We slept comfortably enough, but woke up too early--5am--because of the activity on the deck of our cargo boat. We finally (after 3 days of waiting) got underway at 6:30, and discovered that there are quite a few passengers on board in addition to ourselves. It’s a relief to be going--we still stand a good chance of arriving in Kisangani in time to meet the trucks from our expedition. Breakfast of bread, bananas and tea. We all have our stuff out drying after last night’s drenching rain…

 I thought about our friends on the Obangui River in their dugout canoes. They’ll have a challenge just finding a place to camp if the vegetation is as dense there as it is along these banks. I’m glad I wasn’t one of the first European explorers to penetrate some of this jungle. It must have been a very unpleasant task. It’s enough of a challenge with roads and maps!