0400 - the cockerel starts up.
0520 - lying in tent wondering whether I could get away with wringing the cockerel's neck - but probably not since it sounds as if the village is astir; the kids are racing around the guy ropes and the Congo beat music is gradually being cranked up.

Before we depart Nganda Zelu (sand town) we are surrounded by smartly dressed school kids from the village piling into pirogues for the journey across the river to school in Mbandaka. Despite the reputation of the DRC for being a failed state, some aspects of Congolese society are still strong and many community and church based organisations still function in spite of, or in place of, the state.

A less positive conclusion on another front. The "Classic Chocolate Creams" acquired at the Indian shop in Mbandaka yesterday have struggled to meet most people's expectations on the Classic, Chocolate or Cream fronts. It turns out that they were made in the Yemen, which was a surprise to all of us, not previously having been aware of anything being made in the Yemen - and based on this experience, probably best kept that way.