Africa Part 2

Africa Part 2

Today we spent part of the day seeing Bata.  We had the opportunity to go to a hardware store to see what kind of things were available, and see some of the sights of Bata.  We also spent a fair amount of time hanging out with the missionaries here to get a better feel for their ministry.

In the afternoon we went to the market.  There was a surprising amount of varieties of fruits and vegetables, more so than in Honduras, which surprised me a bit.  However, the most “interesting” part of the market was the area where they sold bush meat.  I had read about this, but to experience it was something entirely different.  There was crocodile, monkeys both alive and dead, a small deer type of animal both alive and dead, some type of muskrat, goat, and more animals I actually didn’t even recognize.  It was an experience that was worth having to better understand the culture, but one I probably won’t repeat.

smoked different types of meat

In the evening we went to the home of a Colombian Baptist missionary who lives at a house right on the ocean.  The President spent millions of dollars to build one of the largest (rumored largest) boardwalks in the world.  It is quite nice – paved road, beautiful marble looking wall along the main path that runs the length of the boardwalk.  The nice thing about Equitorial Guinea, there is not nearly the amount of crime or violence as there is in Honduras. Because of that, after dinner we were able to walk this boardwalk – called The Paseo – at night, with the ocean breeze cooling us off, and just enjoy spending time at night outside – a rarity indeed for us! After a casual walk, we returned to the home we are staying and chilled out for the remainder of the night.

One of the houses on the property where we stayed

As I sit here and write this, listening to the cicadas outside, the occasional very squeaky frog, the general sounds of the night, in the building behind us I can hear a drum beat.  The beating of the drums…yelling …chanting…the sound I hear is the witchdoctor as he beats the drum, and calls out for the evil spirits to leave the area…or a specific person…the chanting and drum beating continues as more and more people come forward to be chanted over by the witchdoctor.  This continues on for more than an hour before the service has ended.  Witchdoctors are very very common here.  The medical care here is extremely poor, and a good majority of people go to local witchdoctors for all their ailments looking for cures.  Good healthcare is much needed here…my skills could be utilized greatly.