The Great Congo River Journey (DR Congo)

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This trip was undertaken in 1991 when the country was called Zaïre, the river was called the Zaïre River (and even the currency was the Zaïre). Today it is called the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and the river has returned to its more familiar name of the Congo River. I have no idea whether this remarkable boat trip continues today. Even if it does, it would be difficult and dangerous for foreigners to travel through DR Congo as I did – a great tragedy indeed.

Nothing quite prepares you for one of the world’s great travel adventures – riding the Congo River Boat upstream from the capital, Kinshasa to Kisangani over a period of around two weeks. A seething mass of humanity boards – couples, families, luggage, market stalls, animals (including crocodiles, monkeys, pigs, goats, tortoises, chickens and more), radios / music machines, crafts and many things that defy description.

The river boat is a steamer lashed together with a number of barges. Even amongst the mayhem, travel comes in three classes – first class (deluxe with nice comfortable rooms), second class (rooms with four bunk beds) and third class which consists of space on the deck somewhere, all classes including two surprisingly nutritious and tasty meals each day.

The boat departs and the party begins. African rhythmic music blares from every music box and radio for 24 hours a day. The untiring passengers and their brightly colored clothing sway to the rhythmic beat for hours at a time while others tend to the important business of shopping at the informal markets setup by the more entrepreneurial folks. Seemingly everything is for sale – pots and pans, torches, clothing, food, batteries, strange carvings and more.

The late afternoon (evening) meal time is a form of organised bedlam with crowds of people like peak-hour in a Friday afternoon bar. On the menu are mounds of rice with a tasty stew or sauce based on one of the menagerie of animals boarded in Kinshasa. When the meat runs out, another is selected and slaughtered – at least you know the meat is fresh. Over the days, more traditional western meats like chicken and pork is mixed with goat, monkey and crocodile. After a couple of days, I stopped asking – somehow it seemed better that way.

Every day, the kitchen performs miracles and gets everyone served, most balancing their bowl or plate on their knee or a flat part of the boat. A few smarter ones sneak up to the top deck.

Some peace can be found on the top deck – a flat area where you can watch the world go past or enjoy the dazzling evening sky unhindered by the typical city lights back home. In the river darkness, the Milky Way really does appear as a creamy heavenly highway. The music is a little more distant up here and the top deck appears accepted as a more tranquil area – a haven from the hurly-burly of river boat life. With a decent blanket, this is as good a place to sleep as any – the gentle speed of the river boat creating enough breeze to keep the insects at bay.

As time soaks by, we pass a number of river-side villages with their wooden and straw huts. For many villages it includes an energetic paddle on their pirogue (a wooden canoe) to tie up to the main boat for a session of trading their goods for other needs of the village. Others simply hitch a ride upstream. The bartering is vigorous but all seem to leave contented with a broad smile and a gentle handshake. Some on board seem solely to take the river boat to trade with the various villagers along this aqua highway. With the bartering complete, the pirogue unties and simply eases its way back downstream back to the village, carefully balancing their new goods in the small wooden craft, avoiding capsizes from the wash of the river boat. For many villages, it is their sole contact with the outside world with no road network at all and no other village within walking distance.

In the end it seems so disappointing to arrive at Kisangani as mayhem ensues with the disgorging of the many hundreds of passengers – the way of life on the river, the temporary friendships formed, the spirited bartering in the river boat markets, the energetic music and dancing, the menagerie of animals and the waves from the passing villages left a great two week escape for the visitors and a continuation of life for the locals – many undoubtedly bound for the return journey the following day.

Surely the vibrant spirit and color of the Congolese people, the Congo River and its river boat is one of the world’s great travel wonders. We can all only hope that DR Congo can one day return to a more peaceful and normal life and that this magnificent waterway can again be used for the benefit of all that live near her.

A City of More than Sex and Drugs? (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

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A towering black man walks furtively behind me and surreptitiously whispers “hashish” in a rasping voice so deep, that another half octave lower would have ensured that only the local dogs heard the offer. Without having shaken off the effects of an overnight rail trip, and without taking more than ten paces from the platform of Amsterdam’s main rail station, I was still inside the grand 19th century neo-gothic building.

Directions to my cheap hotel take me straight through the centre of the red-light district (Wallatjes) and right near the Oude Kerk (old church). Scantily clad, overly made-up women parade their wares in the shop windows, trying to attract the passing pedestrians. The gentle aroma of cannabis (and probably more) wafts through the seedy alleyways, seemingly ignored by the local police.

Finally I locate my hotel and collapse on the soft but comfortable bed. I am not into drugs and I’ve never had the urge to pay for sex so what is this famed bohemian city all about? Surely Amsterdam has more on offer than sex and drugs.

After an hour’s repose and a decent breakfast, I feel ready to attack Amsterdam. A tour of the canals gives a great feel for the layout of this majestic capital city. Amsterdam sits like a flattened sea-shell, the mains streets radiating from the centre of the shell and the major canals arching in semi-circles across the streets. Numerous low bridges cross the canals making it an ideal walking or cycling city.

Though I’m not exactly an art aficionado, the Rijksmuseum holds the world’s greatest collection of Dutch art from its period as the cultural capital of the world. The collection is overwhelming, meaning many spend only seconds scanning rooms full of priceless Rembrandts, Vermeers, Delft pottery and more. Nothing can prepare you for the mesmerising Night Watch (by Rembrandt), easily found as it will be surrounded by crowds of people. It is a staggering 3.5 by 4.5 metres (around 12 by 14 feet) and is characterised by the lighting of the three featured characters (the other numerous people in deep shadow). Even those uninterested in art fail to be moved by this extraordinary artwork.

Even if feeling a cultural exhaustion, there is more at the superb, nearby Van Gogh Museum which holds a vast collection of his works along with displays about this artist's most disturbed life (he chopped off his ear and committed suicide at 37 years of age). Almost as stunning as Rembrandt's use of light, The Potato Eaters highlights a poor peasant family with their grizzled faces eating potatoes under the weak light from a single oil lamp.

Anne Frank’s house (non-descript from the outside) overlooks one of the canals and is where the Jewish Frank family (and four others) hid from the Germans during World War 2 in a secret annexe behind a swinging bookcase for over two years, until betrayed. The house contains a number of items from the time along with an excellent account of the period living in hiding. The entire family except the father died in concentration camps with the teenaged Anne leaving behind a diary presenting a moving account of these harsh times and which has sold multiple million copies (details from reading it at school come flooding back).

The day finishes with a visit to the Old Church (Oude Kerk) overlooking the red-light district. It is the finest of the many churches throughout Amsterdam, maybe as a penance for the apparent relaxed attitude towards sex and soft drugs. This 14th century church overlooks the glorious gabled houses and apartments, so narrow and deep, a throw-back to past times where the government charged property taxes based on the width of the building (note how narrow some of the buildings are in the lead photo).

There is much more to see in and around Amsterdam including Rembrandt’s house, the Heineken brewery, some of the Dutch clichés (clogs, windmills, dykes and tulips), some humming markets and the royal palace. But it takes little time to note that Amsterdam is far, far more than sex and drugs – indeed such a moniker does a severe disservice to this lively, bubbly, expressive travel wonder.

Footnote
Credits to www.rembrandtpainting.net for the copy of the Night Watch and www.vangoghgallery.com for The Potato Eaters.

Flight of the Condor (Colca Canyon, Peru)

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From the beautiful Spanish colonial city of Arequipa, the mini-tour promises a short journey to a canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and with magnificent condors in full flight. I tend to dislike tours but some locations are much easier to see that way.

A few hours into the trip through the bleak Peruvian altiplano on rugged roads and reaching a lung-busting 4,800 metres (15,000 feet) above sea level, the moans of headaches, the cold and the early morning start dominate conversation. Even the local coca tea seems to have little of its claimed effects to ease the altitude illnesses though the liquid warmth is welcome. The thought of soaring raptors and spectacular canyons seem far away. Herds of llama (or are they alpaca) look on, continuing to extract sustenance from the bare rocky fields.

The minibus plunges towards the small village of Chivay, the reducing altitude providing warmth and relief from the headaches, and the mountain vistas providing inspiring views. Nearby are the startling burial grounds of the local Indians, their bodies buried into steep cliff faces in the fetal position. Relaxing in the natural hot springs in Chivay soaks away the tiring day of travel and soothes the bumps and bruises caused by the worn suspension of the minibus.

Refreshed from a good sleep, next morning we rise early to a crisp and clear day. Around breakfast time, the condors also rise. At 13,000 feet above sea level (4,000 metres) at Condor Pass (Cruz del Condor), the condors ration their energy, gliding effortlessly in the morning thermals and updrafts. Their huge wingspan (9 feet for larger birds) catch the most subtle of drafts lifting them above the canyon rim, their eyes feast upon carrion in the depths below rather than the heady scenery of this Andean travel wonder.



Though lacking the steep walls and stark-coloring of its American cousin, Colca Canyon plunges to over twice the depth of the Grand Canyon. Large tracts of Colca Canyon have been exploited for centuries with the Incan terraced fields still supporting agriculture and family life. The women of these canyon-bound villages sell their fruits, vegetables and Peruvian handicrafts at a nearby market, resplendent in their local dress and impressive headwear.


The canyon is staggering in scale, the mountain backdrop leaving long-lasting memories. But it is the majestic soaring condors and the immense travel wonder of Colca Canyon that would guarantee that I’d once more venture into the rugged heights of the Peruvian altiplano.

Pretty as a Picture or Leaving an Impression (Giverny, France)

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Dramatically changing by the seasons, the tranquil symmetric Water Garden is as much a travel wonder today as it was when being recorded on canvas by Claude Monet’s artistic brushstrokes around 100 years ago. The Japanese bridge elegantly arches over the jeweled waterway bedecked with lilies and reflections from the dappled light through the overhanging weeping willow trees.

Monet concentrated his later life painting similar scenes in a variety of light, seasons and times of day. His famed Waterlilies series (of which there are around 250 paintings) were drawn in this very garden.

Breaking the peaceful mood and crossing under the teeming traffic on the ugly D5 and into the equally intense traffic of the gift shop, Monet’s house and studio can be viewed. His house is furnished in an oriental style but sadly no original Monets decorate the walls. Some original Monets (including a Waterlily) can be sighted in the nearby town of Verdon.

Most importantly, take your time to wander the gardens, dream of Monet’s time while standing on the bridge and sit, relax and enjoy the tranquillity and beauty of Monet’s majestic Water Garden in Giverny. Being only 50 miles (80 km) from Paris, Giverny certainly leaves an impression.

Footnote

The Monet painting above is courtesy of www.artchive.com. Playing around, the picture to the right shows the first photo with an artistic filter applied with PhotoShop. Not quite Monet, but certainly has the earmarks of a painting!

Top Ten Travel Wonders of South America - Rank 1 - 5

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This entry represents my top five South American travel wonders list. Numbers six to ten of the South American travel wonders appear here.

South America holds a staggering array of travel wonders both natural and cultural. Boasting the world’s greatest rainforest, the world’s most spectacular waterfall, the world’s highest waterfall, the world’s greatest river, cosmopolitan cities and remarkable ancient cultures, there is something in this great continent for everyone.

As with my African top ten, it is near impossible to nominate a top ten travel wonders list without omitting a number of “must see” sights. Here is my list. How many have you seen?

1. Machu Picchu and Inca Trail (Peru)

Having trekked for a few days along the famed Inca Trail, South America’s greatest experience is standing at dawn at the Sun Gate as the early morning light unveils the evocative grandeur of South America’s most famous archaeological ruins. Perched on a grassy mountain saddle surrounded by dense forest and with the steep-sided mountain Huayna Picchu overlooking, the perfect forms of the Incan stonework and large number of religious sites makes Machu Picchu a truly significant ceremonial centre.

2. Iguazu Falls (Argentina / Brazil)

From the thunderous, awesome power of Devil’s Throat to the most delicate wispy falls, Iguazu’s 275 falls provides the world's most spectacular national border dividing the two mighty South American nations of Argentina and Brazil. Iguazu Falls are simply the world’s most mesmerising and awe-inspiring waterfalls.

3. Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)

As might be expected in the birthplace of Darwin’s theory of evolution, the Galapagos contains a diverse variety of unique wildlife that has adapted to the warm oceans and barren volcanic islands provides one of nature’s greatest wildlife shows.

4. Amazon River and Rain Forest

Providing around half of the world’s rainforest, around one-fifth of the world’s river flow, one-fifth of the world’s oxygen and home to around one-tenth of the world’s species of fauna and flora, time spent walking the trails of the extraordinary Amazon ecosystem and forest, relaxing in a small forest village or spending time on the river is one of life’s most treasured experiences.

5. Easter Island (Chile)

The enigmatic stone statues (moai) chiseled from the local volcanic rock stand in testament to a remarkable past civilisation on this remote Pacific island.


This completes my list of top ten South American travel wonders. What sights make your list?