Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Christmas 2002
Merry Christmas! It was my first day off in almost 2 weeks of solid cycling. The
Christmas Day Mass celebrations lasted from 11:30 a.m. until 2:50 p.m. for there were a
lot of baptisms. We had a fabulous Christmas dinner and conversations. After watching a
bit of television, I hit the sack with sugar plum fairies dancing in my head.
As it turned out, the next five days I did not cycle. I stayed back to overhaul my
bike completely. I cleaned the chain with a wire brush and it came out looking great. I vis-
ited many parishes in Brazzaville and attended concerts and plays held by the youth of the
city. I noticed during my stay that for a capital city, Brazzaville was pretty quiet (probably
due to the holidays.)
Father Miguel took me to the Zaïrian Embassy and waited for me as I inquired
about the entry visa. I explained my purpose for cycling through Zaïre and they told me to
come back in a few hours. I did and to my utter surprise, they gave me the visa for free! (I
saved 20,000 CFA). I believed that this was my green light to go to Zaïre. Just like I told
that Australian motorcyclist in northern Congo, if I couldn't get the Zaïrian visa it was a
sign for me not to go. Not only did I get the visa, but it was for free.
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