Successful trip to Congo

Okay, it's true: I haven't posted in several months. There hasn't been much to report, however. In August I did go to Gisenyi, which borders on Lake Kivu. Actually, it was a long weekend with my friend Jacques and the family visiting from Belgium (in whose house in Kibagabaga we lived for six months), as a sort of final trip before they returned to Belgium to start the school year. The bus to Gisenyi took over three hours. We spent much time at the lake, and even took a boat into the lake—or should I say, across the lake—about 20 minutes away from shore.

Then, on Monday, which was our last day, Jacques and Akim (the oldest son of the family) and I went across the border into Goma, DRC (Congo). You may remember, in my post dated July 28, 2016, my aborted attempt to get into Congo. Well, this time we had 'all our ducks in a row,' so to speak—in other words, proper papers, and nothing that would stir up the Congolese border authorities. We only had two hours to spend in Goma, and believe me, that's about as much time as you would need to see the place. We paid the American price of $5 per person for breakfast at a restaurant. Then, with Jacques right at home talking up a storm in Swahili, we managed to find the only tourist attraction in Goma: the chukudu in the center of town. What is a chukudu? you may ask. According to Wikipedia, it is a two-wheeled vehicle, unique to eastern Congo, made of wood and used for transporting freight. So, of course, we had to take photos of ourselves standing in front of this large man-pushing-chukudu statue, which is in the middle of a busy traffic circle.

Actually, if you Google "tourist attractions in Goma," you will find a whole list of things, including national forests, gorillas, etc. The truth is, however, that these tourist attractions are not directly in, but outside of, Goma. Some of them are several hours away. But we are justly proud of saying that we saw the principal attraction of Goma, the one that people come from halfway around the world just to have their picture taken in front of, that is, right before they get run over by a car.

Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to see any guerrillas (the human variety, that is) for which eastern Congo is famous. But that's okay. I've been to Congo twice now, so I'm sure that with my spotless record and the fact that I didn't transmit Ebola to anyone, the authorities will let me in anytime, being that I'm a major contributor to their economy.