The Congo - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 200

The Tuesday morning I was to leave, I bought some wine from Score Supermarché
as a gift to the Salesians. I returned to the parish and packed my clothes in the panniers. I
then went to see Father Miguel who was conducting a seminar. I gave him a hug and the
wine and said thank-you for his incredible kindness. I also thanked the Cameroonian priest
as well before I left for the dock to cross the Congo River into Kinshasa, Zaïre.
Ittookonlyminutes togettothedockandIquicklyfoundthe'ChefdeBeach' (the
man in charge of the dock area). He sold me the 11,500 CFA ticket for 5,000 CFA, and
since there was such chaos to board the ferry, he made sure that I got on safely. The men
who worked in crowd-control literally whipped back the people. My heart bled for one old
man who was repeatedly whipped because he was slow to move. The amount of pushing
scared me for there were no guardrails anywhere. This concern was justified for several
months after I was there, dozens of people were crushed to death by this ferry. The incid-
ent happened when the ferry was pulling away as people were still getting on. Many fell
between the boat and the dock and when the captain realized he pulled away too soon, he
returned to the dock and killed those who fell in the water.
Having secured a spot on the deck in the center of the ferry, I remained standing
to support my bike. Throngs of people clambered on carrying their wares from clothing
to livestock. I was quite sure that we exceeded the number of allowable passengers but to
whom was I to complain to? I just said a quick prayer for our safety as we made the short
trip across the river to my next African nation: Zaïre.