Hotel Olympic Palace Brazzaville

... the Reserve and Lac Bleu. The lake is actually another 7km further up from this hut, but the track is too narrow for our truck. For the people who could afford to go in the reserve, 15,000 CFA, unfortunately no trucks were available so it looks like they need to arrange it as a daytrip from the capital. On the way to Brazzaville we just happened to drive up and overtake a guy on a bicycle who was selling ice-creams by the cone...an amazing stroke of luck for him. Ron ...

... the city - we even met the president's son whilst we sipped on the cheapest beverage they purchased for us - Moet!...there were many sore heads the next morning as we headed to the port to catch the ferry to DRC.<br> The Congolese were really friendly and it was welcome to be back to more traditional dress and huts. Though we didn't spend long (5 days), Congo proved to be a good destination where we didn't experience any of the trouble that perhaps would be expected by most.

... away, apologizing for not meeting me at the hotel. He hadn't checked his e-mail in the last days, and never had received my origional messages. Kapingamulume Mukendi came by later on as well. We discussed our plans for the next days and the local situation, so I could get up to speed. The main goal of this short visit is to take some steps toward getting these folks organized and recognized by the state so they can safely and legally meet. I'll make an early night of it tonight.

i know there are mosquitos here... My dad got malaria... but so far I have not seen a single one. At least in Australia, you can see your enemy from a couple of meters away and you can ready yourself for the attack. And when those bloodsucking *******s get you, you actually feel the blood leaving your body. Here they are stealthy little ****ers. You dont see anything, you just feel the itchiness ages later. I reckon I am ...

So this is now my second night in Kinshasa, staying at my dads house. Wow!!! Where to start...? OK, so when I landed we had to wait ages at the airport because we were going to give a ride to an old colleague of my dads. We waited almost an hour and a half only to find out that her bags had been lost. Now if I was her, Id forget about it. The level of organisation at that airport is non-existent. As I was sitting there, there was a ridiculous amount of people standing around ...

... I was back at the hotel about noon. Just after finishing a sandwich for lunch, I received a call from Mr. Mukendi, who wanted to invite me for lunch. He works in government administration (finances) and has been able to purchase a car in which we would drive to a restaurant located just across the street from the US embassy. As we walked the few steps from the front door to the car, he warned me to keep a hand on my small camera case, and I slipped ...

... make arrangements to serve them here. It was dusk by the time we separated, and just before François left a mosquito bit me. This is not something that would attract undue attention at home, but here there is the risk of Malaria. There are risks to taking prophylactic medication for long periods of time, and since I spend so much time in Africa, I would be on such medication almost continuously if I did use it. So I don't usually take a preventative any more ...

... robbery, etc, etc, etc). It's enough to drive you to long sentences. "It is the curse of humanity that it comes to tolerate even the most horrible situations by habituation." Rudolph Virchow

... soon as someone somehow makes some money he spends it on a fancy expensive sports car or some other useless thing to show off!" [The French have an interesting expression for this; it's called m'a tu vu?: literally "did you see me?"]. Jacob explained further: "They could spend the money on something constructive, start a business that would employ people it would help build the country instead of keeping it poor. Pride is keeping our country poor!" I couldn't but agree. We ...

... extremely fertile, extremely under developed and extremely big. It is populated by, undoubtedly, the most gentle, kind, smiling people I have ever met. For them music and art are everything, and it is impossible to escape from either in DRC. The most ramshackle bar in the most remote town will boast freezes of breathtaking beauty around the walls. All hand painted by one of the many local artists that occupy all regions in this country. Bars in ...