Hello all!
Last Sunday, another intrepid group of TASOK teachers (some of the same as last year, some new) took another boat trip to a sandbar in the middle of the Congo River. Last year, I remembered that I was disappointed with my attempts to photographically show the river banks as we left the port. So I enthusiastically set out to rectify this... and then put my camera away and took no further pictures on the beach or on the way home. So there's that. But, if you want to see those type of pictures, you are welcome to refer to my post from last year! I spent the whole time under the tents napping, playing 'Spot It!' and 'Set', both of which I love, and eating. Oh the cherry muffins! and chips & dip! and just so much good food. We TASOK teachers do know how to picnic!
Before we were able to set sail, there was the small matter of passing through 'customs' (as we enter international waters) and paying. Since I was the point person for this voyage (last year I teamed up with someone else) the responsibility fell to me. Three guys pulled me out around the 'Yacht Club' to review everyone's documents and re-check the checklist I had made 4 times. At the end, they started in "Do you want to have a good time on the boat?" "Then you need to have a drink first..." Apparently the customs guys were also the owners of the Yacht Club bar. After fighting with them that no, they did not need to retain our copies of our passports 'for next time', and no, we did not need to drink to have a good time, I finally got up and walked away - comforted by the fact that our boat owner was not in the group, so it appeared that our boat ride was not in jeopardy by my abruptly ending the conversation. I rejoined the group to find the boat owner, who I paid a hefty sum, and then he skipped off into the sunset, leaving his 3 employees to take us out onto the river. Never dull in Kinshasa! Other than me forgetting a bottle opener, I think a great time was had by all and we came home sandy, tired, and relaxed from a lovely outing.
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| Departing the Yacht Club! Thank heavens! We were approved by customs! Whew! |
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| Backing the boat out of dock: notice the traditional boats docked in the background. And the impending traffic jam to the left. |
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| Traffic:Not just for cars in Kinshasa. We had to get very up-close and personal with this boat to escape from the port! |
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| And almost escaped! |
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| View on the other side: "Is that metal or wood?" Pretty legit question... The boat was non-functional, but still afloat. |
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| We made it to open water! We saw these boys with their fuel or water in their yellow containers, steering their pirogue (traditional boat) |
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| I am now the resident TASOK goat-freak... because there are no cows in Kishasa, so I have to get my ruminant fix from somewhere... so when my colleagues saw this goat on a boat, they were very excited for me to get my photo! GOAT on a BOAT! = Happy Ellen! While the guy in the foreground is waving happily, the people on the boat were not that pleased with my photographing their goat. I said "Don't put your goat in a boat if you don't want me to take a picture of it!" |
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| Egrets under Houses |
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| And a lonely grass island in the middle of the Congo. |
Happy weekend to all!
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