The Dynamic Trio - Blog

That’s me with the purple shirt and I’m actually mending a rip in my shorts while I’m wearing them. The roads carve through thick jungle, so at the end of each day we’d set up camp in the middle of the road, pitching our tents and cooking right where we stopped because there was nowhere else to camp. We’d have to be up early each morning to let the rest of the trucks and vehicles through.

The trucks tend to travel in a convoy with one going through a mud hole and waiting to pull the next one through if it gets stuck. We spent a lot of time digging our truck out of mudholes. I’m sure this is why some of the holes in the road are so deep! It was amazing how patient everyone was - no road rage because everyone knew there was another mudhole just around the corner. We also had to do a bit of bridge building in places and carried planks of wood in our truck for this purpose. Um…actually acquired them at the start of our journey and gave them to another truck traveling South once we were safely through so it wasn’t really stealing…

The photo with the truck at the far end of the road (about to go through the mudhole) is the one we traveled on all the way through Africa.

We visited a pygmy tribe in the jungle, went for a ride in wooden canoes up a long river, stayed at Epulu research station where they had orphans chimps and the rare animal called an okapi (looked like a cross between a zebra and an antelope). The chimps were a huge source of amusement - very playful but strong. One whipped off my glasses and broke them while playing with them. They were very intelligent and knew exactly how to wear the glasses. The insurance company payed out promptly because we had photos to prove my claim. The chimps also liked to steal toothbrushes and hair scrunchies!!

The trip through Zaire was stressful because it took so long and because the country had a civil war raging in the south, however it was an experience I’ll never forget. I think we stayed at one place where we could wash in a river but have since heard that crocodiles have killed several tourists where we swam. Other than that it was a quick wash with a cloth and a very small bowl of water. I’ve never felt so grubby in all my life!

That’s me with the purple shirt and I’m actually mending a rip in my shorts while I’m wearing them. The roads carve through thick jungle, so at the end of each day we’d set up camp in the middle of the road, pitching our tents and cooking right where we stopped because there was nowhere else to camp. We’d have to be up early each morning to let the rest of the trucks and vehicles through.

The trucks tend to travel in a convoy with one going through a mud hole and waiting to pull the next one through if it gets stuck. We spent a lot of time digging our truck out of mudholes. I’m sure this is why some of the holes in the road are so deep! It was amazing how patient everyone was - no road rage because everyone knew there was another mudhole just around the corner. We also had to do a bit of bridge building in places and carried planks of wood in our truck for this purpose. Um…actually acquired them at the start of our journey and gave them to another truck traveling South once we were safely through so it wasn’t really stealing…

The photo with the truck at the far end of the road (about to go through the mudhole) is the one we traveled on all the way through Africa.

We visited a pygmy tribe in the jungle, went for a ride in wooden canoes up a long river, stayed at Epulu research station where they had orphans chimps and the rare animal called an okapi (looked like a cross between a zebra and an antelope). The chimps were a huge source of amusement - very playful but strong. One whipped off my glasses and broke them while playing with them. They were very intelligent and knew exactly how to wear the glasses. The insurance company payed out promptly because we had photos to prove my claim. The chimps also liked to steal toothbrushes and hair scrunchies!!

The trip through Zaire was stressful because it took so long and because the country had a civil war raging in the south, however it was an experience I’ll never forget. I think we stayed at one place where we could wash in a river but have since heard that crocodiles have killed several tourists where we swam. Other than that it was a quick wash with a cloth and a very small bowl of water. I’ve never felt so grubby in all my life!