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PawelK Podróże Across Africa by all means. Mainly cycling.... 1800p/ mm3 of Plasmodium Falciparum (Malaria)
PawelK Podróże Across Africa by all means. Mainly cycling.... 1800p/ mm3 of Plasmodium Falciparum (Malaria) 
2011
10
maj
1800p/ mm3 of Plasmodium Falciparum (Malaria)
Republika Środkowoafrykańska, Berbérati
Przejechano 9402 km
THE SPONSOR OF MY BICYCLE SPARE PARTS IS COMPANY PRODUCING FINE BICYCLE SADDLES www.abi.com.pl
The Republic of Central Africa wasn't welcoming especially at the beginning.
As soon we got out of the boat in the dark we had to deal with people looking for easy money. As soon we got out of the crowds we had to deal with corrupted officials wanting money to put a stamp in our passports. During unloading of our equipment a few panniers holding things on the bikes were stolen. So in the first few minutes in RCA we had been robbed and officials were demanding money for nothing!!! It wasn't funny!!
Thanks to my less experienced friends we had to pay the bribe which had been demanded, but there was a positive side to the evening. A polish missionary from Bayanga wrote a letter for us with some information about the route, and had left it at the border crossing.
That night we slept at the border post.
The next day we had to face more corrupted officials and we couldn't leave the Lijiombo village. The next in the queue were Gandarmeria, looking for the same thing as the guys beforehand -money for nothing....
Once again my travel companions decided to pay and didn't want to waste any time. It was really frustrating for me!!!
When we reached Bayanga we had to deal with the same scenerio. First the Gandarmeria then the police. This time our polish missionary friend was helping us, but even with him we had to pay!!!!
Later Grzegorz the missonary told us that this area is some kind of special tourist zone and officials have an unwritten law that all visitors have to pay the entry fee which went straight to their pocket!!!!
The missionary Grzegoz told us a lot about the local enviroment and the reality in RCA. I was sorry to here that in this country "every man with a pistol in his hand is a president."
The area of Bayanga is very rich in wildlife and my companions decided to see some gorillas. They made the trip and liked it very much.
As we were aprouching Berberati I started to feel a bit sick. The fever was a signal that it could be malaria so when I reached the town I went to the hospital. The test showed 1800p/ mm3 of plasmodium falciparum. I got the treatment in injections, but had to stay there longer in case my condition got worse.
My companions continued further and I stayed for 2 days while the fever was high.
As soon as the fever went down I went off to catch up with the team. It turned out it wouldn't have been so difficult as they were overloaded and quite slow. Another member of the team then called me and I had to wait for her in Carnot, a small town 100 km from Berberati.
Meeting with Agnieszka Kopinska was really exciting. She brought many spare parts from my sponsor including a new rear wheel. She also brought an expedition bike for herself which I had to work on for some time to make it work.
Agnieszka was a totally different person than the guys form the project team that I had been cycling with up to this point.
We had found a comon language really quickly and understood each other straight away. She wasn't an experienced cyclist but as I know it doesn't take long to learn all the tricks. I knew she would manage without any problems.
Soon she appeared to be in better shape than the guys and we began averaging more kilometres per day than with the guys before. One thing I have to say, her bike wasn't overloaded for a start!!!!
As we were travelling along the road the boys had been travelling before us, we caught them up after 3 days in a small town called Boda. It appears that they had encountered more trouble along the way. A few were more technical but the worse was Maciek's leg infection. His leg was swollen like an elephant's leg and he had been feverish.
Luckily, they got him to a catholic mission where there was a nurse. She took good care of him and he became was stable.
The situation was getting more complicated.
Maciek was out of cycling because of his leg and the test we took in Boda for malaria showed that I still have some small quantities of plasmodium flciparum in my blood and Jacek the leader had also tested positive for malaria but without any symptoms!!!
There was another member of the project coming from Bangui to meet us but he also had malaria a few days ago. His name was Tomek.
Only Agnieszka was more or less healthy, but this wasn't for long.
In the end we made it to Bangui. Me, Jacek and Tomek on the bikes, although Tomek barelly made it!!!! Agnieszka accompanied Maciek in local transportation all the way to the capital. 
The Republic of Central Africa wasn't welcoming especially at the beginning.
As soon we got out of the boat in the dark we had to deal with people looking for easy money. As soon we got out of the crowds we had to deal with corrupted officials wanting money to put a stamp in our passports. During unloading of our equipment a few panniers holding things on the bikes were stolen. So in the first few minutes in RCA we had been robbed and officials were demanding money for nothing!!! It wasn't funny!!
Thanks to my less experienced friends we had to pay the bribe which had been demanded, but there was a positive side to the evening. A polish missionary from Bayanga wrote a letter for us with some information about the route, and had left it at the border crossing.
That night we slept at the border post.
The next day we had to face more corrupted officials and we couldn't leave the Lijiombo village. The next in the queue were Gandarmeria, looking for the same thing as the guys beforehand -money for nothing....
Once again my travel companions decided to pay and didn't want to waste any time. It was really frustrating for me!!!
When we reached Bayanga we had to deal with the same scenerio. First the Gandarmeria then the police. This time our polish missionary friend was helping us, but even with him we had to pay!!!!
Later Grzegorz the missonary told us that this area is some kind of special tourist zone and officials have an unwritten law that all visitors have to pay the entry fee which went straight to their pocket!!!!
The missionary Grzegoz told us a lot about the local enviroment and the reality in RCA. I was sorry to here that in this country "every man with a pistol in his hand is a president."
The area of Bayanga is very rich in wildlife and my companions decided to see some gorillas. They made the trip and liked it very much.
As we were aprouching Berberati I started to feel a bit sick. The fever was a signal that it could be malaria so when I reached the town I went to the hospital. The test showed 1800p/ mm3 of plasmodium falciparum. I got the treatment in injections, but had to stay there longer in case my condition got worse.
My companions continued further and I stayed for 2 days while the fever was high.
As soon as the fever went down I went off to catch up with the team. It turned out it wouldn't have been so difficult as they were overloaded and quite slow. Another member of the team then called me and I had to wait for her in Carnot, a small town 100 km from Berberati.
Meeting with Agnieszka Kopinska was really exciting. She brought many spare parts from my sponsor including a new rear wheel. She also brought an expedition bike for herself which I had to work on for some time to make it work.
Agnieszka was a totally different person than the guys form the project team that I had been cycling with up to this point.
We had found a comon language really quickly and understood each other straight away. She wasn't an experienced cyclist but as I know it doesn't take long to learn all the tricks. I knew she would manage without any problems.
Soon she appeared to be in better shape than the guys and we began averaging more kilometres per day than with the guys before. One thing I have to say, her bike wasn't overloaded for a start!!!!
As we were travelling along the road the boys had been travelling before us, we caught them up after 3 days in a small town called Boda. It appears that they had encountered more trouble along the way. A few were more technical but the worse was Maciek's leg infection. His leg was swollen like an elephant's leg and he had been feverish.
Luckily, they got him to a catholic mission where there was a nurse. She took good care of him and he became was stable.
The situation was getting more complicated.
Maciek was out of cycling because of his leg and the test we took in Boda for malaria showed that I still have some small quantities of plasmodium flciparum in my blood and Jacek the leader had also tested positive for malaria but without any symptoms!!!
There was another member of the project coming from Bangui to meet us but he also had malaria a few days ago. His name was Tomek.
Only Agnieszka was more or less healthy, but this wasn't for long.
In the end we made it to Bangui. Me, Jacek and Tomek on the bikes, although Tomek barelly made it!!!! Agnieszka accompanied Maciek in local transportation all the way to the capital.
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