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centtoit.Theseaofsandendedandthenaseaofrocksbegan.Ididalotofwalkinginfear
of damaging my rear tire and finally reached Kasavu by 3:00 p.m.
AsIcycledbeyondthevillage,amancamerunningfrombehindmeyellinganother
person'snamepresumablytosomeoneintherainforest.Themancaughtuptomeandsaid,
“Arrêt.” Stop.
“Qu-ést çe que vous voulez?” I asked. He didn't tell me what he wanted and just
repeated for me to stop. I ignored him and attempted to cycle. Then he grabbed the back of
the bike. That was my cue to go nuts. I started yelling in French.
Outoftherainforestcamethat“someone”hewascallingtoearlier.Anathleticman
carrying a machete ran toward us. I kept asking more quietly what he wanted. Finally, the
man told me that I had to get permission from the chief of the land to pass. I explained that
I passed through hundreds of villages without incident and why was he the first to demand
such a thing. He told me to wait. Ihad nochoice forthere was noway Icould out runthem
or the machete.
As we stood on the road, a young man joined our group. He was carrying weapons:
swords, a sling shot and farming tools. Eventually the chief came and I was told to unpack
all my panniers and lay the contents on the road. As the others looked on, I complied and
my heart eventually stopped racing. After a 45 minute inspection of my stuff on the road,
he said I could go. I wasn't sure what he was looking for. They all went back to what they
were doing as if nothing happened. For the first time in Africa, I almost wet myself.
I collected all my things and packed the panniers. I cycled on and with the rain-
clouds looming, I had my pop-up umbrella by the ready. I counted the time between the
lightening and the thunder and realized that the storm was moving away from me. In fact,
I was actually chasing it and could feel the final rain drops. So I slowed down and simply
followed the storm. I guess that delay with the chief of Kasavu was a blessing for I missed
the heavy rains.
When I was 24 kilometres from Kapemba, those heavy rains left the road a mess.
Thesandhadn'tsettledyetandthetireswereflingingsandywaterontomychain.AsIped-
alled it felt and sounded like sandpaper. I crossed a huge marshy area which made cycling
quite difficult. Then I came upon patches of rocks that were the sharpest I had ever seen.
Slowly and diligently, I navigated around the outcrops and 15 kilometres later, I arrived at
a village.
IpushedthroughwithoutstoppinguntilIarrivedinKapemba.WhenImetthechief
of the village, he welcomed me and immediately found me a place to sleep. He had dinner
prepared (fufu with mushrooms) while I went for a quick stroll. I met a business woman
who came to the village to buy 20 sacks of corn flour to sell in her shop in Kolwezi. She
made my day when she told me that the road to Kanzenze, my next destination, was very
good. I returned to my place but didn't wash for the elevation made the air really cold and
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