Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
wouldstopcyclingandwalkorsimplystopandtakea5-minutebreather.Withthatinmind,
I pushed off.
Soon after my departure from the mission, I descended to a river and crossed the
bridge. The gradient of the road was manageable but the distance to the summit seemed
quite long. Both sides of the road had dense foliage at times but overall the views were ex-
cellent. My progress was slow but steady and I was patient throughout. I had about a one-
kilometre stretch that was covered in sand. I just hopped off the bike and began to push.
Once the sand thinned out, I resumed cycling.
At noon I stopped in a small village about 12 kilometres from Ilebo and bought
somebananasunderthewatchfulgazeofdozensoflocalchildren.Afterabouthalfanhour
of being observed, I smiled and waved goodbye to my spectators.
The deeper I cycled into Zaïre the more infrequent that I experienced the stress of
any traffic. It had been quite a while, but I finally saw a truck as it passed me 2 kilometres
before crossing the Kasai River. I couldn't help but imagine where this country would be
in terms of its development if the roads were of consistent quality.
Thedescenttotheriverbankwaslongandterrifying.Therewereexceptionallydeep
ruts in the road which started in its centre and cut quickly to the edge. This made the road
incredibly uneven. If there was snow on its surface, it would have been ideal for downhill
skiing! I very cautiously descended with my brakes fully engaged and my feet out of the
toe-clips, just in case.
When I arrived at the riverbank, there wasn't a bridge or a ferry. So I hired a
perog
for two million zaïres. We crossed the Kasai River, a beautiful tributary of the Zaïre River,
veryslowly.Myoarsman pushed usofffromthe riverbank andhesimply allowed the river
tocarryusakilometreorsodownstreamtowheretheroadresumed.Itwassopeacefuland
I really enjoyed the 20 minutes of relaxation. The only sounds were from the oar cutting
into the river and the birds in the shoreline trees.
I arrived on the other side of the river, disembarked and cycled to the top of the
hill. I entered Ilebo and came across some locals who directed me to a parish run by Father
David Nomanyash, a Zaïrian priest who came from the Diocese of Idiofa. He welcomed
me whole-heartedly and had a bucket of water brought to me. After I bathed, I laid on my
bed to relax feeling quite upbeat both mentally and physically. Soon after, I was called to
dine with the sisters.
The bells rang at 6:00 a.m. for the 6:30 Sunday mass. I quickly got dressed and sat
in the church. The mass was not in French but in the local language. The energy was phe-
nomenal: the music, the dance, and the involvement of the congregation were quite amaz-
ing. I really enjoyed the service and didn't notice the time at all. I left the church 2¼ hours
laterandheadedforbreakfast.Atthetable,Itookdowntheiraddressandpromisedtowrite
to them when I returned to Canada (which I did). I thanked the community and started to
cycle.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search