Middle Africa
Video Chat with People from Gabon
Rainforest covers most of Gabon, and it shows up in conversation: forest elephants wandering onto the beaches of Loango National Park, mandrills in Lopé, leatherback turtles nesting at Pongara. Expect to connect with people from Libreville, the capital on the Komo estuary, or from Port-Gentil, the coastal oil town; Franceville in the southeast, Oyem in the north and Lambaréné on the Ogooué River are other possibilities. French is spoken widely in everyday life, especially in Libreville, alongside Fang, Myene, Punu, Nzebi and other local languages. English is heard less often, so a little French goes a long way.
Gabon is on West Africa Time, UTC+1, with no daylight saving, so an 8 PM chat in Libreville is mid-afternoon in New York and evening in London. Ask about poulet nyembwe, chicken in palm-nut sauce, often called the national dish, or about atanga, a purple fruit people roast or boil, and cassava sticks wrapped in leaves. For music, bring up Pierre Akendengué, Patience Dabany or today's Gabonese rap; for football, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and the Panthers.
Gabon at a glance
| Flag | 🇬🇦 |
|---|---|
| Official name | Gabonese Republic |
| Capital | Libreville |
| Region | Africa · Middle Africa |
| Official language | French |
| Currency | Central African CFA franc (Fr, XAF) |
| Calling code | +241 |
| Time zone | West Africa Time (Africa/Libreville) |
How to say hello
A few words of French make a great first impression, even if you switch to English right after.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fang | Mbolo! | m-BOH-loh | Hello! |
| Fang | Akiba! | ah-KEE-bah | Thank you! |
| French | Salut! Ça se passe bien? | sah-LOO, sahs PAHSS byen | Hi! Is everything going well? |
Tips for chatting with people from Gabon
- "Mbolo" is used well beyond Fang speakers as a friendly Gabonese hello, so it's a safe opener with almost anyone.
- Pointe Denis and the other beaches across the estuary from Libreville are popular weekend escapes, so ask if they have a favorite.
- Wildlife fans should ask about the national parks; plenty of people have a story about elephants, gorillas or turtles.
- Gabonese French has its own slang. Ask what a word means and you'll learn something you won't find in a textbook; our French page covers the standard basics.
Only meet people from Gabon
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from Gabon, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for Gabon and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from Gabon, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from Gabon are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Neighboring countries
Gabon borders 3 countries. Curious about the people next door? Meet them too:
- Cameroon
- Equatorial Guinea
- Republic of the Congo