Democratic Republic of Congo: Lubumbashi to Kinshasa

[corax]

Obviously not mine, but this seemed the best place to post it.
I just spent the last day and a half with my eyes glued to the monitor reading this trip report :thumbup:
If anyone missed this, it's well worth the read and has over a million views on ExPo in the last two months since it started.

In 2008, at the tail end of 2 years traveling all over Africa and Asia in a LandCruiser 75 with no winch and open/open diffs, a Belgian couple took a 3,000 km trip through the south west corner of The Congo that lasted nearly 2 months.

Here's the ExPo Thread (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50799)

The Jalopnik summary with a link (http://jalopnik.com/5697358/the-first-people-to-drive-across-the-congo-in-20-years)

Frederick and Josephine's web site (http://www.radiobaobab.be/index.php?id=84)


http://cache-04.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2010/11/across_congo_08.jpg

[oly884]

This post right here has made me decide that I, personally, am perfectly content in never visiting this place in my life:


I was not sure if I was going to post this installment, but I feel it is an important part of our experience in Congo. Nevertheless:

WARNING !!! If you are a sensitive person, skip this post. You can continue reading the rest of the report and you will not even notice you did not read this post. It contains background information on DRC but it is pretty horrific to read and not for the faint hearted.


So, some excerpts out the witness stories Frre Louis gathered. The reports are mixed in Dutch and French. I will quote them and (freely) translate into English, apologies if I make mistakes. I removed the names from the documents for privacy reasons.

20/04/2002
(this is during the "Second Congo War" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Congo_War )



"Y"'s brother went fishing in Missa and saw mischief like cutting of ears. They fry the ears in a pan eat them. They make the victims look at how their own ears are being fried and eaten. They are being accused of cooperation with the Congolese FAC army. The May May continue to eat humans. Y's brother managed to escape to Bukama, this is where I met him.



They kill those four soldiers and eat them. They then carry one of the heads of the murdered soldiers to Kintobongo and put the head on the table in our mission. They do this as warning not to attack hem, if not this is what happens.



..The hunters (May-May) asked food at the woman of Chef Kitumba. The women told they did not have food. The hunters then demanded that they roast their children for them to eat.

05/ 12/ 2004.
This is after the war officially ended.



I made use of the time my two guards entered their hut to eat the meal they made out of a young woman that the MayMay just killed.

21/04/2006



The commander Bati dared to display a naked woman. With a pen he pointed at every part of the "intimate organs" and told the onlookers the names in dialect. What a humiliation.



We are living in a situation of pure and simple cannibalism. The may-may plunder, rape and kill the civilian population. They then eath their meat, raw or smoked. This is true for the May-MAy chief Kabale, who was killed recently (15/05/2006) by the population of Kayumba.

--
I just selected some random pages of the 131 page long document and copied these excerpt. It is an endless accumulation of horror witness reports. All of this happened on a large scale, and only covers the area where Frre Louis operates in.

When the war ended (+- 2002) most of these activities stopped in this area. The May-may retreated north where they are still operational (the East Congo drama... still going on).

These things were regularly going on until 2 years before we drove trough the area. It was still very fresh in the memory of everybody we must have met on the road. This also explains the huge amount of orphans in these areas.

--

Let's put this in a bit of perspective: Frre Louis told us some of these stories while we were sitting in the comforts of the Kamina mission. He told the stories as if it was a daily occurance.. and that was actually the case indeed. At that moment we were shocked, but thought this was something of the (distant) past. And it was - at least in this area. It is only until after the trip, when we started reading his document, that we started to comprehend the large scale of the massacres that had been going on here.

We were here in 2008. The last reports of cannibalism in this area were from 2006.

All of the people we met in the DRC must have been confronted, one way or another, with these horrible events.

I never heard anything about this in the international news


There's enough to see in this country, let alone North America, that I see no need to put myself in a situation where I'm watching my ear being fried up by some sick POS.

Nevertheless, very cool and crazy adventure!

[troyboy162]

i have to agree. there are some amazing places to explore without going somewhere on the coat tails of war. if i feel like sailing...im not going to samalia

Sean i think you should loan them your pul-pal lol

[DHC6twinotter]

That is a good read! I'm only on page 15. I need to work on my car, but I have a feeling I'll be sitting here a good bit of the day. :confused:

[DHC6twinotter]

This is my favorite quote so far:


In short: we used everything we took and didn't miss anything we didn't take. Which does not mean we really 'needed' everything we took.

[corax]

This is my favorite quote so far:


In short: we used everything we took and didn't miss anything we didn't take. Which does not mean we really 'needed' everything we took.


I think Scott from Expeditions West summed it up quite well:



However, there are many travelers in the world who use Land Cruisers to access remote places that are not 4wd enthusiasts. The vehicle is simply another tool. They may not have interest in the specifics and equipment needed to be fully prepared and outfitted. They are in it for purely the adventure. Not having a winch significantly increased the adventure on their trip, engaged them more with the locals and intensified their driving experience.

Sometimes throwing a little caution to the wind and balking at loads of gear and modifications is the point - and is often the greatest reward. Sometimes venturing into the unknown a little underprepared, a little ignorant, a little exposed increases the sense of wonder and sharpens our experience. It is not appropriate all the time, or for everyone, but it is certainly a valid and credible means of exploration.

I am reminded of another African adventurer who threw caution to the wind and experienced a life well lived.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt
1910, Paris France

The theme that I take from that is to not worry about preparing for every possible contingency and just get out there.

[troyboy162]

i didnt get through it all either...did they list what they took anywhere? It looks like they needed more self recovery gear or a more capable rig, but id love to see what to pack for such a huge adventure.

[DHC6twinotter]

I'm just on page 46. So far though, no list of their items. I know they don't have a winch or lockers. They do have a website, but I haven't looked at it yet.

I wonder how much something like this would cost? I would love to do an around the world trip (not through Congo though), but I'd be out of $$ by the time I reach Ushuaia, Argentina. Would be awesome though!

[corax]

I got the impression that it was just the basics that you would pack for any trip - enough clothes, batteries, etc. Thing is, most of the consumables you would need are cheaper to buy (if available) in a 3rd world economy. For the Congo leg, they specifically packed 30 days worth of food.

Their website (above) has some of how the LC was kitted out, but that part isn't in any language I can read, luckily there are pictures to go with :)

BTW, they were the very first guests invited to do a Podcast / Webcast interview with Overland Live -> click here (http://www.overland-live.com/podcast.htm)

[DHC6twinotter]

They do have a frig with two deep cycle batteries specifically for it. They used these batteries while trying to jump start the ferry, after they killed the two batteries in the LC. They also have two spares (or 3?) and a stove (can't remember what brand though---the Colemans didn't last too long).

Good read. Thanks for posting this Keith!

[corax]

I think that's the best trip report I've read in a long while, the writing style made me feel like I was right there with them.

Did you notice about 1/2 way through how many people with a post count of 1 or less than 5 started chiming in? I'm surprised no one else at UY caught this as it seems to have been cross posted from numerous other forums in several countries.

[Okie81]

Got through the whole thing, what a nail-biter, what a story!

[corax]

I don't often bring politics or social causes into the forums for a reason, but being humanitarian in nature, I believe it meshes well with this forum's family/friendly atmosphere. Recently an old friend got in touch to inform me of her goal to raise awareness for, and help, Congolese women. Knowing the power of social media, if you don't have the means for a modest donation, I just ask that you "like" the Lehigh Valley Women Run for Congo Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lehigh-Valley-Women-Run-for-Congo/153378844722100) and maybe share with friends or family who might be interested.

Thank you,
Keith



My interest in supporting the women of the Congo began with Lisa Shannon's book, A Thousand Sisters. Its pages reveal the daily horrors of a country in constant conflict. More than 5.4 million people have died in the conflict in the Congo since 1998. Half of these deaths are children under the age of five. Brutal gang rape and torture are a daily reality. Rape is used as a weapon of war. With your support, Women for Women International can help. Their program in the Congo provides women survivors of war with direct financial assistance, job skills training, rights awareness education, trauma counseling and the opportunity to bond with other women who have endured similar violence and hardship. Their program has accomplished so much, but so much more has yet to be done. Our team's personal run for Congo will take place on May 28, 2011 at Run Lehigh Valley's Mayfair 5k. Please offer your support today to help our team fulfill our goal for the women of Congo.
Run for Congo Women donation site (http://www.active.com/donate/runforcongowomen/sciarrino)