Adongi alango na keke? So nyen la? (Bats sleeping in trees? What up with that?)
I am in Bangui on my way to second vacation in as many months - an accident of administrative oversight that serves me well. Meantime, some only in Bangui scenes: A COVID PCR is required to leave the country. Why? Because. Anyway, to get one within the 72 hours from departure requires a visit to Institut Pasteur. Quick, my NGO picks up the bill, and I am documented COVID free to leave. But, has anyone ever seen this, a bunch of bats roosting in trees in the middle of the city? Probably 20 trees are full of them (all those black things hanging from the branches), just settling in for the day as I arrive at 7am. Is this a thing anywhere else? No one I asked has seen it elsewhere in the country. Folks have mentioned the front page NY Times article on Wagner/Russian forces here in C.A.R. It is an accurate portrayal as far as my experience goes. The article does not capture the soft power that USA still wields here, souvenir of the long-gone Peace Corps and also Christian Mission