Friday, September 15, 2006

Boat

This morning I got to see our next mode of trasport. The nautical vessel that will be our home for about 6 days starting probably this Sunday. Three large dug-out canoes are moored at a quiet place on the bank of the Congo river. One of them has a rickety shed that covers about half of it. That will be where we will huddle together when storms unleash tonnes of water on us. Given it is now the rainy season, this might happen quite a few times. It did happen yesterday and there was so much water that the streets of Mbandaka looked very much like that famous Italian city with lots of boats and water in it.

The composite boat we will be travelling with looks stable enough. There will be beds on it under the shed for everyone to sleep in. Some long chairs to relax in and do bird-watching from; a little kitchen area where food and hot drinks can be prepared. Doesnt look bad, at all. Couldnt get photos to upload though since the place the boat is now is rigth in front of a military base. It is generally a good idea not to play around with cameras near places like that here.

Alex