Democratic Republic of Congo: Lubumbashi to Kinshasa

[David Harris]

Every body have a great suggestions what cost a $$$$ , the complication "Real

Travelers" can not even let them self have a Winch ( as choice to have

Winch mean less time to travel ( we all have a Budget )

You have to admit, though, from the description of this trip, and the almost complete lack of traffic and local support out there, it would have been very easy to get into a spot where they would have had to leave that vehicle behind in the bush. A shovel isn't going to recover a vehicle which crashes through a bridge into a river, or one that completely rolls over. This was a brave run indeed.

 

[Mamontof]

You have to admit, though, from the description of this trip, and the almost complete lack of traffic and local support out there, it would have been very easy to get into a spot where they would have had to leave that vehicle behind in the bush. A shovel isn't going to recover a vehicle which crashes through a bridge into a river, or one that completely rolls over.

You not going to believed , only i am totally with you .

It a real Danger battle , be Two in that CAR in that country ""ROADS"
Price to joy that trip could be .....priceless

That type of rick we could have drive afther a rain in wet stones in Moab , one mistake and ....
Colorado some passes no difference , that joy of be bitten by Adrenalin rush 8-(

 

[matt s]

Thank you, this story made my day. Please continue. Not only is the story compelling on it's own, but you tell it well.

 

[Area56]

You have to admit, though, from the description of this trip, and the almost complete lack of traffic and local support out there, it would have been very easy to get into a spot where they would have had to leave that vehicle behind in the bush. A shovel isn't going to recover a vehicle which crashes through a bridge into a river, or one that completely rolls over. This was a brave run indeed.

I too am reading this with great admiration and the suspense is killing me, but I have to wonder how you could plan for such a trip without considering this type of situation.

There are alternatives to an expensive electric winch. A high-lift jack and some long tow straps will pull you out of just about anything if you have something to tie off onto. It just takes a lot of repositioning.

I personally never travel even around the farm without a 'come-along'/power puller. I watched a guy pull a cat d3 dozer out of a muddy pond with a large one so I'm a believer in it's capability.

Everything you take adds weight and cost, but some things I would consider mandatory. I guess that's why I'm sitting at a computer and he's out traveling the Congo.

RadioBaobab, I don't mean any disrespect. You're just crazy! I'm loving your report.

 

[RadioBaobab]

but I have to wonder how you could plan for such a trip without considering this type of situation.

I can see your point... but... ;-)

How many situations can one foresee? You could apply the same logic to almost anything. What about medical supplies? We carried quite an extensive kit, but if Josephine got bitten by that snake, what do we do? What about spare parts? What if the gearbox dies? (it did actually, in South Africa). In both case: seek help locally is the answer.

What if your house collapses when you are sitting at your desk? ;-)

That does not mean one should be reckless. And I dare say we are actually pretty prudent. It might not tell from this report, but we avoid unnecessary risks if at all possible. But that risk assessment is a personal thing ofcourse.

Oh, and we do carry a hi-lift, we have used it extensively for our recoveries in Congo (sorry for not making that clear ). The hi-lift combined with the sand ladders and a bit of digging always did the trick. An additional bottle jack can do magic things too. We are also familiar with using a hi-lift as a pulling device. But that is such a horrible thing to do that we avoid it if at all possible.

Oh, and we did crash trough a bridge once. We got out of that one with our hi-lift, sand ladders and a lot of patience and creativity.

And then there is the danger of the human mind. We do not have a winch, so we drive with caution, making sure that werever we get ourselves stuck in, we can get out again.
If I'd have a winch, I know I'd be much quicker in just risking it, knowing that I can winch myself out if it doesn't work. And then the winch stops working...
The fewer of these tools you have, the more you are obliged to think about your next step. And that is not a bad thing! ;-)

That said, a winch is on my shopping list, but it is not a priority.

 

[Wes Craiglow]

I can see your point... but... ;-)

How many situations can one foresee? You could apply the same logic to almost anything. What about medical supplies? We carried quite an extensive kit, but if Josephine got bitten by that snake, what do we do? What about spare parts? What if the gearbox dies? (it did actually, in South Africa). In both case: seek help locally is the answer.

What if your house collapses when you are sitting at your desk? ;-)

That does not mean one should be reckless. And I dare say we are actually pretty prudent. It might not tell from this report, but we avoid unnecessary risks if at all possible. But that risk assessment is a personal thing ofcourse.

Oh, and we do carry a hi-lift, we have used it extensively for our recoveries in Congo (sorry for not making that clear ). The hi-lift combined with the sand ladders and a bit of digging always did the trick. An additional bottle jack can do magic things too. We are also familiar with using a hi-lift as a pulling device. But that is such a horrible thing to do that we avoid it if at all possible.

Oh, and we did crash trough a bridge once. We got out of that one with our hi-lift, sand ladders and a lot of patience and creativity.

And then there is the danger of the human mind. We do not have a winch, so we drive with caution, making sure that werever we get ourselves stuck in, we can get out again.
If I'd have a winch, I know I'd be much quicker in just risking it, knowing that I can winch myself out if it doesn't work. And then the winch stops working...
The fewer of these tools you have, the more you are obliged to think about your next step. And that is not a bad thing! ;-)

That said, a winch is on my shopping list, but it is not a priority.

I make a motion that Frederik teach a core course at Overland Training.

No, seriously.

 

[Ursidae69]

And then there is the danger of the human mind. We do not have a winch, so we drive with caution, making sure that werever we get ourselves stuck in, we can get out again.
If I'd have a winch, I know I'd be much quicker in just risking it, knowing that I can winch myself out if it doesn't work. And then the winch stops working...
The fewer of these tools you have, the more you are obliged to think about your next step. And that is not a bad thing! ;-)

Well said. And I am still lurking, enjoying this thread a lot. Thanks. :costumed-smiley-007

 

[RadioBaobab]

The single track trough the forest went on forever. We had 'lost' a lot of time by taking the ferry and before we knew it got dark. We were still driving with one wheel on the track and the other in the forest. The darkness made it quite spooky. In the eroded bits the darkness made it very difficult to manouver our way trough. The mosquitoes were feasting on our blood.

We passed a few villages in the forest, but they looked very primitive and wild. Not the most welcoming environment. We decided to push on until the village of Basongo, which looked big on our map.

It wasn't.

There was no mission here, they also did not have a priest, or a father, or .. . But they did have a "Maison de passage". A little hut where people who'd pass trough could sleep. We could camp next to this house.

The crowd was huge and the kids went completely berzerk as soon as we stopped in the village. When driving to the maison de passage a dozen or so kids (and a few adults) jumped on our wheelcarrier at the back. Josephine had to walk behind the car to keep them off.

This would be a zero-privacy night again. It didn't matter much as it was half past 10 already and we just wanted to sleep.

With the crowd around, it seemed as if going for a pee before going to bed was the biggest challenge of the day.

 

[RadioBaobab]

Progress on day 19. Basongo

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

Well said. And I am still lurking, enjoying this thread a lot. Thanks.

I agree completely.

 

[Haggis]

I agree completely.

Me also...though I'm looking forward to your reflections at the completion of your report...carry on. :elkgrin:

 

[chet]

allot of people say that if you have a winch it only gets you stuck further in! Your write ups are stellar and for people less adventursome than you they are great! A full fledged book on your travels would be great!

 

[RadioBaobab]

Day 20

Busy villages are not a good place to sleep late. We left Basongo at 5.30.
Eventually the road opened up.

We were on top of a hill, and we had to find ourselves a way trough the valley to the next hill. The deeper we descended into the valley, the worse the erosion got. Troughout the years about 10 parallel roads - a few kilometers apart - had been made down the hill. If the road got too bad, they just created a new tracks. The soil was sandy. We had to drive 10 km's to find the latest track

But that track too soon became impossible. We had to create our own track trough the high grass. Josephine would walk in front and I tried not to loose her out of sight.

In the valley was a shallow stream. We drove trough the water instead of using this bridge in case you were wondering.

The soil on the other side of the river was more firm and for a short while we could advance quickly in a beautiful scenery!

This short stretch was some of the more pleasant parts of the trip thus far. And open savannah where we could actually see something. Reasonable sandy tracks. We did get stuck a few times in the deeper ruts, but nothing dramatic.

And most important: the people seemed to be more friendly this side of the Kasai river. We hadn't met any police yet either.

 

[RadioBaobab]

With a bit of luck we'd be able to cross the Loange river today!

The loange river was the second and last ferry we would have to take. Barthélémy in Ilebo said the ferry was functional, so that is good news as it was the last possible showstopper for us. On top of that, The Loange river is the border of the Kasai province and the Bandundu province. For us that was a major milestone, as Bandundu is the last province we would have to cross. Kinshasa is in Bandundu! It was still a very long way, but a milestone nonetheless..

With a bit of luck...

Could it be that luck just doesn't work in Congo? The people here never really had any luck with the people that ruled them. They didn't have much luck with the foreign relations. Some of the worlds biggest and most dangerous diseases (HIV, Ebola, ..) originated here... that's not really what I'd call luck either. You could say that they are lucky to have all those diamonds, gold and whatnot burried under their very fertile ground... But that is exactly the reason that the country has been in a constant state of war for the last decades. Tough luck!

We would not make it to the ferry today.

Where the road descended down to the river, the Savannah abruptly stopped and turned into dense forest. The water had eroded a deep and very rough track here, we were very happy to have to do this downhill so gravity could help us down. At the last village people had warned us not to start the descent as a truck was coming up in the other direction. It is ofcourse impossible to pass eachother there.

So we stopped on top of the hill and walked down. Sure enough, a big 4x4 truck was stuck in the tracks. They were carrying a GSM tower that was to be constructed on the savannah behind us. They had hired a team of about 20 man to assist the truck on this stretch. Armed with shovels and pickaxes they more-or-less levelled the road. We watched them for an hour and they had moved about 10 meter in that time. It was another kilometer to the top. This would take some time!

So we walked back to our car and waited... It was 10 in the morning.

 

[RadioBaobab]

It got dark around 6 in the evening. We were still at exactly the same place. The truck had moved up a bit, but not much.

We decided that we would go back to the last village and spend the night there. We asked the 'Chef du village' and he directed us to Germain, the principal of the school. We could camp next to the house of Germain, on the school grounds.

Germain, the principal, was a great guy. Very friendly and concerned about everybody. He involved his wife in all the conversations, and she too was very friendly to us. Two of their sons were at university, one in Kinsasa, the other in Lubumbashi. He was not complaining, but he longed back to the olden (colonial) days when roads were functional. Apparently until 30 years ago there was a lot of wildlife here. Girafes, elephants and lions. His kids had never seen any of these though. All of the wildlife had been poached during the different wars.

Germain's youngest son:

Germain's house:

Our house: