While We're on the Road

When recording travels on the roads in Lubumbashi we wanted to show the things we see every day as we drive through the city. There are many ways to get from one place to another here. The most common is by foot.

This picture is taken in front of Jambo Market, our favorite store. We get better prices at supermarkets than in the marche. Prices are the same for everybody in the supremarket. If we go to markets, the price goes up the minute our white faces appear.

A common form of travel is the bicycle. It is less a way of personal transportation and more a way to transport things. Today Brent talked to a couple who live in the bush and make a living by fishing, drying the fish, and then riding bicycles 460km (half way from Phoenix to Salt Lake) to take their fish to market in Lubumbashi. It takes them a week or two to make the trip, depending on whether it's the rainy or the dry seasons.

The charcoal sellers travel back and forth from the bush with charcoal on their bikes. People carry lumber, animals, even furniture. You name it, we've seen it carried on a bike. Animals are not used to transport things. Can't figure out why!

Then there is the transport. They're the big people transporter, 22 people crammed in a mini-van. There are hundreds on the road at all times and they have no intention of following the rules, except one-- the faster you get there the more money you make.

There are many trucks on the roads. They certainly can fill a truck beyond capacity.

They carry products in them and people on top of the products. Sometimes they just fill them full of people.

The most amazing thing of all is the chariot. They use them to move everything. I used to marvel that my ancestor pulled a handcart across the US for three months. These people will pull and push a chariot for a lifetime.

Garbage day at our house with Robert and the garbage man.

For a city of 2 million there are not huge numbers of cars, and driving is most interesting. Brent has learned to drive just like them. The other day he said,"Driving is a just a game in the Congo, and I must admit that I LOVE PLAYING IT!" Frightening! I drove for the first time this week. I only drove about a mile. I did just fine. I didn't disappear into any potholes and I got to my destination. That's all I was hoping for. And I didn't get stopped by the police, who are on every corner. They don't like their pictures taken and they do like to get money from you. Brent has made it his specail challenge to make friends with them. He waves and salutes and drives right on. That's just a part of the traffic game and traveling in the Congo