After an eventful final day on the river that left me utterly exhausted I was hoping to catch up on a bit of sleep, but having crashed out at three in the morning I was woken up at 6.30 by the police who, somewhat mystified, wanted to know who I was and what I was doing asleep in a strange boat on…

I was finally off on my voyage to travel from Oyo to Brazzaville by motorbike powered paddle wheel dugout canoe, and there was no turning back now. Literally, as I did not have enough power to go upstream.

Oyo was not just another stop on the way; ever since I crossed Lake Togo with my bike on a pirogue (canoe) I had been thinking about doing something waterbound as part of the route, and my original thoughts about using a dugout had morphed into a more ambitious scheme.

Whilst dealing with the customs formalities in Congo I'd had a tip from a Lebanese guy at the border about a Catholic mission in Souanke that had rooms they let out, and it was just as well because between the border and there I saw a grand total of zero hotels.