Congo

Day 106 - Tuesday 05/02/08 - bushcamp south of Boundji to Brazzaville

Evil biting things attacked us before we could cover up last night and the itching is driving us nuts! We were in the process of making pancakes for breakfast (Shrove Tuesday) when our bushcamp was rumbled by a group of kids on their way to school who all gathered round as if a spaceship had just landed. Fortunately the school bell sounded and they had to rush off. We continued on the sandy track, winding its way through tiny villages and waving at all the people. We feel very welcome here as the adults break into big smiles as we drive past, while the kids literally jump up and down with excitement. It was quite disappointing to reach the main road (apparently the only one in the country, because the president's daughter lives up this way), but we filled up with diesel and turned south towards Brazzaville. It was a fairly dull drive, with an overcast sky and not very exciting scenery, but we only had one police check and they were very friendly and polite. Brazzaville is a fairly chilled out place, with very few private cars and a fleet of brand-new taxis, which is in stark contrast to most of Africa, where the cars are totally bashed up. We asked at the Hippocampe hotel if it would be possible to camp in their car park and they welcomed us to stay with a free beer. Some people have been overwhelmingly kind.

Day 107 - Wednesday 06/02/08 - Brazzaville to Catholic Mission at Kintanu (DR Congo)

Keen to make the ferry crossing to DR Congo as early as possible, we went straight to the port, but we were far too early and nothing was open yet. So we sat and gazed across the mighty Congo River towards Kinshasa on the other side. A friendly man offered to help us with the rather complicated formalities (see Notes & tips). Normally we firmly resist any sort of 'help', but we decided to go with the flow and save ourselves some stress. Actually we both thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. When the ferry arrives people almost break the gates down as if they've just been released from prison, and the port turns into sheer chaos with people stumbling around everywhere. A large percentage of them are blind or in wheelchairs, as handicapped people get tax breaks on importing goods from DRC. Once everything had been unloaded we were finally allowed to board and the ferry left at 12pm. It took about an hour to get to the other side as the river flows pretty fast.

Arriving in Kinshasa was even more hectic. A policeman took our passports and carnets and disappeared off to get them stamped, and we were soon swamped by money changers and touts - even a man from the tourist board who proudly gave us a brochure of DRC's tourist highlights. We left the port and headed towards the edge of town, weaving our way through heavy traffic - mostly made up of UN vehicles, Hummers and brand new Oxfam Land Rovers (so that's where my money goes). The police are really friendly and we didn't get stopped once - they're obviously too busy keeping the peace to try and rip off tourists. The road to Matadi is in excellent condition (it's a peage) and once out of town we made our way to the mission in Kintanu. It's quite an impressive place, with a large cathedral (apparently the first church in Zaire). Sister Chantelle proudly showed us her house and vegetable garden, and picked us some lychees from her tree.