Weekend Visits

Sunday has arrived and finally there was a car and a driver outside our appartment who really had no one to take shopping....We decided to take advantage of the opportunity to go on one of our visits. After a brief discussion with our driver Etienne we decided to visit Kinsuka to visit Chez Conseille (Pompage) It is about a 35 minute ride from Belle Vue on the road going to Matadi... Driving on the roads he has to go around the potholes and broken down truck and cars at times, which give you time to look at how the people of Kinshasa live. Mama's with big basin's of bread (baguettes) and a jar of homemade peanut butter making breakfast for anyone who stops by to order with her...Woman going about shopping for vegetables all dressed in the beautiful dresses or skirts and tops made of wax anglais materials...so bright and colourful I just love it! Not to forget the many full little churches (some make shift ) full of people singing and praying...People are very religious here , I have come to the conclusion when there is nothing else, no hope you turn to something or someone that offers some form of hope! I do not think a day goes by when I am not asked if I have a job for someone....it is sad, and I feel a bit helpless at times.

What a surprise when we eventually got to Kinsuka, we where on the Congo River with a view of the rapids and just on the other side of the river Brazzaville. The beach is full of huge black boulders. Here and there you spot a fisherman on the rocks fishing with a net or rod.. and.kids bathing in the shallow water. In this area you also find that they earn minimal money by breaking up these rock, first by making dynamite holes blasting them and then chipping at them to make smaller pieces so that they can build houses .....in a week they can earn about 10 20 dollars doing this.

I also discovered some very nice statues that where made out of cement dotted around the gardens before getting to the beach .I spotted my first African Dwarf Pygmy Kingfisher(Bird)
in some reeds next to what was once upon a time a fish farm.....

After our walk we discovered a little restaurant , where they have a buffet lunch for $20 but we opted for the fried bananas with a fish that is steamed in banana leaves ...it was delicious...

We had a great Sunday and will visit there again......

Places to Visit .....

Two weeks ago having a chat with Jaèl the young woman who comes in, to help me with the house twice a week we got chatting about different touristic places to visit. Vianney and I decide to go out to the closest one called Nganda Yala with Alfonse our driver. It is a little picnic spot where you can take the family on a Sunday to enjoy the day. They have a little restaurant where you can have something to eat and drink , I even saw some people swimming, if you enjoy fishing this is not the place for you, there are none, I was told!



I believe that there are other places to visit like Lac de ma Valee which is about an hours drive from here , and a Park for rescued Chimps , I guess we will have to try and see these soon before the rainy season comes! The roads are not in the best condition so when the wet season comes I am told you will definately need a 4x4 to get around.



In the mean time I am kept busy with my little Coffee Morning which has turned out to be a hit and we are now starting to think of ways to help people less fortunate than ourselves.

Life at Belle Vue

I have been living at Belle Vue , for two weeks now, slowly I am getting into a routine of going for my morning walk of a couple of laps around the compound with Bev....I have tried to stick to about 7000 steps on the walk and do a couple more laps in the evening with Vianney. This gives us time to chat about our day and to get some exercise in at the same time.

More family's and consultants have been arriving so the little group is growing....and with that all the teething problems of a new project get sorted out as we go along. It seems the major problem for us has been cars and driver assignments but the company is doing there best to accommodate everyone so it is all good.

This week on my walk I got to see how very lonely people are on the compound. Some of us are going to be here for 3-5 years and it is difficult in the beginning to make new friends find a dentist , doctor etc. I have taken it on my shoulders to try and form a support group for the lady's here at Belle Vue, by arranging our first Coffee Morning.....

A quick note on this I had about 15 woman turn up, it was fun, from teachers to a Child Psychologist , all with different views and hobby's. It was great to exchange information amongst ourselves and we will meet again next week.....

I have been helping the moms that do not have much English or French enroll there children at the International School (Jewels Int. School) just down the road from Belle Vue . Yesterday was the turn of a lovely Albanian Family that arrived just 3 days ago......We are turning out to be a great International Community.

Last weekend had some colourful moment . I found a hairdressing Salon downtown and a few of the consultants tried it out..first...So I thought the hairdresser had done a good job on them I would go with Vianney...you guessed....Yes something did go wrong.. we both got very short haircuts.. we look a bit like convicts in hiding. One good thing , hair grows....at least we know we can have our hair done here!

Sunday we where all invited to one of the Ministers Homes,who's wife works as an Office Manager for the company. She had tables beautifully set out in her garden . She had organised a lovely buffet lunch for about 50 guest . We had champagne for the celebration with a band playing music in the background...it was fun and different.

One of the dishes on the menu was stewed 'Mopani Worms'.... I passed on this dish, but some consultants where brave enough to try them and said they where good!!!!