Travel Reference
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the 32 kilometre-to-go mark, I stopped to eat some maniok and bananas. The remaining
distance was on a relatively flat road and my speed was high. Slowly it clouded over and
then these massive raindrops fell. It turned into a fine drizzle and remained like that until I
arrived in Kikwit. During my last climb, I had a terrifying scare for suddenly lightning and
thunder ripped directly above me.
After I crested the hill, the descent took me into the town. As I cycled by the police
checkpoint,Isawtheofficerssittingundertheroofoftheirstationstayingdry.Iwavedand
saidbonjourtothemasIslowlycycledbyjustincasetheybeckonedmetostop.However,
theyjustwavedbackandseemedtootiredtocareorperhapsthelightdrizzledeterredthem
from getting wet. Either way, I sped up and headed to the cathedral to wait for the bishop.
While I was there, some people told me that the Jesuits were just around the corner. So, I
walked my bike over and was immediately welcomed by the priest in charge of the resid-
ence. I was given a room in the accommodation bloc of their technical school. After my
shower I met a Jesuit who was translating the bible into the vernacular language. I visited
the chapel and was summoned for dinner. I ate and chatted with the community until 8:30.
I enquired about a bicycle shop in Kikwit but was told that they only carried parts for the
Chinese one-gear bicycles not for western bicycles such as mine. So I returned to my room
to write in my journal noting that the day was one of the easiest for cycling and that I man-
aged to complete 110 kilometres without much effort.
After morning mass, I ate breakfast with the Jesuits and dawdled around for I was
unsure of the route I wanted to take. I had two possible routes to Kananga. Both were the
same distance for Kikwit and Kananga sat on opposite sides of an oval. The northern route
would take me through Idiofa and Ilebo and the southern route would take me through
Tshikapa. Afteraskingseveral people whichroutewasthebest,Idecided take thenorthern
one.Plus,therewasatrainfromIlebotoKanangathatcouldserveasabackupjustincase.
By8:30a.m.,IhadagutfeelingthatIshouldmakeamoveandstartedonthenorth-
ern route. After thanking the Jesuit community for their hospitality, I left Kikwit. I crossed
the river and cycled on a paved road for 80 kilometres until the turnoff for Idiofa. As the
main road headed south, I turned east and came across 12 kilometres or newly graded
gravel. My pace was very fast and I arrived in a village called Aten (which was not on my
map) for a quick break.
I had an interesting experience with Mother Nature here. As I headed east, directly
in front of me was an electrical storm. It was moving in the same direction as I was but its
pace was a bit slower. When I got too close, I would feel the last of the raindrops. So, I
would stop and watch the lightening and rain fall slightly ahead of me. It was so cool!
UponarrivalatSt.Joseph'sParish,Imettwopriests,FathersPini-PiniandMalongo
who welcomed me to stay. I was given a room and once I was settled in, I was invited to
join them for their drive to visit two French volunteers four kilometres away. I hopped in-
to the truck and was jostled all the way. After we arrived, we were welcomed inside the
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