Africa is beautiful!

I know, I know...you are disgusted that I have not written in so many days. Well I do have a most fabulous reason! Okay many reasons!

First for my new observations:

1. What you would see in the US is a school bus filled with children. What you would not see is a school bus that is painted and branded in all its glory with the local beer logos.

2. I have been down graded to the young adults boxing group. I think Coach may be trying to tell me something.

Now for the juicy stuff! This last weekend I drove (yes me behind the wheel) with 3 friends to Zongo Falls. It is about a 3 hour drive (in time not in distance) outside of Kinshasa. It is a very rural area along a river that starts in Angola and works it way through Congo. The owner has built a small hotel there with rooms, chalets, and tents. We rented two chalets which were A-frame huts with two twin beds and a ceiling fan. There were community bathrooms for the chalet area.

We left Kinshasa around 3pm (after dining at a local burger joint that does have a decent cheeseburger with fries) and arrived just as the sun dropped off the horizon on Friday. The drive was rather uneventful and less stressful than I was prepared for. We did have a few interesting things to note:

1. Here they do not give you a sign and tell you to slow down when traveling through a village. Oh no, they put cross ties made of concrete and not identifiable from a distance. What I can recommend is that one know that cross bumps exist and do not proceed across them at 40km/hr+. Not a comfortable situation for you, passengers or the vehicle. We can say that the people along the road got a startle and good chuckle when I hit the bumps!

2. The villages after we turned off the main road were interesting in that all the children where yelling mbela (not quite sure of the spelling) which means white person in Lingala. They all asked for money or food as we drove by.

We had a nice dinner and a few drinks then hit the sack early. On Saturday, we got up and had a peaceful breakfast by the river then climbed/mini-hiked up to the falls. (We did precede breakfast with the coldest shower I have taken in quite sometime!) Now, I am going to do my best to load the photos because I could not put words to the absolute beauty we saw.

We then headed for a walk to see the villages up close and personal as well some other falls. Well, it started out as we. The elevation got the better of my lungs so I turned tail and went back to camp while the girls went on the adventure. Not to worry, I rested and relaxed with my feet up, reading, while listening to the river charging by.

When the girls got back we went over to the pool to have a dip and people watch. We eventually proceeded back to the river to try to enjoy a beverage and dinner. But, the rains came and we took refuge in the hotel. After dinner it was off to bed.

We left are noon on Sunday to try for a timely return to Kinshasa. This was an eventful drive! Two lane highways are not the safest roads no matter where you are. But, add loaded trucks with faulty equipment and lots of people dangling out of the back and you know you are destined for something crazy to occur. In fact, I was behind two trucks hauling large barrels of oil up hill. I am pretty sure I did not make it over 10km/hr. It was a blind corner but the expats behind me decided to chance it in order to get around. What I can say is Oh Sh!t was not the only words that we were yelling in our car. Yes, the passing car did not plan for an unloaded semi to be coming down the hill, quickly, directly into him as he was passing. Luckily he was able to squeeze over and the oncoming truck was able to burn enough brakes to avoid a head on collision but it was one of the scariest things I have seen in quite some time.

I am writing today so it is obvious that we made it back in one piece! So, now I will load some photos so you can see just what I am talking about! I see that they loaded above, so mission impossible has now been accepted and completed.