Friday, September 15, 2006

Gallery: more photos

Bienvenue is the person working for the Bonobo Conservation Initiative in Mbandaka. He has spent the last several weeks here, organising this trip: from purchasing provisions and fuel, sorting permits, sweet-talking local police and other authorities, picking people and luggage at the airport and, most recently, making sure I learned where all the local *pubs* are. Which was terribly nice of him.


Le Blanc AKA The Pastor (he really isnt a pastor, it is just a joke I was told). He is our boat manager or captain or whatever you call the person on whom we will depend for our lives in the waters of the Congo river over the next week.

The guy seems to know a lot about boats and how to drive them on the river. He is doing all the prep for journey as far as sorting the engines for the boats and choosing the right kinds of boat to take- they are three separate canoes tied together into something looking too exotic to be true; in a good way.

In the mornings bread vendors take to the streets of Mbandaka. The baguettes are really yumm but it still beats me how one can balance a load of them topside like that...

If you are into meat though - this is the butchery. It doesnt look like it but within half an hour of this picture being taken the cute little goats were hanged by their hind legs and their throats slit open. For foood.