There are customers in abudance, according to the Congolese guitar builder. Just about every church in the greater Bukavu region - and there are many – places its orders with Monsieur Zacar. 'Without guitars there would be no music in church. And without music you won't get the young', he says. 'We cannot even keep a stock. As soon as we've finished an instrument, it goes out the door.' In his workshop in artisanal school CAPA, on Bukavu's Avenue Industriel, he teaches his pupils how to build electric and acoustic guitars. Although inspired by a couple of Western examples, he boasts his products to be a hundred percent Congolese. For 150 American dollars one can obtain an original 'made in South-Kivu' electrical guitar.

Most shops have already run out of Goma cheese. Eventually I found some at Saint Jacob on Bukavu's main street. But it cost fifty percent more than a week ago. The cheese from North Kivu is popular all over Congo and is produced in the Masisi area, exactly the region that Laurent Nkunda and his rebel army overtook. Since the growing violence the export from there has come to a halt and the cheese is running scarce. Being Dutch I didn't want to take a chance and I immediately bought two pieces. Because what kind of breakfast can you have without bread and cheese?

After a week and a half of idleness in the Congolese capital, I can finally leave. On Monday I'm flying to Bukavu, Eastern Congo. The two thousand kilometers' distance between me and the region where current events are so worrying, was becoming pretty frustrating. Although it did give me a chance to meet old friends in Kinshasa, to finish an article long overdue and to loaf about by the pool. But now I'm in need of moving again. For my book I'll get to work in Bukavu. From the other side of Lake Kivu I'll obviously keep a close eye on the developments in Goma. I'm sure the activities of general Nkunda will keep Eastern-Congo and the rest of the world occupied for a while longer.