Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo

*One of the gorillas being re-habituated to be released in the wild at Lesio Louna reserve (rescued from a UK zoo)*

As we approach the final leg of our West Africa journey, we continue to struggle a little with the realities of long term travel in hot countries. There are not many other travelers on the road, and everyone goes at their own pace. We notice that we tend to go faster, rarely staying in one place more than a night. For us this is partly about the heat, if we cannot find a cool place to stop, we just keep driving in our air conitioned truck (we know we are spoiled). We also know that we are not good at relaxing.

We are also challenged by finding opportunities for authentic interactions and conversations with the people who live here. We have no shared language which is a huge barrier. Most recently, we find that we are frequently approached with an extended hand, someone asking for money. We completely understand but it also shuts down communication for us. We are asked for money about 50 times a day. For us, where and when we choose to give is based on a true connection not a random demand. We realize that if we slowed down and stayed in a place longer we might find the opportunity to have those real conversations but we still don’t. Our fault. Always a balance!

Many of the other travelers we meet take regular extended breaks to go to a home base and re-charge. They are also not on the same 5-6 year round the world timeline. For some reason, we put pressure on ourselves to just keep going, with this awareness that we have the whole world to see. It is also not a forever project for us, there is a time when we look forward to once again settling down in one place and having more time with family and friends. Almost three years of full time travel and we are still grateful to be on this journey of a lifetime but also want to acknowledge the challenges. Life is not an endless series of amazing Instagram photos. There are times in between the spectacular moments when we acknowledge the difficulties and find a way to push through. There is also the fact that recent countries we have traveled through have even higher poverty levels so the intensity and disparity is increasing for us as we pass through in our expensive American vehicle.

The Republic of the Congo (Congo Brazzaville) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo Kinshasha) were very different experiences for us, and also relatively quick.

REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Hands down the highlight of the Republic of Congo was going to visit the gorillas at the Gorilla Project at Lesio Louna. But we also enjoyed scenic drives across the savannah.

Our border crossing took longer than expected so we found ourselves with dusk approaching looking for a safe place to stay. We asked the kind policeman who had just checked our passports and he gestured to his yard and welcomed us. Throughout West Africa almost all of our interactions with the local gendarmerie have been positive and we appreciate the sense of safety they provide for our travels. Our conversation was limited (that English/French language thing) but we had a hilarious time as the whole village came out to inspect the camper and poke their heads inside to take a look.

*Our first night - camped at the village police station*

*We were surprised how much of the Republic of Congo was grassland, at least in the more southern region where we were traveling*

*Yellow containers seen everywhere throughout West Africa, used for carrying both gasoline and water. Always as many as possible attached to a vehicle.*

The Republic of Congo gained independence from France in 1960. Like so many other young West African countries, following independence was a time of power struggle and civil war. It was a Marxist-Leninist state from 1969-1992. From 1979-1992, Denis Sassou Nguesso led the country, aligning with the Eastern Bloc. During this time education rates rose to 79% of children under 16. The industrial economy grew along with rising oil prices. Following the collapase of the Soviet Union and the end of its accompanying support, the Congo insitututed its first democratic mulit—party election in 1992. Pascal Lissouba became the first elected president in 1992 and was implementing economic reforms and working on a $100 million international economic support deal. However, Sassou continued to fight to regain power and civil war broke out in 1997. In 2002, with support from neighboring Angola, Sassou was re-instated as President in a one candidate voting process.

We look at the people our age and know they have lived through war and extreme poverty. Tens of thousands of people died and were displaced during the civil war. Now, the people of the Congo engage in an economy of village agriculture and crafts with the industrial sector still being dominated by the petroleum industry. Currently the education rate for children under 16 has dropped to 44%. Women in the country give birth to an average of 5 children, with the average over 6 in urban areas. The country is still troubled and people are struggling. We know we represent wealth and international power and understand the sometimes mixed reaction seeing us can generate. We have found if we start off with a smile and a “bonjour,” the welcome is returned in kind and there is a sense of opening a humanity gap, instead of walking by heads down as we would when passing strangers in the US. In general, we continue to be warmly and curiously received and we only wish we could communicate and give and share more.

Our visit to the Lesio Louna gorilla reserve was outstanding but had a complicated logistical beginning. We could not find any information online about setting up a visit or tour so decided to just drive into one of the camps and see what happened. We arrived at the intersection for the road out to the camp and saw some local people sitting in front of a small building. We managed to convey that we wanted to go to the reserve and received a thumbs up. Then around the corner appears a fellow traveler, Jose. It turns out we had been on the same travelers Whatsapp group sharing information and we finally were to meet in person! Jose had already attempted the drive out to the reserve on his motorcycle and turned back as the road deteriorated, he thought he took a wrong turn and he was by himself. So he was up for attempt #2 in a convoy with us. We put his panniers in our truck and set off following him across a sandy track.

*Jose giving us the thumbs up as we follow him*

*Approaching the reserve - thinking about “gorillas in the mist”*

We ended up at Camp Albo where we were warmly welcomed and invited to camp for free (it was about $75 each for the actual gorilla visit which involved a boat trip from the camp plus a park fee of $25 each).

We had a great time swapping travel stories with Jose in the evening over a shared meal, hearing about his plans to start a motorcycle tourism company in his home country of Columbia. Then the next morning, off to see the gorillas. The Gorilla Project at this site was currently caring for three adult male and one adolescent orphan gorillas. The gorillas are kept in spacious island enclosures, visited by boat and gradually weaned off feeding and care until they are released by underground tunnel to a nearby national park which is home to over 50 free released gorillas.

*Incredible experience looking into the eyes of these magnificent animals*

*Sitting in the boat with the caretakers watching the gorilla come in to be fed*

*This one has a relationship with one of the caretakers. Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.*

*Second gorilla - each face so expressive*

*We think we found the infamous Big Foot - far away from its California home*

*The orphan - from the wild, actually teaching the adult male it lives with (which was rescued from a zoo) how to find food*

*The next day we head out following Jose again*

As Jose’s travel companion was dealing with a broken down motorcycle we headed into the capital, Brazzaville together and found a hotel.

*Brazzaville sits right on the mighty Congo river, looking out at Kinshasha in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the other side.*

We took care of business in Brazzaville (groceries, ATM, awesome bread), had a rare meal out and hit the road again. The city was a classic mix of roadside African market and contemporary restaurants. But as usual, big cities are not our thing so we soaked it up and left.

*The huge loaded down trucks never cease to amaze us, but we are also always a little frightened for the intrepid passengers riding on top of the loads.*

*Most of the population of the Republic of Congo lives in the southern, urban areas leaving wide empty expanses.*

*And once again we are finding solitary wild camping spots*

*Truly goofy picture of windswept Dawn at the gorge*

The second biggest city in the Republic of Congo, Pointe-Noire was a pass through for us. Although we did detour up north to see the famous Diosso Gorge.

*The red clay formations reminded us of Bryce Canyon in the US*

*Camped on the grounds of a hotel. Tucked into the shade as much as we can.*

*Access to walking here was really the best feature*

Our last nights in the Republic of Congo we spent camped along the coast south of Pointe-Noire. We found a hotel that welcomed campers and used their grounds in exchange for agreeing to purchase dinner in their restaurant (it was excellent and ate early as we were the only customers and didn’t want them to wait for us). We are used to being the only overnighters at the facility, with just a few people stopping by for the beach and pool during the day.

Although normally we could care less about a pool, we have found that dunking ourselves in tepid water repreatedly is a great antidote for overheating. We would always prefer to wild camp, but have used more hotel and restaurant grounds than normal recently. On the day we left we woke up early refreshed and both nervous about and interested in what the next couple of days would bring.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)

From the moment we started planning to drive West Africa, the DRC crossing surfaced as having the reputation of the riskiest undertaking for travelers. We read about people meeting at the border and “convoying up” to drive across quickly and with mutual support. After five months of driving around West Africa on our own we had learned to take these warnings with a grain of salt. But, similar to Nigeria, the years of media images and reports were still forefront in our minds and we felt strangely nervous.

The DRC is among the five poorest nations in the world. In 2022, nearly 62%, or 60 million people, lived on less than $2 per day. Although the country is rich in minerals and resources, most people in DRC have not benefited from this wealth. A recent history of conflict and political instability, have created an ongoing humanitarian crisis. The first and second Congo wars started in 1997 and 1998 and despite a peace treaty in 2003, violence continues. Estimates are that over 5 million people have died as a result of the wars and the accompanying disease and malnutrition. Millions more have been displaced.

In 62 years of independence, DRC did not experience its first peaceful transition of power until January 2019. Effectively this means only the past four years have been relatively peaceful. This country has seen a lot of tragedy.

So in the end we did another dash across. It did not feel like a place for tourists to linger. Elements of crossing the borders were stressful, in Matadi, we experienced the worst traffic we had ever been in and the requests for money were even more insistent than anywhere else. (In our hotel, the security guard said “give me money” everytime we saw him, clearly one of his few English phrases. To be fair, he smiled too but it was still unnerving.)

*Approaching the border crossing from Republic of Congo to Cabinda*

So in two days and two nights we drove from the Republic of Congo into the area of Angola known as Cabinda (the geography here is very strange with strips of countries going inside and around each other to the coast), spent the night in Cabinda at a hotel, then woke up early to hopefully cross the DRC in one day. We should have known better.

The border crossings were tedious and slow - many officials to see and have our information laboriously recorded by hand into huge log books. By the time we exited Angola and entered DRC it was already mid day. So we set off to see how far we could go. The roads started as dirt but then became paved and clear. It was a welcome relief after some tough going in the Republic of Congo. But pot holes slowed us down, trucks moving at 5 km per hour up hills slowed us down . . . The only thing that we were expecting that did not slow us down was military and police check points, we were just waved or even saluted through with a smile.

*The road immediately entering the DRC from Angola. Unfortunately garbage is an issue throughout most of West Africa. People burn or bury it but plastic seems to stick around.*

We were only half way across the DRC as late afternoon approached so planned to spend a night in Matadi. We picked a guest house that seemed reasonable and planned to check in around 4pm. As soon as we hit the outskirts of town traffic came to a screaming halt. We managed to go two kms in two hours. We reached the guest house at 6pm only to find it closed. It was one of our more stressful travel moments. We were tired, it was dark, people were crowded around the car gesturing to us to follow them but we didn’t speak the language and just wanted to hide. Very difficult in the biggest private vehicle on the street. We found option number two and drove another km in another hour (seriously the very worst traffic ever) and arrived. They had a room! Phew.

*More of the yellow containers, the beginning of loading up*

*And eventually the loads typically look this, beautiful in their artistry*

*Approaching Matadi, beautifully spread out across the hill but with the worst traffic on the planet*

*And then our final border crossing for a while, exiting the DRC to Angola*

Some countries stand out in our minds and it is the ones we are able to do justice when the confluence of time, geography and connections with people come together. In West Africa to date, Morocco and Benin are highlights. Other countries like Cameroun, Gabon and the Congos we feel like we barely scratched the surface. We are happy to make it through this mental milestone though and are looking forward to some high mountain breezes in Angola. Thank you for reading!

Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo

Angola

Cameroun, Gabon and the Taco Taco