DAY THIRTY-FOUR Dawn came on our third day on the river and found us well on our way downstream. Slowly, people began stirring and the women started the cooking fires to start the first meal of the day. Some natives came out from the shore in their dugouts with baskets of repulsive burnt and blackened fish.
The weather promised to be hotter than ever and even at 7:30 it was starting to become unpleasantly warm.
The captain took pity on us again gave us five fish, some potatoes and onions which we cooked up and ate for breakfast along with some left-over rice and bully beef.
As the heat came on, we retreated under the tarpaulins until 12:00 when Bomba came in sight and we were at the end of our journey. The boat docked and we said goodbye to the captain, packed up our gear and disembarked.
The sun was beating down on the try dusty streets of Bomba and we trudged up to the Dina Hotel where we found a luxuriously cold supply of beer and Coke. Unfortunately, there were no rooms and no running water so Peter, Chris and I spent a fruitless 2 ½ hours looking for something better in town but found only revolting dives.
We bought some bread for tea and negotiated with the barman to camp in the back yard for 4,000Z the lot of us.
Linda and I set up the mosquito net out in the open and Bron went to sleep under it as she is sick.
We found out the location of a well and Linda and I got a bucket-full of water and had a wash.
Bronwen, Linda and I all slept under the net with a million stars above us and the night air cool.
CurseOfTheTraveller 