Day 48: Yankusu to Yangambi to Bokusu shore

BOAT DAY 2

 

We left the shore early, at 7am. We saw some old Belgian maps that the captain was using to steer the boat. We also watched pirogues land on our ship. We watched the whole market frenzy as the pirogue owners started to sell their produce to passengers on the barges. We bought pineapples. The captain bought more chairs and bananas. One man sold parrots, bats and bamboo sticks. Lots of people were fighting. The captain’s wife was quite the bully to a merchant over one chair and 3 chickens.

We had rice and beans with smoked goat. The skin was very thick and black and hairy. It was impossible to tell what animal exactly we were eating and we kind of had to trust the cook (the captain’s wife) at her word. Very weird. At least it wasn’t bat. The bones were far too big.

I didn’t get much sleep overnight. People had their radios blaring till late in the night. There were babies screaming and ridiculously early prayers being chanted at 5am.