Tuesday, May 21, 2013

THE CITIES : BANGUI/BOSUM, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 2


Phew! Prompted by a strong aversion to giving myself up to the native fauna, I found a place to wash my face, scratched at my hair until it, at least, lay down, and marched our small group to the nearby (and only) motel. A girl in the office told us that her parents, the owners of the motel and the Mayor of the city and his wife, were out of town. She decided to help us, though, and gave us two rooms for free. They were just tiny windowless cubby-holes, with no source of light, but it beat sleeping outside. images (275×183)I was alone in the room. As soon as I closed the door, full darkness descended: I couldn't even see a hand in front of my face. When I went to the shower, which was outside, for all tenants to use, I realized that there was no light there either. I went to find a maintenance guy, to ask him for a flashlight, at least. It was a mistake. The flashlight cast very tiny light, but - a lot of shadows. They were the shadows of  every bug in the shower that I didn't need, or want, to see! At one point the flashlight fell and whirled on the floor. A macabre show passed in front of me:  insects of every size or nature, covering the walls and the ceiling.                                             
                                                                     insects-and-biodiversity-5.jpg (250×250)
Falling asleep wasn't a problem, butjust a little later I was awakened by a loud cracking bang. I sat up in bed, sure that someone was trying to break the door. "They got the guys already!" - I thought in panic. Another bang and then another!  They sounded even more ominous, since I couldn't see anything at all in the room. In between the bangs I heard some kind of liquid whispering As all this continued to go on without anybody actually showing up in my room, I realized that the noise was coming from some fruit falling on the tin roof, and the whispers were, the dew coming off the tree. At least, that's what I decided to believe 
The morning brought more surprises. In the communal bathroom's corner I saw a nest made of some material the nature of which we do not discuss in polite company. The opening of the nest was at least two inches wide. I really didn't want to meet whoever occupied that nest.  


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