While Pascal and I had visited Egypt several years ago (and I had been to South Africa on business in 1998), neither of us had seen the fabled heart of the African continent. In March I called our uncle Bernard, who has been living in the Congo off and on for 12 years (including through several civil wars) and asked him what he thought of our taking a couple weeks to visit.
With his enthusiastic response, off it was to the Congo in mid-May, a country so off the tourist charts that we didn't meet a single other tourist on our trip, nor did the airport sell any souvenirs on the way out...a true African experience in uncharted territory!
