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Our Gabon unit wasn’t super long, and I’m sure there is a lot we could have done, but it was an interesting geography lesson. Sorry, this is a super short introduction to the latest addition to our Africa Unit, but after 100 or so country units it becomes hard to create super interesting introductions.
![Gabon Unit geography lesson](https://ticiamessing.com/wp-content/uploads/Gabon-Unit-geography-lesson.png)
(there might be affiliate links in here)
Gabon Unit Resources
I’m rewatching the Gabon Geography Now video and I have to laugh as it starts off with a “Please keep watching this video about an obscure African country,” and I get what he’s saying. It is a bit harder to find information on, or pictures for it.
![Gabon Unit geography Africa 10th](https://ticiamessing.com/wp-content/uploads/Gabon-Unit-geography-Africa-10th.jpg)
So, here we go, the websites I’m going to claim I found for this. Wow, there are not so many useful sites on Gabon…
- CIA Gabon facts– it’s interesting that is the first to show up on my search
- 7 “interesting” facts– really included because of the pretty pictures
- 26 Interesting facts– when you start with surfing hippos for your facts, that’s a good sign
And here come the videos from Geography Now.
Once I finish watching this video, I’ll come back and add in the Flag Friday video. Video done, now watching the super short Flag Friday video.
Gabon Unit recipe: African beignets
Okay, I have to admit I primarily decided to cook this not because I thought it was super representative of the country but because I thought, “I can find those ingredients,” and “I have a decent chance of being able to cook it.”
![african beignets Gabon recipe 10th dessert breakfast](https://ticiamessing.com/wp-content/uploads/african-beignets-Gabon-recipe-10th-dessert-breakfast.jpg)
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoon sugar
- 3/4 cup warm water (think a hot shower)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tablespoon butter softened
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- oil to fry it in
- powdered sugar for dusting
It’s kind of amazing to me how expensive groceries are on Amazon.
Making beignets
![African beignet](https://ticiamessing.com/wp-content/uploads/African-beignet.jpg)
- Mix the yeast, sugar, and warm water. Allow to sit for 10 minutes until the yeast starts to froth. Then mix in the egg and milk.
- If using a stand mixer switch to a dough hook, and add in the butter, flour, and salt. If not use a spoon to mix it or a hand mixer. Mix until it becomes a dough that pulls away from the bowl.
- Oil a bowl and place the dough in there and cover. Allow it to rise for an hour, it should double in size.
- Heat a deep frying pan with oil. While the oil is heating roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and cut it into 2-inch squares.
- Drop several of the squares in to the oil and cook for a few minutes until golden brown, then flip and repeat. Continue this with the remaining dough.
- Remove to a plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
African beignets
![african beignets Gabon recipe 10th dessert breakfast](https://ticiamessing.com/wp-content/uploads/african-beignets-Gabon-recipe-10th-dessert-breakfast.jpg)
These African beignets are a delicious way to learn more about Gabon.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoon sugar
- 3/4 cup warm water (think a hot shower)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tablespoon butter softened
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- oil to fry it in
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Mix the yeast, sugar, and warm water. Allow to sit for 10 minutes until the yeast starts to froth. Then mix in the egg and milk.
- If using a stand mixer switch to a dough hook, and add in the butter, flour, and salt. Mix until it becomes a dough that pulls away from the bowl.
- Oil a bowl and place the dough in there and cover. Allow it to rise for an hour, it should double in size.
- Heat a deep frying pan with oil. While the oil is heating roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and cut it into 2-inch squares.
- Drop several of the squares in to the oil and cook for a few minutes until golden brown, then flip and repeat. Continue this with the remaining dough.
- Remove to a plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Gabon Unit: animals
I skipped ahead to this portion because he just mentioned some animals, and I wanted to make sure I wrote them down while I remembered.
![Gabon Unit for homeschool geography](https://ticiamessing.com/wp-content/uploads/Gabon-Unit-for-homeschool-geography.jpg)
- black panther
- forest elephant
- sitatungas
What’s really interesting is I went back and looked up more animals, and didn’t find anything really interesting. Like they don’t even talk about the surfing hippos, so I don’t know what type of hippo the surfing hippos are.
Much sadness.
I know the black panther is the animal on their crest, but surfing hippo! So I chose to grab a cute little hippo with its mom picture.
But, grab my mini-animal report for this part.
Gabon Unit: notebooking pages
We filled out the Africa notebooking pages.
![Gabon unit notebooking pages](https://ticiamessing.com/wp-content/uploads/Gabon-unit-notebooking-pages-1024x536.png)
The Artist came in as I was creating the images for this post. Apparently, my color choices and my font choices cause her pain.
I am also wildly amused at their style of government. Look at that, it’s five words long. It’s practically a sentence.
Unitary dominant-party presidential republic. That’s insane.
But, let’s get to the fun facts I found.
- aside from my amusement over the ridiculously long type of government
- or the surfing hippos
- gorillas are 80% of the wild animal population, and yet when looking up animals I did not find a specific type of gorilla
- they are arguing with Equatorial Guinea over who owns several islands
Well, that’s our Gabon Unit. I’m one country closer to getting my ridiculously over-stuff geography post folder finished.
Covering almost one country a day alternated occasionally with a state, means I have around 50 posts to write. So much to write, so little time.
But, now to give you some
More Learning Ideas
I’m grabbing a truly eclectic assortment of fun.
![Gabon Unit](https://ticiamessing.com/wp-content/uploads/Gabon-Unit.jpg)
David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Thecodemachine, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Comments
One response to “Gabon Unit”
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Wow, this is the country I didn’t know at all (even though I managed to place it correctly to Africa in my head). I kept thinking “Gambon” like an actor. I wonder how these beignets are different in their recipe from New Orleans? I never attempted them, my husband already complains about latkes, my most oil-intensive recipe and I don’t have an oil fryer.
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