Pweto-DRC

and the 'update'.....

The “Jenn” Perspective

Hello there from DRC – Africa !! As Krista and I sit at the lovely “Compound Lee” in Pweto, with a nice breeze blowing, a cocktail in our hands over looking the lake, we talk about the journey so far and thought I should probably give a “Jenn” perspective to her blog.

Guess I start from the beginning…… If you are going to go on an adventure of a lifetime, such as I am now, it is best – at least for someone like me – to have absolutely no planning time whatsoever! lol Krista emailed me on a Wednesday “Do you want to come to South Africa?” Without hesitation I responded “YEP!” Thursday my ticket was booked and I was on a 30-hour journey to meet her in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Our first 2 nights accommodations were at the 5 star Michelangelo Hotel, we then moved to the much more hip, Melrose Arch Hotel. Both hotels had an outdoor mall attached, LA peeps think The Grove but with a hotel. During our week in Joburg Krista was finally able to get some R&R, good food, drinks, dancing, pool, etc…

Now if you are going to travel to such a place as Africa, someone like K is the person to be with! I have no worries because of the endless network of people K knows here so I thought “I’m on the continent I might as well make the trip to Pweto and Moba, when would an opportunity like this ever come along again?!?!”


Thus the journey to “the bush” began on Sunday, we departed Joburg on a 2 hour commercial flight to Lubumbashi, which K told me was a “city”, well let me tell ya, yes – technically – it’s a city, but for K – who is an experienced “Africa” traveler – her idea of a “city” and mine were quite different lol ! We arrive in Lubumbashi and were greeted by 2 very nice gentlemen that had been pre-arranged to receive us at the airport.

We stayed 2 nights at the charming Bougain Villa and toured around the city on Monday and I got to meet and visit with many of the friends K has there.

Tuesday the journey to real “bush” began and in quite style I must say!! We were able to get a ride on a private charter jet! A 50-minute flight later we land in Pweto (side note: Pweto airport = nicely paved dirt strip, in the middle of nowhere, no structures, no air traffic control, just a bunch of cute kids looking on from the sidelines….. Thus I have now learned why the saying “Welcome to Africa” … this saying goes for many different situations i.e.: while chatting and drinking at the lovely Bougain Villa, all the electricity just goes out – not once, not twice – but several times and no one skips a beat, the wine and conversation just keep flowing …..

We arrived in Pweto with a semi-plan that has already changed thus the adventure to be continued ….. “Welcome to Africa”