Stayed in very quiet village last night - kids very restrained. At first we thought they were not happy about us descending on them, but then we saw the (grass) church and it turned out that it was church discipline at work - they are Kimbanguists - followers of a big cult church here (3m+ members), whose basic tenets are Baptist in origin, but which follows the teachings of Simon Kimbangu - who the Belgians imprisoned in 1921 (and then kept him in the slammer for 30 years because they were worried about his rabble rousing ability).
Short hop from the village into Lisala the next morning and the usual paperwork to be sorted out - for which purpose we welcomed on board the DGM, police, army (soldier in smart camouflage uniform and semi automatic, set off by rather fetching bright blue welly boots) and the local mayor. By the time everything had been checked off in triplicate it was 1100 and baking hot - perfect for 'mad dogs and englishmen' to walk up the hill to see one of Mobutu's former palaces.
One of the DGM guys came with us, attempting to keep the group together and make sure we didn't photograph things you're not supposed to - like the police barracks - not entirely successful in either, but he seemed pretty phlegmatic about minor transgressions.
The hill we went up was remarkable for having Mobutu's palace on it, but also for being a hill - we haven't seen one for hundreds of kilometres. The tropical rain forest on either side of the river is very flat and stretches as far as the eye can see.
On top of the hill there are what would originally have been the offices and houses of the colonial administrators - still inhabited/in use but now all very dilapidated. Our first port of call was to the DGM boss man - sitting behind his (almost certainly) colonial era desk with his mobile phone and not a single file or sheet of paper in sight - obviously a 'clear desk' man.
The ex Mobutu palace occupies a fantastic site with great views over the river and rain forest - a reinforced concrete neo-classical pile with fancy frescoes and ceiling roses, ornate coving and a sweeping staircase up to the first floor from the entrance hall. What it is lacking, however, are fixtures and fittings - there aren't any. No original windows or doors, all lighting, electrics and plumbing ripped out - as opposed to stripped out. The only thing left is some of the air con ducting, but despite that the building is in use. Each of the rooms has become a classroom and the whole place was swarming with kids - all very smartly dressed in their "La Sagesse Pape Ndunga" uniforms.
We had a few more forms to fill before leaving Lisala and as we pulled away from the shore there was consternation amidship from two of the form fillers who had been overlooked and consequently were still with us. If it was a deliberate ploy to blag some lunch or further facilitation payments it failed. A passing pirogue was swiftly commandeered and they were packed off back to Lisala.
Our post Lisala camp site was in the middle of a small village. All the houses in this area are on stilts and, like the previous night's village, it had a church - the "Assembly of Saints" this time - or at least I think that's what the pastor said. As we arrived the drums were calling the villagers to worship and our tents went up against the background of wonderful rhythmic drumming and singing coming from the church.
I am amazed at the equanimity with which our arrival in these riverside villages is greeted. We just pitch up, stick our tents in the middle of their village and they just let us get on with it. Some of them have never seen a "Mondele" close up - it must be like having visitors from Mars.
As soon as we landed however our two doctors were called into action - a young woman appeared at the gangplank with three children, aged 3, 1 and 3 months. The 3 year old and 3 month old were fine, but the 1 year old was very poorly. It's almost impossible, especially working through translators, to get an accurate medical history, but malnutrition and a recent serious infectious episode appeared to be factors + query HIV. The baby was very listless, not crying and although penicillin would probably have helped the local paramedic had no needles, so the harsh reality is, very sadly, that the baby will probably die.