The Road to Zongo

These two bridges on the road to Zongo can make life interesting.

First bridge on the Road to Zongo

Can you tell that the first bridge has been repaired? There are nice logs on the Right instead of the twisted beams. And on the left they don’t just have logs, they have some cross pieces. Of course those repairs are meant for a cargo truck with a wider wheelbase than ours. So we crossed (the picture is looking back at where we came from) by putting one wheel on the twisted I beam on the Right and our other wheel on the cross boards and logs on the Left. Yes, we did have someone guide us across that beam.

Second bridge on the Road to Zongo

At the second bridge they solve the problem of wheelbase width by moving the beam in or out to match your wheelbase. For a small truck, we put our Left wheel in the beam and the Right wheel on some of the remaining steel from the bridge deck. Again, we had a guide and needed one.

At both of these bridges, cargo trucks unload completely, their freight is carried across by hand, then they slowly cross and are reloaded once they make it. These bridges are about 20 miles apart on the ONLY road to Zongo.

Praise the Lord, we made it to Zongo safely after a 9-hour trip and crossed to Bangui where we’re staying at the Baptist Mid-Missions compound in a nice 2-BR apartment. We pick up Sarah at the airport today!