Part IV: “I have a feeling... that tonight is going to be a good night”...

99, 191, 103 — there it was my dream, my treasure and my salvation — my room for the night! As soon as I opened the door, I threw my backpack on the only chair in the corner and, without undressing, I jumped under a blanket — who needs shower that time of the night?!

Finally in a horizontal position, tucked under warm blanket — if there was paradise, it was there in room #103! Ha! Keep dreaming! Even paradise has skeletons in a closet — looked like in a room above me Mr. Ronaldo himself was jumping jacks and practicing penalties at 3 am in the morning! Turning from side to side and giving up hope to get some sleep that night, I decided to read on Wikipedia what kind of obstinate had volcano I was trying to conquer.



Unfortunately due to the unstable political situation in DRC, the Nyiragongo volcano is not studied enough and not monitored closely. Located at 3,470m above sea level, the biggest open crater volcano is one of the most dangerous and capricious in the world. There was no history of eruptions in the past, but since 1882 Nyiragongo exploded 34 times and in 1977 it spit lava at speed of around 60 km/h (the fastest before that was registered at 40 km/h) and witnesses sweared that it reached the city of Goma is almost 20 minutes burning around 300 people live on its way. Recently there was a number of children died from asphyxiation by toxic gases that seeped from ground at high altitudes and dispersed by wind… hmm…

6 am sharp someone quietly knocked on my door — I was already up and ready to go down to the kitchen to look for something to quieten the dissatisfied grumbling of my stomach. As soon as I open the door, a barefooted kid with a tray in his hands squeezed past me, neatly tossed it on a tiny table and ran out of my “Presidential suite” as quick as a flash. Mmmm, the smell of that morning — the aroma of butter of a warm bread and freshly brewed coffee — definitely it was a great sign!

Having feasted on an avocado toast with fried egg and one of the best coffees I had ever enjoyed during my travels, I just on a bike taxi :”Grand Barrière, please!” and was ready to meet Congo.

P.S. by the way, if destiny ever brings you do Rwanda, definitely try “African coffee”. I was puzzling over for a while what was the magic ingredient in that potion, and on my way back, in an airport coffee shop at departures I found courage and tried to loosen a barista’s tongue by flattery and found out that “African coffee” was a blend of local coffee with dark chocolate and pinch of cinnamon, but the secret is in moderation!

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