Bouar Central African Republic - Thursday 21 June 2007 - STOP ... Its a checkpoint

On the above photo you can see all my "new countrymen" gathered around Betsy as I am setting up camp. I found a village soaked in rain when I stopped and gave away Eli's umbrella. After I handed it over to the man, I saw that it had a silver coated inside, and I had no idea that it was "out of the ordinary expensive umbrella" Too late though! I am now settled in a quiet and nice village some 150 kilometers in the interior of Central African Republic and the checkpoint officers haven't gotten me out of balance so far. It has been very close though, as it takes between 20 and 30 minutes at each post.

And you know what? There is always a request for a "cadeaux", present, pen, money and what not. At one point I turned around the car and pretended I was talking on the phone, as the officers came and said "GO!". Another one took almost 30 minutes and the officer said after taking note of all my details; "Now you have to pay and you can go!". I said "That's fine" and turned around, went to my car and started up. The officer came along and opened the gate without any further requests. I am sure that one day, very soon, I will meet someone that is a bit more resistant and firm. Lets find out what happens then. In the mean time, I am playing their game!

The quest now is to find a school and an English translator, we have be out of the country 26th of June, By the look of some of the officers faces, I am sure they would love to see an expanded visa.