DAY FIFTEEN Ian and I got up at 5 a.m. and got the fire going with some effort and cooked fried eggs for breakfast.
We were packed up and away by seven, driving further up into the mist-shrouded hills. Three volcanoes reared up out of the fog as we twisted and wound our way over the last range of hills before the border. The border post was no more than a sign saying “You are Now Leaving Uganda and Entering Zaire”, a crude barrier across the road and one building housing the border officials. There were no armed guards or any visible security. It took about an hour and a half to get through and we were in Zaire.
Immediately we were through the barrier the road turned into a rugged track. We bounced along for about half an hour then stopped for lunch. About 400 yards from the road, a huge lava flow lay broken and lifeless: a remnant of the last eruption that had occurred on one of the several volcanoes in the area in recent years.
We stopped to buy some crates of Primus, the local beer, in a one horse town called Rutshuru then drove out to a campsite beside a huge waterfall. We all had baths in the river then had tea.
A sudden rain shower had us all scurrying for our tents at about 9:30.
CurseOfTheTraveller 