Walked on with Hawk, passing a lineup of gorgeous children outside the village school. Trees ablaze with yellow blurs as weaver birds fed their young. Had to push start a truck out of our way to drive on.
Ran the gauntlet of Buta, another colonial Belgian town with the old red-brick houses, disconnected streetlights and dangling powerlines so typical of these town. A white helmeted, white booted man in green fatigues stopped us on the outskirts of Buta; he objected to Kelvin not having an international driver's license and would not accept the letter from Exodus that he has used so far. The chief was called, who insisted on a cadeau to let us go - so Nikki lost another pair of sunglasses, her fifth in four months.
Ran over a snake, and when we stopped to look were surprised to find that the locals were scared of it, stepping back when we lifted it up and becoming almost hysterical when Geoff produced his rubber snake.
Hot day. Lots of road-side shopping stops and trading tins and Biros from the truck. Stopped again when we saw a woman on the roadside holding a baby chimpanzee (we assumed its mother had been killed for food, bush meat being popular in these parts). The youngster clung to me like the baby that he was.
After an out of the blue beer stop - ice cold brews but no soft drinks - we made blistering pace, between food and bump stops, to the ferry crossing over the Aruwimi River (a tributary of the Congo River) at Banalia (129 km from K). Quick, efficient crossing with stunning views upriver of a large island of floating lilies, pirogues and jungle backdropped by a hazy threatening sky.
The light was fading when we pulled into a village yard. We dopped the truck side and upped the cook tent against a short but impressive thunderstorm complete with sheet lightning and rolling thunder. I stood out in the downpour, which lasted just long enough to turn my dusty covering to mud and marginally drop the temperature.
Kisangani tomorrow in the tracks of Encounter Overland.
Add comment
Comments