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, to find out who I was and to ask me to sign the visitor log. He mentioned that people were not working because it was Boganda Day, and was pleasantly surprised that I knew a little about Boganda – I explained that I like to learn about the places I visit, not just to take photos and move on. Unfortunately this seemed to prompt him to explain to me that there were Ba’aka people (the local pygmy tribe) living in the village, and that they need a source of income, and could I please ask the owners of the lodge to put in place a programme of activities for clients to visit the Ba’aka … I said I would try.
He offered me a seat in the shelter outside his office and went to fetch the register, asking if I would like to drink some palm wine. Of course I accepted (thankfully I’d gone out with a little money in my pocket), and a small bottle was produced – with a single glass. However, the contents of the bottle were not all for me as culture apparently dictates that he first taste the wine (a glassful) – then one of the lodge staff sitting beside me announced that he also had to taste it before I could drink any… Finally I got my turn, and after a couple of sips, the staff member advised me that I shouldn’t drink too much as it is strong. I’m not sure whether this was a genuine attempt to be helpful (he was already slurring his words slightly), or just a means of having more for himself, but in any case I finished the glass. Another bottle was fetched, and a mobile phone hooked up to a speaker, and we danced for a few minutes until the charge in the speaker ran out. The chief asked if my husband was at the lodge, and I stupidly replied that I am single … oh dear. Cue him telling me about how he has dreamed since childhood of marrying a white woman, about how the ring on his wedding finger is just decorative, and how he loves me.
I paid for the drink and a mototaxi back and made my escape, although decided to walk the final 3km along the access road.
It was quiet, just a brown-eared woodpecker and a troop of putty-nosed monkeys to distract me from my thoughts, until I rounded a bend and just in front of me was a bull elephant trying to cross the road. We both froze, then both took a step backwards, and finally we both backed off until we could no longer see eachother. I wish I’d had a drone recording our simultaneous movements!
What to do now? There were only small trees and bushes around, ie nothing to hide behind should he turn aggressive – but I could see a large tree beside the road further on. & the road was currently empty, so I decided to resume my route, but ready to run to the big tree if necessary. As I passed the place where he had been, I heard plenty of rustling, but couldn’t tell which way he was moving. Thankfully he was not starting a charge, in fact I think he might have been moving back parallel to the road to cross at an earlier point. Phew!
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