Tucked away under some trees on the hospital site at Bolobo is a cylindrical metal object on a concrete plinth. It's a boiler, but it's not just any old boiler. It is the boiler from the "Peace", the famous BMS steamer used by George Grenfell to explore and chart the Congo river basin in the 1880s. The "Peace" was built by Thorneycrofts at Chiswick in London in 1882, but then broken down into 800 numbered parcels of not more than 60 lbs. These were transported b...

Kids on an island in the river where we pitched up to camp as it was getting dark.

Bugs for breakfast

We camped at Lukolela last night - the first place (apart from Kisangani) where I have actually set foot on somewhere mentioned in Jack's letters from Congo Belge. A cocoa plantation was set up here in the 1920's and by the 1950's 2000 ha was under cultivation. It had its own clinic staffed by "infirmiers" (male nurses) but the owners wanted a Doctor from Bolobo to go up there and supervise the dispensaries from time to time. The clinic is still there - just (se...

30 seconds before sunset