Monday 16th. Just crossed into Equator Province from Orientale. River is massive, north bank lined with villages, kids yelling and splashing in the water - occasionally a pirogue will paddle out on an interception course to try and sell us something - mostly oranges, bananas, mangoes, catfish etc but occasionally more exotic - caterpillars (cooked) and parrots (live) have featured. I tried a cooked caterpillar at lunchtime and shan't be repeating the experience!
There isn't a ripple on the surface of the river and even though the boat is doing about 11 kph there is hardly a breath of air. The slightest exertion and you break out into a sweat and it is so humid that the sweat doesn't really evaporate.
One big surprise is the lack of wildlife. I didnt expect to see much, but we haven't seen any hippos or crocs at all and very few birds. Apparently, you need to get beyond the riverside villages before you encounter any significant wildlife.
The boat we are travelling on is owned by a local company (Go Congo) run by Michel, a Belgian. It's about 30m long with the first 25m consisting of an open deck with canopy over with tables, chairs and a big fridge. The stern is on two levels. The lower level has a rough plank floor with piles of bananas, a couple of live chickens calmly awaiting their fate, plastic gerry cans full of water and fuel and a small motor bike. A mixture of bilge water and fuel slops about just under the floorboards and has to be kept at bay by regular baling out with a bucket! However, no sign of us going under just yet.
The upper level has the "bridge" which looks out over the forward deck canopy, together with a toilet and shower - in both cases think basic - a bucket and a small jug to tip water over yourself in the shower. A bucket and a large jug to flush the u-bend in the toilet.
We buzz along at about 11kph courtesy of a little 55hp Yamaha outboard mounted under the "bridge", the muted sound of the outboard being augmented by the more prominent clatter of a generator when the contents of the fridge need to be chilled down.
Tuesday 17th - stopped to camp just short of Bumba last night, so short run into port and received the local DGM (Direction Generale des Migrations) squad on board - plus in due course army and police to get all the permits in place for us to land - and leave.
Gilbert, one of the smartly dressed DGM guys, took us on a guided tour of Bumba - nice guy who asked what the temperature would be in the UK and shuddered when I told him - it's 29C here (at 0830) and my guess was 5 - 10C in Scotland.
Lots of semi-derelict shops and depots along the river front - formerly belonging to Belgian and Portuguese traders -corrugated iron roofing sheets now more iron oxide than iron. A number of buildings with Nogueira & Cie signs indicated that they were obviously big shots in town at one stage.
One of the few buildings with a recent coat of paint was the State pensions office, although whether there are any pensions paid was beyond my schoolboy French. A Rond point dedicated to a former FAZ (Force Armee Zairoise) general and a Belgian run Catholic primary school (little girls in pink and boys in blue going through morning calisthenics) completed the tour.
Bleating of goat acquired from village yesterday has caused much grief on board amongst our female vegetarians - not helped by the fact it is an attractive looking little thing. It was being kept next to the engine/bilges which is admittedly not great animal welfare, but African crew a bit bemused by vegetarianism/Mondele mesdames concerns. Goat stew now, so problem solved!