Absolutely knackered after sleep broken by two guard shifts when I finally got up for breakfast.
Back into Bangui where I shopped for stores with Jim. One lovely man selling flour and sucre (sugar) okayed everything with a big smile. Wanted to buy more from him but nothing more we needed. Finished all our shopping in the market so didn't need to go to a supermarket.
Made my way to the museum, missing it the first time but finding it after getting directions from the Mission Bookshop. No English-speaking guides so I missed a lot of the details but understood enough to get the gist of the information about all sorts of pots, gourds, weapons, musical instruments, baskets, children’s toys, articles of ritual dress, including the bells and rattles that they strap to the back of their knees and ankles. A gecko launched itself onto my back from a collection of cylindrical beehives hanging from a branch and from me onto the floor; it took a few minutes for my heart rate to drop. There was a fascinating display of black figures for instructing children about sexuality: a man and woman (her vagina a gaping slit in her lower abdomen), a pregnant woman with bulging stomach, the child being born, the child suckling, and the woman with prominent slash again - ready for another conception - showed the continuous cycle of childbearing in tribal cultures. We view breast feeding as the final stage but here it is part of a loop.
Elsewhere were cylindrical jungle drums, in three sizes, each with the top narrow opening along their lengths; apparently the sound carried for 5km through the jungle. The notes said that they had been superseded by modern forms of communication and the sound will not be heard again but I've heard that wonderful rhythm here and I think it's an essential part of the Africa. There was a room full of stuffed animals, including a huge gorilla that supposedly attacked a woman but looked like a plastic prop; a 4.5 metre crocodile, various furry animals held together with tape, two armadillo-like creatures. Walls were hung with fishing nets and spears for “le poisson”; lots of farming and chopping tools, free climbing harnesses of twine, and black-and-white photographs recording the use of the tools.
Made my way slowly back to the truck, pineapples on the brain, but that entailed walking back to the marche. Felt knackered after the guard duty and I have my period, so sat in the market drinking soda citreon and watching the hustle and bustle around me. Scenes like this have become commonplace to me and no longer hold the fascination that they did early on. I'm looking forward to the new stimuli of Zaire. Everyone is unsure what to expect humidity and mosquitoes. Our trip funds have arrived so we're moving on tomorrow, so it will be goodbye Bangui and into deepest darkest Africa and all that it brings.
We'll have been on the road 17 weeks at 11 AM tomorrow, with only six weeks to Nairobi. Really excited about those weeks and phoning home -- hope I get a letter with Mum and Dad's new phone number!
Back at camp, spent the afternoon in the bar chatting with Bob, Ton and Yvonne, from the German Volkswagen, about travelling, time perspectives, relatives, news from home, previous trips. And suddenly it was 5pm. Time to do another bloody guard duty roster but hopefully the last. Early one for Hawk and me at nine. Pineapple for dinner - needed the juice and couldn’t face Vicki’s hot meal. Ben went off to eat snake and wild pig at a restaurant he'd hunted down.
The power failed so no lights for a couple of hours and the bar lit by candle. It was awful sitting in the dark for guard duty but a pleasant break from fluorescent lights. No water either so showers delayed. Almost eerily quiet without EO truck, just the murmur of our voices and from the two other remaining vehicles.
Absolutely exhausted when I crawled under my net. Great sleep; didn't wake until 6 AM breakfast.
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