Travel in Central Africa

Wow, we have had a busy couple of months. I've been meaning to get to this blog for awhile now and here it is, almost May!!
I was asked to go to Pointe Noire, Congo earlier this month (early April). This is the "other Congo" - the Republic of Congo which is across the river from us here in the DRC. Pointe Noire is a town of about 3 million people on the coast of this "other Congo". Missionaries Gary and Janice Dickinsen live there. They have a large church and run a bible school, along with a young women's training center. I was asked, along with South African missionary Emily Johns, to do several HIV training sessions for various groups. Pointe Noire has a significant prevalence of HIV and the church has had very little training on the facts of the virus and how they can be involved.
My portion of the trip was quite the adventure. I'll write this in several different entries so that any one is not too long.
A driver took me down to the port where there is a lot of boat traffic between Kinshasa and Brazzaville (the capital of the other Congo). After much formality, bartering, etc. I was able to get on a little speed boat to cross the mighty Congo River. I have to say - I was a bit nervous. The river is wide and with a very powerful current. I have read that it's the most powerful river in the world as far as how many cubic meters of water pass any single point. When the river empties into the ocean it's current continues for almost 100 miles. Anyway, between the strength of the river and my worries of "upkeep and safety standards" for these boats, I was a bit concerned. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised that we were offered life jackets on the boat! I was on basically a glorified row boat with a motor....it was quite weighted down and as we took off the water came up to about my shoulder level - spraying out so we weren't totally drenched. We made it across the river in under 8 minutes......which was good, although 8 minutes can feel like a long time if you're afraid of sinking!!
Once on the other side I had to pass through some very rudimentary customs steps. Fortunately they speak Lingala in Brazzaville as they do here in Kinshasa. I have to say - one of the best things Pat and I have done as missionaries is to learn the local langauge (we speak French, which is the formal, educated language - but there's nothing like also speaking the common, street language of the people!). Being able to yuck it up with people in Lingala has gotten me out of more difficult situations than I can tell!!
Once I got through the port protocol, a taxi took me to the airport. I was to take a domestic flight from Brazzaville to Pointe Noire - about 45" in the air. It's been awhile since I've flown domestic in Africa......always an adventure!!! Once I successfully navigated check in I went into a very crowded, loud waiting room where I was the only fair skinned person in sight. I have to say I was also a bit nervous about the flight. Central Africa does not have a great record when it comes to domestic flights - lots of crashes, lots of close calls! This particular airline, I was assured, was the best way to get to Pointe Noire, but even then - it's not allowed to fly to Europe because of safety standards! Needless to say, I was very happy when we landed!