There is this term in Africa ….. about waiting …. It’s called RUBBER TIME.
This is blog is based on my notes and journaling during a turning point in this journey….. a period filled with RUBBER TIME. Some of which was frustrating and other parts you just needed to chill and experience Rubber Time !
Some of this has been posted in our face book page and some links in with the previous blog about last Sunday and the big U Turn. What I have tried to do is bring a whole lot sentiment about feeling of RUBBER TIME … together. It’s a bit disjointed from a timing point of view …. Because that is what Rubber Time does to you .
These reflections are also based on the wonders lust for what is next. And needing to chill …. To wait for what is next! What is next ! One episode or chapter after another… blend into a maze of emotions, memories all jumbled up….. into Rubber Time. It reflects what I have learnt about Rubber Time …and how to make the most of it, because it is going to happen. It has happened and will happen again.
Port dreaming! You’re dreaming.
Are we dreaming? Will we ever get on the ferry with our cars?
From one Congo to the other, across the Congo River.
That old Aussie saying… “You’re dreaming” comes to mind. ( from the Castle ) . We park and hang out under an avocado tree… meetings, questions, and confusion ring in our ears. We battle the language barrier. Our data runs out, and our phones go flat. We can’t use our translation app.
Many come to hear about our story! Hang out around the cars. And laugh and are amazed at us and these old cars.
Then the negotiations start. “You’re dreaming.” It doesn’t cost that—it’s much, much more. Our expectations shattered as we realize we’re not going today. But we’re booked for tomorrow…maybe !
Then it’s “you’re dreaming” as we seek out a hotel close to the port. All stressed to the max. You’re dreaming!
We found one… but at a price! Always a price. Always a price! The Green Lodge …. A few kms away from the port. …Of course, you have to pay. Of course… we’re not dreaming.
But does tomorrow ever come? They say it doesn’t! Tomorrow never comes.
We arrive under the avocado tree near the Dock again and more folks want to know our story.
More paperwork… more details to sort out. And while we wait, we’re dreaming of getting to the other side.
Waiting at the dock. Rubber Time …..!
Then our man, Inspector Elvis, comes and gives the news. The cars and us are to be separated! We must go tomorrow on the people ferry, and the cars on the barge. But not until tomorrow!
So, another night in Kinshasa! Another night waiting to take the next step.
In the long, slow process of understanding what is going on, we are befriended by those there to help. It’s not for free—nothing is. But at the very least, we learn a lot. Actually, that’s not true. In our short stay, we will have barely scratched the surface of this place. But we have at least learned a little and come to appreciate the challenges everyone faces in this land—locals and travelers alike.
Under the Grey-Blue Congo Sky… Brazzaville side
We wait and watch as the port crew shifts things around so the crane can lift the cars. We are in Brazzaville…Republic of Congo …. Far more chilled that Kinshasa!
It’s hard to explain the story. It’s one pantomime after another—about money, getting a tug to move a barge loaded with logs bound for China. It’s in the way, so the crane can’t reach our cars.
The Congo River current rushes by, with Kinshasa on one side and Brazzaville on the other, under a grey-blue Congo sky. Under the grey-blue Congo sky, the big crane does its thing. Big cranes do what they need to do. Lift stuff. Folks here are working hard to make this happen, to make this happen.
The tale of two cars and four men from a completely different world, trying to navigate their way through these Congo lands.
Under the blue-grey Congo sky, at the port of Brazzaville, navigating, negotiating, with fixers to help as the men work their way through the kind of stuff that happens here every day.
Clouds rush by. There was big rain last night, big rain… clouds in a grey-blue sky rushing by.
Now they’re lifting logs off the barge next door before we get our turn. One at a time, maybe 100 or more logs from the Congo Rainforest to unload… under a grey-blue sky, clouds wafting by.
Under the grey-blue Congo sky, the heat rises, and the humidity thickens as the logs of the Congo come off their barge for the next part of their journey, bound for China. Bound for China. China’s influence is strong.
As we wait in the heat and humidity, under the grey-blue Congo sky, we wait for our turn to be lifted into the sky, and onto the northern banks of the Congo—Brazzaville—and then to where? To where under the grey-blue Congo sky?
As the Congo River races by, it races by. Flotsam and jetsam of all kinds… but the worst is the plastic—the plastic that is killing these lands and waters—as the Congo River races by, under a grey-blue Congo sky.
Guest House. …Maison Javouhey
How safe one feels in a guest house …. a guesthouse of those who serve god. Who welcome us. And protect us. A protected space, a welcoming space. Clean and tidy and meals and welcoming smile form the young woman …her name is Wisdom … she smiles and is patient with us as we use our translators to works out what is for our meals
While the world churns around us, the world churns through us. Brazzaville curls around us. The visual explosion in my minds eye. For what I have seen can’t be unseen .
The poverty and waste … the plastic pollution every where … a drain poring its filth into the river , the flotilla of plastic… floating on land and sea.
The joyous people… ! The Congo people joyous ….always an “Bonjour”. Alway a very courteous “Bonjour” …!
It took 6 days and far to much money to cross the Congo the way we did …. But we learned a lot about Rubber Time !
The Rubber Time Shifts – Movement again and more Rubber Time
As I’ve expressed before, Africa is totally amazing. The first day of this drive west from Brazzaville to Pointe Nior was grey—a grey feeling. Low clouds and a kind of mist restricted visibility to about 300 metres until late in the afternoon. So, it was a grey, grey kind of day. But the roads were amazing …
The drive was incredible. We had Chinese-built highways all the way, along with a bunch of toll booths . But after experiencing the difficulties of other roads, a few toll fees seemed perfectly acceptable.
Our guest house, Residence Laurel, was fine, found on iOverlander ….most of the time an amazing tool, essential to this kind of travel in this era. Residence Laurel is in place … a village about half way between Brazzaville and Point Noir. We had a nice meal—fish in a spicy broth. One of the best meals on the whole journey …and made friends with the others staying in the guest house … Guys working on stuff in the area, a hydraulic engineer and his crew.
Then day two of the drive, had a section for maybe 50 or more Kms through the rainforest wonderland … it was breathtaking—winding up, down, and around, but mostly down.
Then came the madness of the streets within the city of Pointe-Noire—crazy roads, hectic markets, detours, and construction work making roads impassable. As a result, we ended up driving through the suburbs of Pointe-Noire, completely lost!
People were astounded to see two old Peugeots with white folks driving through. We hit a couple of dead ends and navigated some ridiculous sections. Eventually, we found our accommodation at Mukiwa Beach Club, ( again offered by IOverlander – but Google maps had us lost again trying to find it). At Mukiwa Beach Club we are allowed to camp for free if we ate and drank there. It’s right next to the beach, with surf crashing on the shore. We had day at the beach, in the shade of the restaurant …just to hang out …. RUBBER TIME … then head to Cabinda and on to the DRC—back into Angola. It’s sad to be heading south again, ( to have had to adjust our plans of making it to Morocco) but that’s the reality of this trip.
At Mukiwa Beach Club, we had a beautiful dinners in a lovely atmosphere, with French-style cooking, and where looked after by Xavier and his wife Angelina ( I think).
We call a rest rest day. RUBBER TIME ! A swim in the crashing sea. We did some car maintenance—replaced a brake slave cylinder on the front right wheel of Mollie, and tracked down the problem with no brake lights on Melissa. We checked the bulbs and fuses, which were all fine, and eventually found corrosion on the sender switch cable…And another beautiful mean and looked after with jokes and stories by Xavier the host … a French man who has found his bit of paradise and has a lovely family.
And we get to do a very different kind of Rubber Time … engaging with the pet monkey at the Mukiwa Beach Club… a beautiful creature we all became besotted with.
Cabinda … Rubber Time.
Rubber time allowed us to be chilled before crossing the next Day out of RC and into Cabinda Angola …. This oil rich province of Angola north of the Congo River .. amazing place ….chilled … and more Rubber Time at our call and because the boarder we want cross back into DRC does not open on Sundays. …So more Rubber Time … which we fill with changing the oil in the cars and wandering the streets filled with an amazing mix of Art Deco and modernist building, many tired and run down ….. but with a style and quality that sets this town apart. And important we watch one of the finals games in the Australian Rugby League … Jayden’s team the Canterbury Bulldogs lost in a tight contest against Mainly Sea Eagles
I spend the first hour of each morning on top of the roof of the hotel in Cabinda – Sis Hotel … doing my yoqi practice …. It’s my Rubber Time ! … a movement practice can be Rubber Time … a moving meditation.
The first day is a misty morning, a super light drizzle as the city starts to wake up on this Saturday morning. There’s a beautiful looking Catholic Church for the south, to the north and east the Bay and port of Cabinda , to the west the ocean Atlantic Ocean . We wonder the streets and are amazed at the crazy mix of Art Deco and Modernism… mostly partly run down but still amazing.
Oil refinery and related support industries all around.
These West African states are in the grips of Petrochemical Industry as it exploits and draws the fuel we all use out of the near shore areas. It’s the energy that we are burning in Mollie and Melissa …. And it’s providing some wealth to these populations. Jobs that are needed … But I hope there is some serious Rubber Time …. Some serious Contemplation going on in these places as to what is next for these economies as the world weens itself of the fossil fuels that are destroying our climate. RUBBER TIME has its value ! Time to think, and work out what is next.
