Photo of the Week: Remote African Village (DR Congo)

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The Congo River journey is one of the great travel wonders experiences on water. In a country dogged with political and military upheaval, the journey passes spectacular untracked rain forests and tiny remote villages whose only contact to the outside world is via the river boat. Hemmed in by heavy rain forest, the villages maintain their difficult existence through fishing, a small garden, a little hunting and bartering with other villages via the river boat. Small wooden craft called pirogues are used to paddle out to the river boat to conduct the barter for required goods.

Gorillas in the Mist (Congo)

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Our group had been trekking for three and a half hours through thick forest, the thorns catching our clothing and our feet sloshing through the muddy grounds. Deep into the Congan rain forest, it was well over 30°C (86°F) and 100% humidity and getting hotter. The six of us were getting a little agitated, being drained of fluid and having started the early morning with such anticipation. The glint off the guard’s rifle caught my eye as he macheted away more branches. There is something unnerving about guns, especially when carried by two guys who didn't seem old enough to be out of school. They walked intently with a clear direction in mind, though there were no obvious paths to follow.

The rear guard pointed right to show piles of neatly matted leaves and branches in the trees. Though I couldn’t hear him, it had been the gorilla’s bedroom of last evening.

There was a disturbance to our left followed by a crack of timber. Our guards told us to crouch down as I spotted a ball of black fluff tumble clumsily down a branch. Suddenly as our eyes strained through the dim light of deep green-black of the forest, more balls of black fluff appeared and we had finally reached our goal – the elusive and endangered mountain gorillas.

We settled down onto the damp undergrowth to watch the gorilla group, about 15 in number. The mothers and older gorillas contentedly munched on bamboo and grass, the youngsters leaping around with boundless energy, staging mock fights and using the older gorillas as diving platforms. They seemed undisturbed by our group, though well aware that we were there with occasional glances towards us.

In the back, there was a pervading sense of piercing eyes surveying the area as the largest of the gorillas, a silver sheen on his deeply bent back from the dappled sunshine, kept a watchful patrol over his family group. The silverback, the largest adult male with his insatiable hunger broke trunks of bamboo from the surrounding trees as if snapping a toothpick.

Suddenly he stood and wacked his chest, producing a hollow thudding sound. Our group sat a little lower sinking into the surrounding foliage. There was no doubt who is boss. The silverback settled back down again as I feel a strange feeling on my right leg, always uneasy with the creepy-crawlies of the rain forest floor. I was about to swat it away when I saw it was one of the baby gorillas coming for a closer look. I glanced nervously towards the silverback but he seemed relaxed, carefully picking the greenest shoots from a moist grassy plant. Satisfied at what he’d found, the baby gorilla leapt away and back to the low branches to swing some more.

Today, there are estimated to be only around 700 of these magnificent primates left in the wild. They live in a small area of the Virunga mountains of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Rwanda and Uganda run regular tours and have a number of habituated groups with reports of gorilla tours starting again in Congo.

A few minutes later (actually an hour) we were being hustled away by the guards. We pleaded for more time with these mesmerising primates but I think they’d heard it all before – “but we’ve travelled so far”, “we won’t ever get another chance like this”, “we’ll tip you more” – and soon we were back trekking out everyone chattering at once. The mountain gorillas could be left in peace for another day and a few hours later we were back at our camp.

Though expensive, it was reassuring to find that the money paid to trek helps fund the guards and the efforts to preserve both the gorillas and their habitat, making the gorillas more valuable alive than dead, reducing the value of bushmeat or the illegal animal trade.

Trekking to see the mountain gorillas is one of the greatest travel wonders available and is truly the greatest single wildlife experience of my life.

Notes

It was quite an effort to trek to the gorillas so a reasonable level of fitness was important. In some ways, it seemed a lot of work for one hour but everyone would have done it all again without question. Some days the gorillas are apparently easy to find and some days, people trek for hours unsuccessfully (though this is quite rare). Leave a spare day just in case if you possibly can.

The forest area was generally dark and flash photography is not permitted and may antagonise the gorillas. Use a higher ISO (400 or 800) on your camera to get clearer photos. Don’t forget to stop photographing for a decent period of time and just enjoy sharing time with the king of primates and the antics of the youngsters.

Photo of the Week - Busy Shopping (Congo)

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A small town in East Congo, not a long way away from Goma and the mountain gorillas, bustles with lively activity in the food markets. Though taken over a decade ago, I still enjoy the contrast of the colourful women's outfits and vibe of the market with the drab grey exteriors of the sad surrounding buildings and their corrugated iron roofs.

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.