More October Vacation: Zongo Falls

We got up the next morning, ate breakfast at the garden's restaurant where we witnessed a LONG staff meeting for the garden's workers, and then proceeded to head out of Kisantu and onto the LONG gravel road that would take us to Zongo Falls. This was a very well maintained and pleasant road, with views of awesome African villages, goats on tombs, and interesting trees. However, our trusty car, my personal sentimental favorite in the TASOK fleet, does not really have a strong suspension.

Yes, I did indeed eat an entire jar of peanut butter (with a spoon) in a week. I was on vacation!

So let's just say the drive was a bit sensory-overloading with all the bumps we felt... but we arrived in one piece (and only one spare tire used!) at midday in Zongo. We met the Zongo goat

and headed right out onto the rocks while the 'grown-ups' talked to the hotel staff at the reception desk. 

Once that was finished we walked immediately to the falls. It was a short but challenging walk in the humidity -

We did not have to walk over this, just next to it...

and we were rewarded with this view!

I am sure there is a picture with my tongue IN my mouth, but I am not sure where it would be HAHA We sat by the falls for a long time, playing in the spray, watching the birds, and waiting for a rainbow that never materialized.

After that adventure, we decided to take another drive (another jarring drive for those of us in the Jimmy) to Seli Beach, on the Congo River and not the Inkisi River where Zongo is. It was the perfect time of afternoon

for a swim in the Congo

and adventure to Massage Falls, another short but challenging walk away.

This is not exactly an attractive picture of me, I was trying to avoid the rocks on the bottom because the water was not clear enough to see them, but it does prove that I was indeed there! 

After our 'massage', we headed back to the beach to change our SECOND tire of the day...

and drive back to Zongo as a giant storm brewed.

We were supposed to stay in the tents you can see above, behind the goat, but after multiple rounds of "Our tents are all good, only some of them leak" with the man at the reception desk, we decided to upgrade to a cute chalet. Worth the extra money!

As the rain poured down, we ate yummy pasta at the restaurant and zonked out!

The next morning we had enough time for a photo shoot of the awesome plants at the resort (below) before we headed to Etaka Springs and home. Returned at about 5:30pm after a hammock negotiation at the Furniture Market (not for me!) and I passed out for the whole day on Wednesday to recover. What a beautiful (and much-needed) vacation! Thanks to all!

PS I deserve a medal for waiting for this many pictures to load! You should all consider yourselves lucky. Happy (and Safe) Halloween to all. Much love.