Bukavu

This is a view of Bukavu, by far the prettiest place I've seen in the Congo. It is on the shores of Lake Kivu about 5000 feet above sea level; like Lake Tahoe only it never snows (I've never been to Lake Tahoe but it should be this good.) We were there for 2 days waiting for our pax to finish their business. The place was in an advanced state of decay like most of the Congo. As beautiful as it was there was a reason there were signs along the road saying cheery things like "Pak Bat 47 hopes you have a nice day!" The Pakistani Arny's 47th Battalion (or whatever the number was) is there because a lot, A LOT, of rape, robbery, pillage, murder and dying have taken place in and around Bukavu in the past few years and those guys try to stop it. They were a very happy group by the way, they always waved back.
For more on that go to yahoo news and look up something called in the hot zone.
The countryside between the airport and town is very hilly. Even so, most all of it was cultivated. I was astounded to see hillsides as steep as 45 degrees or more, cleared and planted, as is the hillside in this picture. There will be crop this year, and maybe next year, but the year after that, nothing. Because all the topsoil will be at the bottom of the lake. There must be a lot of displaced people in Bukavu who don't much care about the crop the year after next.
This is the requisite "cute kids" picture. They were looking at us, and we were looking at them. We had the camera so they get posted and we don't. They are pretty cute though.
We drove to the airport early in the morning 2 days in a row. On both days we saw hundreds of women walking down the road toward town, almost all with big loads on their backs supported by headstraps. As you can see, the loads ain't light. I think they were taking things in to sell. They gotta ruck those loads and they aren't even in the infantry.
An Antonov 28 transport shortly before departing on cargo flight. See all those people standing by the rear? None of them flew on the airplane. I believe every person who shipped something on the flight accompanied the item to the airport and personally saw to it that it was placed onboard and strapped down securely. And they were not shy about advising the loaders how to do it.
This is how I see most of Africa, through the front windshield of a Toyota Land Cruiser.