Makokou is a tourist's original delight one that will enamour and entrall anyone who travels to Gabon. The city of Makokou is a sophisticated bustle of glitz, lights and casinos. The city offers a little of everything to anoyone. It is one of those wonders in West Africa which offers a vast amount of historical grandeur. The African city of Makokau is the regional capital of the Ogooue -Ivindo province in Gabon. The city lies on an altitude of 308 meters and its population is about 16,600.The city of Makokau lies on the Ivindo river and the N4 road .It grew around the iron ore mining and lies near the Ivindo National Park.
A branch of the Trans- Gabon Railway was originally planned to terminate in the town but the route was abandoned for what are often described as political; reasons. At the time, the price of iron ore from the near by mines was depressed. In 2006 ,proposals to build this with a possible extension to other iron ore mines at Mbala, Cameroon are being considered. At new deep water port at the Sanata Clara would be part of the project. The Ivindo River flows from northeast Gabon to the southwest, eventually emptying into the Ogoue River. It flows through some of the wildest and most attractive rainforest in Africa. The upper stretch of the river is fairly gentle, draining the gentle plateau of eastern Gabon. Below the town of Makokou, the only significant town on the river, it drops off the plateau in a series of spectacular waterfalls and gorges.
Unfortunately, the Chinese are building dam there and in the process there would be a complete destruction of the falls. As on December the Chinese are once again bulldozing the the forest around the falls to create an access road. They have reached the river, and are now making a road to where they will house the 1300 hundred workers. The forest around the falls which are home to many chimpanzee and gorillas will be lost and the falls completely destroyed. They are other areas the dam can be built, but the falls were chosen because it cost 2 million euro less to do it there. The entire landscape of the Makokau plains will be changed forever.
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