“A traveller journeys not without knowing whither he wanders” (H M Stanley)

I shall miss the food more than the work. For the last two weeks I’ve eaten better than I might do for a very long time. Sushi in Central Africa I tell you! It was the only thing I really looked forward to whilst holding a tape measure in the scorching sun, wondering what the hell I was doing. That and the interaction with the children, who curious as ever wanted to know more about the schools that were being built for them.  Read more... (501 words, 1 image, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look like that) I would say ‘when I grow up I will go there’. (Joseph Conrad)

My entry into the Congo has been delayed by a Japanese construction company here in Bangui.  They’re helping to build schools – eleven of them I think. One week down with the job and another to go.  Read more... (325 words, 1 image, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

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” A traveller who has just arrived in a new country where everything is new to him is held up by the difficulty of making up his mind” (Andre Gide: Travels in the Congo)

I continue to keep a hand-written journal of my journey and may include a few more of these excerpts as blog posts over the coming months. Here are several entries from the last 10 days.

02/02/11: Distance cycled 44km.

Location Godeambole:   04°04.274N  016° 05.157E

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“As I got deeper into Africa – the scrub, the desert, the rocky climb up to the mountains, the lakes, the rain in the afternoon, the mud, and then, on the other, wetter side of the mountains, the fern forests and the gorilla forests – as I got deeper I thought: But this is madness. I am going in the wrong direction. There can’t be a new life at the end of this”. (V.S. Naipaul)