| The real adventure begins with the 35 mile drive | | | | and 'cent-cent' truck taxis. The name comes from |
| from Pointe Noire to Madingo-Kayes, a city on the | | | | the cost of the ride: 100CFA (some $0.10). These |
| Kouilou River. Everyone had agreeded that the | | | | trucks are overloaded, with cargo at the bottom of |
| pirogue would leave Madingo at 6 am. From Pointe | | | | the cab, passengers on top of the cargo, the whole |
| Noire, that would be a half an hour drive - plus the | | | | thing so unbalance that the truck rolls over at the |
| unforeseen. Let's leave at 5 am. In the Congo, that's | | | | least bump. I rode one once. Just once. It was the |
| a two hour drive plus the unforeseen ! Let's leave at | | | | most extraordinary and the scariest experience in my |
| 3 am... Why so much emphasis on the unforseen? | | | | life, between the songs, the prayers and the food. I |
| Because of the asphalt. That's right, let me explain. | | | | din't ask what the food was made of, and I'll never |
| The road starts with asphalt, but not any kind of | | | | forget the smell nor the indescribable taste. But the |
| asphalt. Some is as old as 20 years, some just | | | | scenery was fantastic. We passed by fields of |
| vanished. Do you know what a pot hole is? There | | | | termite mounds, not the huge well known ones, but |
| they call it a cow hole - imagine the difference! Why | | | | smaller seaside ones, up to 2 feet in height and a |
| such bad roads? Lack of finance to fix them, | | | | foot in diameter with a characteristic mushroom |
| torrential rains that wash out everything - don't | | | | shape. In dense areas you can find a mound every |
| forget that Pointe Noire is only some 330 miles north | | | | 4-5 feet, not a good place to build a wood framed |
| of the equator. | | | | home! But the sight of such fields is breath taking. |
| Quickly the highway becomes a dirt road, well not | | | | Well, at 3 or 4 in the morning, you can't see any of |
| completely. There is still some reminiscence of the | | | | that, it's too dark. The sun rises at 6 am plus or |
| concrete road that was built in the sixties. This part | | | | minus 30 minutes and sets at 6pm plus or minus 30 |
| of the road is the worse, the pieces of concrete slab | | | | minutes. So to see the cow holes, concrete slabs, |
| floating on the sand, the road foundation almost | | | | snakes, antelopes and other Sibissi, (no sorry, no |
| hidden. When your front wheels hit one it always | | | | elephants in this part of the country) you just have |
| finishes with a well known 'clong clong' noise and a | | | | the headlights, nothing less, nothing more. |
| cost over $500. To avoid this, you have to drive | | | | We arrived around 5:30 am at the bridge which gave |
| slowly, very slowly. Then asphalt comes back again | | | | us time to stop at the center and look out to sea |
| when you arrive next to the bridge crossing the | | | | and the Kouilou mouth's sand bar, which are oriented |
| Kouilou River, it's still a good quality asphalt for the | | | | west. With the sun rising at our backs and a high tide |
| last 3 or 4 miles. The bridge was built in the late 80's | | | | coming in, we were lucky to see a breathtaking |
| by an oil company. This concrete bridge is an | | | | scene. Waves were crashing onto the sand bar a |
| anachronism compared to the surrounding structures. | | | | few yards away and the sun lighting up each drop. |
| This road is tough, very tough, and accidents are | | | | God's hand was not far away. |
| frequent. Most are caused by inexperienced drivers | | | | |