RALLY to Zongo Falls

On Saturday morning at 9am we left Kinshasa on a rally that was to be an experience of a lifetime. There were about 40 cars on an organised off-road ralley sponsored by Castel Beer. When I talk about off-road I not only mean off the normal road, but off the beaten track, and into a whole new world beyond the borders of the towns. Tiny villages with children, dogs and goats in the middle of nowhere. Most of the huts were made of clay, and no electricity, running water and the convenience of anything remote to modern day. You could've easily been on a time warp back in time about 100 years or more. There were only tire tracks, no roads on a 4x4 dream world. Our Toyota Prado, slid over every wide canyon crack, every sandbank, every hole or mud trench like a boat takes to water. On our first day I was quite shocked at the co-pilot's ( moi) list of interpreting every route on a given route map sketched out in tiny drawings with the odd French word for "Careful steep accent" etc. Each section was about about 4km with 90km for the first stretch and then another 60km towards the end . Wow, I never worked so hard on a long journey being a passenger as that. I thoroughly enjoyed being in more control though than the driver. My very own driver was my husband the " Camel Man". Huge Congratulations on winning the overall trophy. Babes, I never knew you could handle a steering wheel and low four gears the way you did! And your organisation skills were superb as there you were helping a fellow contestant who got stuck in the mud behind us. Tow rope, wellington boots and 2 way radios all organised by yourself. On arrival at Zongo Falls, we had to take the shower that "nature" had organised for us, it was the most energising shower I have had since our arrival in Kinshasa. Wow, what a powerful spray! The Frenchies with their "douche" gel, and all. We set up tent with about 10 friends, all French speaking, except for us and Abby, our American friend, who co-piloted for Moose, our friend that travelled most of the way with us. We had fun that night, with an organised buffet, and partying and dancing coming mostly from our site, until midnight. The air was still warm, however, but cooler than Kinshasa. The next morning, we were up and raring to go, only the Europeans seem to do everything after 9am, which is unfortunate as that set the time back for our arrival back home at about 6:30pm which is after dark here. Along route we stopped at a beautiful botanical garden for lunch, and then went on to see an amazing African sunset. We were so tired on arrival and ready for a clean up, I had mud all over my shoes from stepping out the car to witness the car in front of us overturn, and then some locals helped them get the car back on it's 4 wheels, amazingly no-one was hurt, and the car was unscathed too. We we never stayed for the results which came out at about 11pm. We came 25th overall, which I think is not bad at all for our first ever rally. We shall return next year, South African spirit and all.