Back in 2010, I was alive and very well in Pointe Noire, in the Peoples Republic of Congo. I enjoyed my time there very well. Regular readers will be familiar with my African writing, especially my Food on the Hoof pieces. GPS Co-ordinates for Gare de Pointe Noire is 4° 48′ 5.6628” S 11° 50′ 24.6948” E.
Poke around on OpenStreetMap here …
However, one of my abiding memories of Pointe Noire was in November 2010, very much in the middle of rainy season. Below is a repost of my thoughts at the time. For others, pop the word Congo into the search bar. My memories from Wet ‘n’ Wild in Congo contrast almost diametrically with the last few week in Dublin where it has been, despite protestations, mildly moist.
Enjoy the reposted read.
Originally written on Friday, November 19, 2010
It is not very often than I simply post pictures, however, with the recent rains that we have had here in Pointe Noire, Congo B’, and the protestations of “neigh, neigh and thrice neigh” I felt it was only fair to present the empirical evidence digital photography…..
Pointe Noire has, just like it’s more northerly neighbour Gabon, only two seasons. Hot and dry and hot and wet. Now, it is hot’n’wet…… very wet.
Very bloody wet indeed.
As I am sure you very well read and extremely well educated people know, Congo B’ is, as near as makes no difference, equatorial. It is however, one of the most continually cloudy places I have ever been. To paraphrase, very, very loosely, the great Carl Sagan, very rarely are there clear blue skies. Never here in Congo have I been able to repeat the immortal lines of Dave Bowman and mutter ‘my god, it’s full of stars’.
Well, the cosmos is, but there is a bloody thick cloud line between me and it which means that only once or twice every few weeks do I actually get to see any stars.
Importantly though, these clouds never drop their watery cargo on the good burghers of Pointe Noire and life here trundles along in it’s slow, perambulating meander *.
Until the rainy season. Which is about now.
So, follow the link below and you will see a number of images taken this very week, here in Pointe Noire, in the Republic of Congo.
* Meander: She and I
