BONDO - SALISBURY - BLANTYRE - MBABANE

More trials and tribulations in Africa

At the police station In Bondo an officer checks my passport.

- Arrest this man!

- Under what charge, Citizen? I protest.

- Your passport hasn't been stamped. You have entered our country illegally!

- What are you talking about? I arrived in Bangassou yesterday. Your colleague made me fill out all the papers. He stamped my passport—I saw it with my own eyes!

- Look for yourself!

He's telling the truth. I'm beginning to understand. His colleague simply pretended to stamp my passport, for reasons I can easily guess. My fears are confirmed.

- You'll either have to go to prison, or pay the fine...

My mechanic friend whispers in my ear:

- Let ME HAN-DLE this!

Sure enough, after a few minutes he comes back smiling broadly.

- The STAMP will cost TEN za-IRES!

A gift. He accompanies me to the room in which my papers are being straightened out. A young Zairian stamps my passport with a dramatic, almost theatrical gesture, and hands it back to me. The officer comes back into the room. He sees my 10 zaire bill on the counter and suddenly becomes visibly enraged. He takes his young subordinate side and shouts at him:

- You idiot, you've really made a mess of things! That's not a Citizen, that's a Sir! His price is 100 zaires, you moron!

I shrug my shoulders and head back to my van with my now legitimized papers.

After one last Primus (Zairian beer) with my friend, who turned out to be as good a diplomat as he was a mechanic, I returned to the road through the forest.

*******

I become a bystander at a very different celebration among the Ituri. Several Pygmies are returning from a successful hunt during which they killed an elephant. Their method is ingenious. They slipped beneath the beast and cut the tendons in its legs with assegais they had borrowed from the Bantu, who provide defense for them. To finish off the animal they stabbed it in the eye. Bizarre songs accompany the festivities. Their polyphony contrasts sharply with African musical forms in general, which usually consist of a monodic melody against an interwoven polyrhythmic background. The music of the Pygmies is unique. Their legends are as well but are related to the myths of Upper Egypt. Marked by intermarriage and concealed slavery, this mysterious people will carry its secrets to the tomb. The local Bantu make use of Pygmy women to perform menial tasks. They are reputed to be good workers.

*******

The road becomes increasingly difficult to navigate. The ruts are inimaginably deep and I should be more cautious than I am. But distances here are so great that I fail to pay sufficient attention, which does nothing for the condition of my van. An enormous cloud of gravel dust alerts me to the fact that there’s another vehicle ahead of me. Because there is no wind it is impossible to determine the distance between us. Still, the impression is frustrating. The world darkens around me as I breath in mouthfuls of dust. Everything in the van is covered with ochre powder. I’m covered with a red crust, an amalgam formed from my perspiration and this suspended colorant hanging in the air.

Suddenly, I brake. A small truck has stopped on the road. An expedition of biologists from Romania. We introduce ourselves and decide to drive together for a while. Two days later we arrive at the shores of Lake Albert, which borders Zaire and Uganda. To my surprise the Romanians dive into the beautiful water and splash around joyously.

- Are you crazy! What about bilharzia?

Bilharzia (Schistosomiasis) is greatly feared by travelers in these lands. Its host is a small snail, of the genus Bulinus, that grows and matures on the shores of stagnant pools of water. The snail eventually leaves the grass for the water, where larvae attach themselves to its body and grow. These parasitic larvae metamorphose during development. First sporocytes, then furcocercariae, they leave their host for the surrounding water, burrowing into the pores of the careless swimmer. The parasites migrate to the host’s heart, where they trigger a high fever.

Eventually, they attack the internal organs, primarily the colon. They assume the role of physical colonialists. And they give birth to millions of eggs, which block the host’s blood vessels, leading to various complications or, frequently, death.

- But there are no schistosoma in Lake Albert! And we know what we’re talking about. We’re specialists in tropical biology.

- Just the same, you have to take precautions.

- Come on, we’re professionals!

I dive in. It took me nearly seven years to get rid of the infernal disease. I had my initial treatment in the United States. The doctor put it this way: "We have an effective remedy. But two percent of the patients die from a reaction to the medication. In some regions it’s worth the risk. But with you, we couldn’t risk it."

*******

Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia...The Victoria Falls (MU-sé-a-TU-NYA, "the eternal cloud," in the local language) come as a shock. The Zambeze river suddenly disappears from sight, as if it had been swallowed up in a gigantic pit, then rises up in an immense cloud of water, obscuring the sky. The impact of the water creates an insidious vibration, a threatening rumble, an unworldly howl that penetrates the entire body—like those maddening parasites.

*******

During a recital in Salisbury, the capital of what was then Rhodesia, the cultural attaché of Malawi, a neighboring country, informed me that a local musical group wanted me to perform for them.

- It’s an upscale group but they don’t have a budget. They’re offering to turn over the entire box office take, less expenses. You’ll have to pay your own airfare, but I’d advise you to go through with it. Your success is guaranteed.

I accept.

My arrival at the airport near Blantyre, the capital, was a bit more exciting than I had anticipated. The Rhodesian Airways plane in which I flew went nose up during the landing while an Air Malawi plane was coming in at the other end of the runway.

When I got out of the plane, there was a joyous welcoming delegation waiting for me on the runway. We immediately headed for the classiest restaurant in town, the Sports Club. There were about twenty of us and we dined on Mozambican lobster, South African wine, and French champagne. My hosts’ generosity was a tribute to their good graces. My concert was getting off to a good start.

As anticipated, the next day the concert hall was filled with an enthusiastic audience. I went over the box office receipts with the diplomat right after the show. I looked on calmly as he opened the envelope that the musical organization had handed him after the performance. Together we counted the money.

Box office receipts: 500 dollars
Meal: 440 dollars
Balance: 60 dollars.

"Honos alit artes," Cicero remarked. Honor nourishes the arts.

*******

In the Portuguese colony of Mozambique, the guitar is queen. The instrument is common to the many ethnic communities found throughout the country. As in the other Portuguese territories, there is little conflict among the different groups. I then traveled to the independent kingdom of Swaziland. The king of Swaziland, a country rich in tradition, has so many wives that he has built a kind of stud farm to house his harem and numerous offspring (it is claimed he is the father of three hundred children).

The chief justice of the Supreme Court, as English as the Union Jack, put me up during my stay. At breakfast, he explained:

- You see, my position here is somewhat tenuous. There are no traditional courts as there are in your ex-colonies. Everyone must be judged according to the English code. This morning, for example…It’s really quite embarrassing.

While pouring my tea, he described what had happened. A tribe had eaten the liver of a victim who had been sacrificed as part of a ritual (I can’t help wondering if my slice of bacon is imported).

- What do you think? Should I condemn the chief to death?

With a delicate gesture he wiped the marmalade from his elegantly trimmed mustache.

*******

I am told that I will only be given a visa to South Africa if the young Philippine woman who is traveling with me—and who is not an "honorary European" like the Japanese—rides in a different vehicle and stays in a "colored" hotel, which would be off limits to me.

I’ll come back some other time.