visiting the other village
A public holiday meant a day off from my voluntary work, so after a morning lazing around reading a book, I decided to go for a long walk in the afternoon. Other than going round and round the lodge’s forest trails, the only other walking routes are down the 3km access road and from there turning right towards the village of Mossapoula, or left towards the village of Babongo. I hadn’t been left before, so set off in that direction, along the dirt road between the forest (with plenty of evidence of frequent road crossings by elephants) and eventually down to a small wooden bridge across the Babongo stream, surrounded by a big area of bamboo. A little over two hours from the lodge, I arrived in the village. Of course it is difficult (no, it is impossible) to walk unobserved in such a place. Any stranger would be noticed, but a white one really stands out. & several of the lodge’s employees live in this village, three of whom came out to greet me. Then the village chief appeared