Professor William Kosar, Honorable Lawrence Kamilo, and yours truly set out on a fishing expedition…I bring the initiative, the fishing tackle and the car an old Mitsubishi wreck; Bill brings the Honorable and the breakfast (coffee and rolls); Lawrence brings the local know-how of the terrain and the authority of the Government. Thus equipped we set out for Rajaf, a village near the Nile, about ten miles upstream.
During this exciting day Bill makes a great statement, aimed to comfort us from the frustrating attempts to catch fish: “ Fishing is not about catching fish, because it would be called catching fish! It is about bonding together people that engage in similar passions, make things together …” Well. I would say we surpassed any record at bonding! Not only did we indeed bond together, but we managed to bond my Mitshubishi Pajero with a Toyota Landcruiser! My car decided to go on strike in the middle of a puddle in a swampy area and got bogged down. We left it in charge of a kid and went fishing and at noon decided to do something about it. In the calm, quiet, slow African way a cable was brought from several miles away, a Toyota Hardtop came and we pulled my reluctant car out. The remarkable thing followed when I pulled my wallet out to pay for the services and Lawrence said: ” No, Dan! don’t give them anything. The community has decided to help you and for that you don’t pay”. I insisted to pay for the cable at least, which had been destroyed in the process, and I gave 30 pounds as prize to the kid that found my knife in the water. Another quiet ceremony, in which a big boy brought forward a small kid to receive his prize. These people are Bari, a really nice, proud but hospitable tribe.
Oh! And I forgot to tell you guys: We didn't catch any fish worth mentioning...but we bought some and grilled them later...wihtout mentioning any origin!
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