see much more of the island. But it was a fine way to spend a day and I hope to get to do it again sometime.

My last trip was just these last two weeks. I went to help with a larger audit as well as finish by building evaluations. I got to go offshore in this trip and have inserted a picture of me coming back in from offshore with the Caldera in the background. The area of the Caldera is where I hiked as described just before. I have also inserted a picture of the platforms. They are small platforms but it was nice to get to visit them and visit with the people who operate them. I also happen to see my first wild shark while I was out there. It was about 5 feet long and just below the surface of the B2 platform. I looked for whales all the way to and from the platform but did not see any. That was disappointing. But the day was lovely and view fantastic going out at 0630 and coming back at 1700. We could see Cameroon and Nigeria quite clearly as well as the three volcanoes that make up Bioko Island. Some of the pictures are crooked and that is because the boat moves a lot even though the seas are calm. So an off horizontal horizon is what I got.
This is a picture of Cameroon with the sun coming up. It is really nice to see Cameroon. The volcano there is much taller than the largest volcano on Bioko Island.
Here is a picture of part of the MEGPL Gas Plant from the sea. In front are part of one of the loading berths. The berths just appear to be buoys sitting at sea but they have lines running to them from shore to load methanol, propane, butane, and condensate. It is too bad there weren't any tankers in on Sunday when I went offshore.

I am looking forward to a quick trip in two weeks but there won't be anything exciting on that trip.

Here are two of the EG platforms. They are about 18 miles offshore and transportation is by boat. Many people go out just for a day because they are so close and we run a boat every day. The platform on the right is B2 built in the mid-2000s. The platform on the right is the original manned platform built in the early 1990s. The wellheads are on B as well as the accommodations. Most of the processing equipment is on B2.
My last trip was in November right before I went over to Poland. It was a brief trip, 8 days total and I went offshore again on one day. I got to spend some time at the EGLNG plant which was good and I spent a lot of time with maintenance at MEGPL.
My flight in came over Cameroon and when I looked out the window, we were at the same height as the volcano summit. So here is a picture of Mount Cameroon from the plane window. A unique view. I also have a picture of the Punta Europa plant site which includes much of the operating and living areas. It just gives you an idea of what the area looks like from above.