Day 30: On the river

We’re back on the river again today, and have (at this point) been traveling via boat for about 13 hours. It is HOT HOT HOT and muggy, but otherwise the Indiana is about the most sea-worthy and comfortable way to travel. Unfortunately for me, I seem to be terribly allergic to some prolific plant or other allergen here on the river, so I’ve spent the day either sneezing and coughing or drugged out of my mind in a Benadryl haze. For all the whining and complaining I do about traveling, I’m actually a lot more accustomed to Congo travel now, and am easily and happily able to bide my time on the boat as anywhere else. We even have a fully functioning Congolese kitchen on board, out of which much delicious bukari, rice, chicken, and fish have emerged. The Indiana is kind of like a traveling guest house—complete with our two-person pup-tent set up for shade and sleeping (this is where I’ll be sleeping tonight). I’ve been spending a lot of time listening to my iPod, sleeping, and writing a little.

Today Mary also braided my hair to help pass the time and we conferred about consolidating all of our information from our many trips so we can regroup when we get back to Mulongo. It’s funny because when I first got to Mulongo it seemed like the middle of nowhere (it IS pretty hard to get to), but now it’s my “home base” and I’m anxious to return tomorrow night so we can sort out all our stuff and prepare for the two-day sojourn back to Lubumbashi. We don’t have major plans for the next week beyond “regrouping”, but I am hoping to visit the hospital one more time and take some video so I can show it when I get back to Lockerbie Central. Though the hospital is one of the best in the area and I feel that the doctors there are very skilled, this place was one of the most striking visual images as part of my trip, so I’d like to get it on film to show back home. I suppose that’s all for now—looking forward to finally posting all of this when I get back to having internet connectivity tomorrow!