The Flying Circus In the Jungle

It has been quite a remarkable last three days. On Sunday morning, I was picked up in Musanze by a caravan of safari vehicles, carrying VIPs from Disney and Turner Studios (indeed, I seem to meet la crème de la crème of America in Africa, rather than during all those years in NYC…) We drove to the border, crossed into the DRC (yes, the same adventure, always), and then the next day we took over the Goma airport: 11 people and some 35 pieces of HUMONGOUS luggage, all onto this tiny Tupolev plane direction Butembo. We were certainly the new flying circus taking over Congolese airspace, finding our small path through otherwise very busy UN helicopter and plane routes…

Once we landed, the Butembo “airport” (i.e. barrack) chief wanted to have a chat. He totally remembered me from the previous time, as the “only Romanian ever” around there. I also remembered him for a funny conversation:

He: So, do you have parks in Romania?
I: Yes, we do.
He: Do you have gorillas?
I: No, we don’t.
He: Do you have elephants?
I: No, we don’t.
He: Do you have rhinos?
I: No, we don’t.
He: So what the hell kind of park is THAT???

(And, as you do NOT want to piss off a Congolese, let alone one in some position of power, you have to just put on a naughty smile, be really humble, and admit that your parks really SUCK…I could not have won the argument either way, since he had no clue what our wolves and bears were anyhow…)

But yes, we chatted as very old buddies, Ceausescu and Mobutu included in the conversation, and off we went. The make-shift caravan was really impressive: all those roof-racks loaded beyond capacity, on some INCREDIBLY bumpy road, jumping up and down for some 5 hours. Luckily it is still the dry season, so we didn’t really have any problems getting stuck (just swerving like overweight ballerinas on the verge of scary ravines). We were ceremoniously led by Mwami Stuka and Mwami Mukosasenge– the paramount chiefs that own MASSIVE territories in Eastern Congo - so everyone in every village that we passed through was out greeting us with singing and dancing. QUITE SURREAL. When we finally reached Kasugho late afternoon, an amazing two-hour-show was staged. Everyone was present: the soldiers in a military parade; “the romantic children” who vowed to preserve nature; the women who lost their husbands in war and the women who had been raped by rebels, ready to show us around their “revival association”, etc, etc.

We are now on the third morning here. It is hard to keep up with remembering all faces, and especially all names, but they are all so very friendly, so a smile and a ‘jambo’ go a long way (my Swahili IS actually drastically improving here. My 10-word vocabulary became tenfold lately…)

We are here to stay through Friday, and then a drive down, a flight back, a border crossing, and another weekend in the field (this time in Rwanda) are on the schedule. I am literally EXHAUSTED, but soo-soo full of adrenaline at the same time.

Every evening, after 1-liter beers whose labels celebrate the 50th anniversary of DRC independence from Belgium, I also improve my British culture here. My best friend in Africa, Sandy, with whom I am now rooming, must be the best 2010 Amazon client. She has HUNDREDS of DVDs, many of which are British TV series that I have never heard of, but which are indeed HILARIOUS (and, luckily, have subtitles, because some of those people speak anything but English…) After indulging in “Benidorm” (about Brits on vacation in Spain (YUCKKKK!!!), which was so real to me after having seen them in Ibiza a couple of years ago), I have passed through “Early Doors” and am now onto “Gavin and Stacey”. The mornings after, I go for real-life references to Sandy (who is from Liverpool, but is ANYTHING but your typical Brit), so here’s how a Romanian is enriching her UK knowledge all the way into the Congolese jungle. I guess that speaks for globalization in the most direct, uncompromising way :-)