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An amazing adventure, well done guys.
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Lost
GABON 01/12 - 06/12
Happy Anniversary, Romania! We celebrated the National Day with the chilled and rather hip looking border officers who welcomed us to Gabon, and handed the first professionally printed immigration forms in Africa. It was the first sign that this 9th African country we were entering was different. We had gotten the visa rather effortlessly in Yaounde (50,000 CFA), after trying in vain in Lome, Togo and in Abuja, Nigeria. From the border there was perfectly smooth tarmac, the kind of track designed for a petrol-head. Twists and hairpins, rapidly alternating at sometimes adrenaline pumping incline, spectacular luck jungle, 100% pleasure for hundreds of kilometers. Even if we roll through diminutive villages with no more than a dozen wooden huts, long is forgotten the poverty of West Africa. And if life in Nigeria is unthinkable without the power generators, the Gabonese must have is the grass trimmer. The result is the entire countryside looks like it could host a golf tournament anytime, even if it's not likely that many villagers would attend. The prices for everything match the manicured look: double or even triple compared to other CFA countries. Petrol is still at about 550 CFA/l though, so we soon arrived in Bitam, where we humbly requested permission to sleep for the night at a catholic mission. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5591.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5587.jpg The sister in charge kindly invited us to join an impromptu jamming of the kids. We learned that they are all orphans, hosted and schooled by the mission, and that the money for this charitable operation comes from Canada. We sing and dance into the night. All our misery in Cameroon and the aggressivness of the people seem a thing of the past. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5592.jpg We were heading towards Libreville and soon big artificial openings were replacing the dense jungle, signalizing massive logging operations, just like we'd seen in other parts of Africa. During the 50 years of African independence, many countries were torn apart by bloody conflicts and political mayhem. Gabon managed to somehow stay afloat, building a solid, stable economy, based on petrol and rich mineral resources. Then, in 1999, the english explorer J. Michael Fay hiked over 2000 miles along the Congo basin. His 455 day adventure changed Gabon forever. The president declared over 10% of the surface of the country as national park, transforming Gabon overnight into a champion of conservation. The unique biodiversity of this largely unexplored country was on every eco-tours agency mind, so they soon started moving in and advertising fabulous and very expensive packages for the rich. We could never become their clients. We were just going to Libreville to meet the Romanian-Gabonese family of Radu, a project initiated over a year ago by the only Romanian ever to have kissed the lips of Billie Joe Armstrong, Stoi. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5597.jpg Soon our GPS let us know we were crossing into the southern hemisphere. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5601.jpg The sign that marks the Ecuator is covered in overlanders' stickers. We put the dot on the I. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5603.jpg On the Ecuator equality of the sexes is finally achieved. We were chasing the time, with visas for Congo and DRC soon to expire. We had no expectations, only stress that we were late and unable to spend more quality time with our new friends. But radu had a different plan. He would guide us to a place that we were sworn secrecy to. Beautiful, impossible to find unless initiated by someone who knows it well - and there are very few of those people - this place can read your emotional profile and respond with the right energy, the one you need to recover your balance, to feel one. In this LOST place there is a beach, the perfect beach. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5609.jpg Anticipating arrival. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5614.jpg Nana The off-road that eventually arrives on the beach is temperamental and difficult, separating the brave from the unworthy. The rain was soon melting the sand and laterite into a lava under our truck. Then we arrived on the shore: mellow waters washing white sands, not a soul for miles, paradise. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5661.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5628.jpg The only human touch: a shed with a table with benches, a barbecue, a hammock. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5615.jpg I struggle for hours to light the barbecue. I am having a great time doing this. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5681.jpg Cu Cristina http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5687.jpg Cristina http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5691.jpg Cheers! http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5692.jpg Cristina tastes the olive oil. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5663.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5673.jpg The photos are far from the unbelievably laid-back reality. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5625.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5626.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5601.jpg |
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http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5647.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5676.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5696.jpg After sunset we lay the table: grilled chicken and pork, tomato salad, chilled pineapple and beer, a very summery Romanian fare. The day of our departure from Libreville, Frederik dressed Ana in elegant African attire. The girls spend the entire morning at the Angola and Congo embassies, trying to find out more about the elusive visas. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5703.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5700.jpg Good bye, Radu & co., good bye Libreville! Thank you for your hospitality and see you soon! Another catholic mission becomes our home for one night: we sleep over in Mouila, hosted by a very smart monsignor, who serves us local beer and invites us into a room that is also the library. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5705.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5706.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5707.jpg Magnificent books, some even from the XVIII th century. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5708.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5709.jpg In the morning we cannot find any petrol in Mouila or N'Dende, so we make a 35 km detour to Lebamba, then we return in N'Dende for exit stamps. Now less than 50 km separate us from the misterious border to the Congo and then DRC, the dark heart of Africa. Soon, we will descent into the unknown. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/gabon/IMG_5713.jpg |
100% Off Road
CONGO 06/12 - 09/12
"Donnez moi l'argent!" were the first words spoken by the Congolese at the border. As always, people, especially when in uniforms, were demanding money, souvenirs, even our bike, dead sure that we are being sponsored by our government, our rich parents or that we can easily take a plane back home or just buy a new bike. We managed to avoid paying any bribes one more time and a hour later we had our passports stamped in on time. The Congo visa was not hard to get in Abuja, but it was soon to expire: we had only until the 11 th to exit the country, but what made things even more tricky was that on the 14 th a second visa would expire swell, the one for DRC. That meant the countdown to Matadi, the last place we were hoping to get the Angola visa from, had started. The neat Gabonese landscaping had been already replaced by a hot mess of savannah vegetation, piles of garbage and laterite huts. Hordes of street kids roaming the decrepit villages, along untamed chickens, piglets and goats. Tarmac had finished long ago, we were rolling on a piste of laterite bearing all the ugly scars of recent rains. We were back to the realm of rainy season, off-road and pain. The custom police and border control people warned us about another overlander's vehicle crossing the border about 2 hours before. Hoping we would be fast enough to catch up with them, I went full throttle ahead. When passing through Kibangou, the first little town after the border, I was so into the groove that I could not even glimpse at the police officers waving desperately. Some 5 km outside town though, I hear the unmistakable sound of a bike engine closing in. I wonder if we are being followed, but minutes later a white guy shows up on a KTM. I am so surprised that I can aryl mumble a hello. Alper is from Germany and is traveling together with his friend Esther around Africa for 8 months. They had already pitched their tent in the backyard of some villager, so they summon us to join the party. Back in Kibangou we learned that the German's set-up kicks ass: a Toyota Land Cruiser + a KTM 690, a solid mix of contort and fun! http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5715.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5717.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC09791-2.jpg Our host is Madame Poulet, the wife of a local mother****er We learn that we and the Germans share the same problem: if our DRC visa is valid until the 14th, theirs will expire only 1 day later. We conclude we all have less than 10 days to transit the two Congos, while avoiding the turbulence in Kinshasa and the potential refugees in Brazzavilles, to get the elusive Angola transit visa and, subsequently, to exit DRC. We also discover we have been planing to follow the same piste south of Mindouli, and to catch the ferry in Luozi. It's only logical that we decide to team up until Matadi... http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC09800-2.jpg The next morning the rain is back, we fight not to fall while riding on the bloody laterite slippery like glass and we hardly notice the stunning surroundings. The Mila-Mila mountains stretch their curvy shades of green into Gabon; a misty fog camouflages their geometry. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5725.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5736.jpg We soon arrive in Dolisie, the first big city in Congo, where Madame Poulet told us we can find another Angolan Consulate. Indeed, there it is and the diplomat confirms that a 5 or 7 days visa is available for 100 USD. But there are over 500 km of corrugated road to the border with DRC, so she suggests to get it in Matadi, or buy 2 transit visas and go back to Pointe Noire in order to cross Cabinda. A quick lunch and a quick run to the mechanics for the Toyo suspension and later we decide to move on with our initial plan. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC09802-2.jpg The Chinese are working on the road, so we try our luck on the under construction portions, but we get in even more trouble. The sticky laterite into a deadly concoction - the African ice - that soon claims my 90% bold back tyre. Bloody Conti TK 80! Twice I bite the dust, it feels like riding on wet soap! The aluminum boxes get damaged and my rear brake lever is bent; I hammer everything in place as much as I can, but I am forced to tie one of the boxes to the frame to kind of make it work. Later, in camp, I try to get the job done more professionally, but I manage to puncture a vein with the hammer instead. Esther intervenes to stop the freakish Tarantino-style blood squirt and everything seems under control. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC09807-2.jpg The next day Alper rides along on his KTM and we are having a bloody good time. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5746.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5750.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC_0539-2.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC_0532-2.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5754.jpg We find drinking water in a village, where, as usual, dozens of villages gather while we fill up the tanks. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5755.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5761.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5777.jpg For a while the road seems to improve a bit; the sun is up, and I remember how easy and fun is to ride without pillion! http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5784.jpg The corrugated road with large potholes is more difficult for the car, so the girls are having a rough drive. One more unidentified bush animal ends up in our lunch in Madingou, where once again we have a meeting with destiny. At a nearby table we meet a man who tells us about a different piste than the one we were to follow, a better one, he says. 100 km shorter, via Boko Songho. He was crossing that route regularly 2 years ago, we write down the name of the villages along it, we sketch a map and off we go. Beyond Boko Songho there is a blank area on the Michelin map, we will have to ride through to see what's there. Unfortunately rain returns, and soon after the village we realize the road is not as great as we hoped. As always in Africa, information about distances, time and quality of the road is to be taken with a big grain of salt. We arrive in Boko Songho only late in the afternoon, and we are immediately summoned in the gendarmerie office. The unfriendly chief of immigration police almost has us arrested for being tourists. Who are we? What is our real mission? We are ordered to set camp on the football field and told we must stay here for 2 days, because the borders to DRC are closed. We are awaiting the official results of the elections to be broadcasted from DRC, until then nobody makes a move. Many worrying thoughts trouble our night, but before laying to sleep we have to shower in front of the whole village. The next morning we are late for our appointment with the chief, who comes up with a completely different story: now the borders are open, even if the proclamation has been delayed, but we have to pay for the exit stamp or buy a laissez-passer (in fact a document that substitutes a passport + visa for citizens of neighboring countries). We discuss a lot, finally managing to get the stamps for free, but we have to pay a visit to the sub-prefect office before departure, which is not entirely unpleasant. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09816-2.jpg Rain clouds again http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09819-2.jpg The marshes, many potholes and unrelenting rain slow us down to an unbearable 6 km/h, we have only 12 km to Minga, the actual border point, where we can solve our customs papers. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC09822-2.jpg |
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http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC09816-2.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5789.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5790.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5792.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5796.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_0547-2.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_0548-2.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_0532-2.jpg Three sets of custom and police people question and want to search our vehicles in Minga. We learn that only 3-4 vehicles cross this border each month, and that the last white people were here about 12 years ago. We have to go through the meticulous and utterly ridiculous process before being told that they want some money: to stamp our passports or just to let us go, or to fix the bridge that they just found out that had been washed away by the rain. We cannot trust anybody anymore, we just want to get out of this mercantile toxic place. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC09826-2.jpg Unfortunately some 2 km away the drama unfolds: the information about the bridge proves accurate, we explore by bike the surroundings only to find an alternate route that stops in a village, so after pondering the idea that we could fix the bridge ourselves, we eventually return to Minga, to negotiate a solution with the village chief. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC09827-2.jpg Alper is delegated to hire a team of workers and in the meantime we are invited to sleep over in the mayor's house, still under construction. We dine by oil lamp light and all we can think of is whether the villagers will cooperate to make the bridge somehow posable tomorrow…As the house has no windows and no doors, chickens, pigs and goats roam our "bedroom" all night. We put our mosquito net on the floor, everything is wet and reeks of sweat and mud. How will we get out of this? http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC09829-2.jpg At 9 in the morning we are happy to count 14 villagers working on the bridge thing. We just might make it! http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC09832-2.jpg Also the water level has dropped considerably overnight. 90 minutes later we are able to cross the makeshift bridge. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC09833-2.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSC09835-2.jpg And it only cost 10,000 CFA, a t-shirt and 1,000 CFA worth of Pastis. 11 km farther we reach N'Finga, the dreaded and much awaited frontier of DRC. The people are so surprised to see us that they forget to ask any bribes, and so we cross the friendliest border in Africa so far. The custom formalities and actual stamping takes place in the next bigger village, N'Kundi, where we find more friendly faces and loads of kids who, we are told, are seeing white people for the first time in their lives. A man in uniform starts directing the kids to chant our names, tattooed in their young memories as marks of a historical moment. But for us, the moment is indeed a milestone to remember: we managed to get inside DRC before our visa expired, and in a time when all foreign media had launched a paranoid propaganda about the elections. Now we were chasing the Angola visa before the 14th of December. A new challenge was on! |
We are here! Now how the hell do we get out of here!?
REPUBLICA DEMOCRATA CONGO 11/12 - 19/12
In N'Kundi we were now gods, so changing money, refueling and finding food was a child's play. In this country everybody "eats" the dollar, or the congolese franc. It feels like a parallel universe: while nobody outside here gives a damn about the US currency, here they only take and use crisp banknotes that look like they just came out of the printer. And the prices are quite paranormal, compared to the rest of West and Central Africa: we don;t know how will we afford to even transit this country, food, fuel, everything is expensive, and low quality. At least we are being told that the road will start to get better from here on, but how can we trust such an information? http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5811.jpg Should we have made this journey by boat? http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5821.jpg Our semi-amphibian vehicles suffer a lot. Some flooded passages are so deep that my front like is completely submerged. The Toyo is having even a harder time coping with the immense pools, due to the extreme back load. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09846-2.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09847-2.jpg Every other pool of water we have to stop and check the depth and discuss how to approach it. Sometimes I ride in front, right through the moddle of the ponds, to help Alper assess the water level. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5835.jpg In between drama we take a breather on the sandy rocky patches. Our boots are filled with dirty water, we are soaking wet and no more dry clothes in the sacks! http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09851-2.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09853-2.jpg We completely miss the beauty of this charming region, totally stressed out and worn out. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09859-2.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09886-2.jpg Disaster strikes: trying to avaid the deep middle, Toyo ends up with both differentials stuck in the mud. We try everything; we push� http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09888-2.jpg We fight... http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09895-2.jpg We dig with shovels, hammers, our bear hands� http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09901-2.jpg Then we push again� Finally, 3 long hours later, we manage to extract the car from the mosquito infested marsh. We are totally exhausted, wet and in dispar, but we decide it's impossible to stop now. There is no place to camp, we have nothing to change into and we have to push it to Luozi, where we hope to catch the ferry tomorrow. Two more times the Toyota gets stuck: once a providential Rover comes to the rescue. At almost midnight we arrive, and almost faint asleep, at the catholic mission in Luozi, where we are hosted for free. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5838.jpg We were on the ferry the next day at 11, but we crossed the mighty Congo only 5 hours later. The very drunk ferry worker that has squinted to see the rain coming made everybody leave the deck and wait and wait and wait. The rain came indeed, an hour later, then there was nothing else to do, but drink, talk and hope the rain will stop. On the other side of Congo the road was almost impassable after all that water had fallen over for hours: I don't even know how we managed to get through. Every meter of that road was pure hell, alternating rocky steep inclines with deep ravines, deep soapy mud with sandy tracks, punctuated by abyssal holes filled with sticking water. To make our ride even harder, rain started once again: small drops, cold, unrelenting. I couldn't believe it when at 21 hrs, after 6 days of riding over 700 km off-road I finally hit tarmac again. We had to stop and cheer, then we decided to splurge on a room for the night. In Kimpese we found a catholic mission, not so catholic after all, as they wanted to charge us 100 USD for two not so functional rooms. Finally we settled for 40 and got some salty goat brochettes and beer to celebrate our success. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09906-2.jpg Back to our fav breakfast in the mo' http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5842.jpg We fill up our tanks under the electoral posters. In the background, the opposition candidate who had announced organized riots after the voting. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5845.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09908-2.jpg The 140 km to Matadi are a breeze as the sun is shining for the first time in days and we have perfect tar road under our wheels. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG09909-2.jpg By 11 we were knocking at the Angolan Embassy. But here we had another shocking news: the consul had fled to Angola on an early Xmas holiday, under the pretext of potential civil unrest before, during and after the DRC elections. There is nobody here to make our visas, only the bodyguard and a secretary remain, the consulate is closed until at least the 15th of January! Our hopes are shattered, we have made it here in time, in spite of all the hardships, only to knock at a closed door�.What will happen now? Was all this that we have been through in vain, or will we somehow find a way out? |
Malaria
REPUBLICA DEMOCRATA CONGO 19/12 - 23/12
We were aware of the risks associated with crossing over 2000 km of extreme tracks through some of the most remote areas of DRC. Most importantly, we were slap in the middle of rainy season, when chances to become ill with malaria are peaking. We have been taking prophylactic Doxycicline for the last 4 months, hoping that we had not been poisoning our liver and whole immune system with this large spectrum antibiotic for nothing. Doxy is the poor man's Malarone, but with quite unpleasant side effects: extreme sensitivity to sun exposure, interference with the menstrual cycle etc. We gambled, and we lost. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5850.jpg The day before the last day on Doxy, Ana started to have a fever and to feel generally weak. After 2 days of paranoia, the self test for malaria turned inconclusive, so we head to a private hospital, for a blood test. A few hours later the verdict was implacable: malaria! We had to accept the fact that we had been taking drugs in vain and that Ana was sick, but at least she was in a country where malaria is curable and almost a banality. We were bitter, but we were no longer scared, and Ana prepared calmly for 24 hours of shock treatment with Falcidox and Doliprane. She felt completely drained, hardly slept while sitting up, trying to cope with the non-stop nausea that made her unable to eat and vomit even the water. The emphatic gang was feasting on the most gourmet meals in Matadi: grilled kafta and beef steaks from the Lebanese butchery, with pantagruelic tomato salads, juicy pineapple and fragrant aubergine couscous. We felt sorry that Ana couldn't eat with us, and we forget about the uneventful Congolese staples altogether. No more manioc leaves stew, beans and manioc & maize fufu for us! http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5847.jpg Slowly, our bike and gear were being prepared for the toughest roads ever: I changed the rear and front sprockets, cleaned the chain and mechanical parts (suspension, brakes + engine), I did my best to hammer back into shape the luggage frame, badly bent after the tumbles on the soapy laterite of Congo. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5851.jpg Alper meticulously cleaned his KTM and Toyo and serviced the car at a local garage, so did Jacques. We had our HQ at Bienvenu's place, a young Congolese who lived in Limosges but was visiting the family for a week, and whom Alper met in the street. We pitched our tents at his sisters, on the veranda of an unfinished house, where we scrubbed and tooled for a few days, getting ready for the adventure and dealing with Ana's malaria. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5853.jpg This time our we had something new in our luggage: a box of Falcidox, knowing that eventually malaria will be back, and that we would not take Doxy again! P.S. The unusual levels of white cells indicated an infection of the blood, so the doctor also prescribed Ana 2 other antibiotics. Knowing that we all had superficial wounds, that due to extreme humidity and poor hygiene while on the road were infected and not healing properly, we chose not to buy the drugs and to allow the body to recover naturally. |
DR Congo Rally - Kinshasa to Lubumbashi
Day 1 - 23/12
Km: 530 Route: Kinshasa - Kikwit Road: asfalt/ good tarmac Weather: 36�C, sunny & hot http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN0947.jpg Last day in Kishasa was day of shopping for the road ahead in the scruffy central market, watching the inauguration of Joseph Kabila on TV while the capital was in freeze mode under the watchful eye of heavily armed forces. By night though we were enjoying our Congo Kiese moment, with barbecued meats and bear and music and Congolese friends. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN0955.jpg Time to leave our camp in the catholic mission. Our German friends, Alper & Esther, had left 2 days earlier. We were hoping for an easy drive on the tarmac, but we were slowed down by the village crossings and many police checkpoints, even if the bike riding in front of the jeep helped a lot with the ever inquisitive officials and non-officials. There seems to be a general conviction that tourists are being sponsored by their governments to travel, I don't' think we were able to clear people mind on that matter! As African domestic animals are roaming the streets unattended for, just like their kids, eventually a ****, two chickens, a duck and a bat ended up under the wheels of the Land Rover. Just as we had done in Cameroon, we were rolling on the kids' schedule, so we would be stopping for lunch and to allow them regular play and nap time. Soon though, we would realize that we had underestimated the duration of our trip and the availability of food along the piste, so we would face hunger and thirst, while our supplies quickly finished. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5859.jpg 50 km before Kikwit - where the tarmac ends - my front tyre gave up. Luckily Alper had agreed to sell me his spare Pirelli MT21 in Matadi, so one hour later I had mounted the new rubber, confident that this will make the offroad drive ahead much easier. But Congo had a different plan for us... http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5860.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5862.jpg It was almost midnight when we rolled in the catholic mission of Kikwit. While we started to set up the camp, Jacques went on a scooter with a priest to register our passports with the police. Just like in Congo Brazzaville, here tourists cannot just show up and go, people would inform the officials of our presence then we would have to submit our papers for registration. Sometimes they would just write down our data on pieces of paper or into handbooks, another reminder of the communist era in Romania. With the tent pitched we were about to cook dinner, when Jacques returned with bleak news: we had to pack everything up and go, the mayor had given us an ultimatum; sleep at his place or leave town. Jacques had tried to explain that we had children sleeping, we were too tired to move and it was late, offering to visit in the morning, but we either accepted to be "supervised" or took off. It was like an army drill: completely burned off we dismantled and packed up everything, then set them up again on a football field at the outskirts of Kikwit. Some Indomie instant noodles for the men - the girls opted out - and off to sleep. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN0964.jpg It was our most violent morning yet: at 5.30 a.m. we heard people screaming and by 6 we were dressed, we had packed our stuff inside the tent and were ready to unzip and face the crowds. They were shouting at us to come out and show ourselves, and at some point someone stepped on the tent and almost tumbled on it. So we got out. We were surrounded by more than 100 people standing where the tent ended, not even a centimeter left. We had to push them away to get to the bike and like a wave they opened then shut behind us. We tried to be as fast as we could, in the frantic madness someone pulled Ana's hair to see if it was real and we lost it. There was no room for smiles and friendly handshakes, we left pissed, stressed and hungry, worried about what this part of Africa had in store for us. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN0966.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN0967.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN0972.jpg For the first time in six months we were not excited. What were we doing there? Would we be able to cope with everything while crossing some of the most remote regions of the continent? Day 2 - 24/12 Christmas Eve Km: 94 Route: Kikwit towards Idiofa Road: deep wet sand Weather: 37�C, sunny & hot http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN0980.jpg The truck drivers from Kinshasa advised us to take the Kikwit - Idiofa - Ilebo - Kananga route, much faster and better than the treacherous N1 via Tchikapa. So 40 km outside Kikwit we turned left, finally exiting on the wet sandy piste, the beginning of our offroad escape to Zambia. Soon I was struggling to find the perfect line, no way I could cut through the deep sand, forced to balance the hefty load of the bike on the narrow sides where no vehicle had passed yet. Hot savannah landscape was punctuated by palm trees and the eventual village where we shopped for pineapple, welcomed by some villager and his strangely beautiful handcrafted sort of guitar. As the road turned uphill, we met with a truck that had been unloaded, so that it could drive up. The merchandise is then back-carried to the top and re-loaded on the truck. This painstaking maneuver is standard routine for these heavily loaded vehicles that carry manioc, crisps and palm oil to the next towns and villages from KIN. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5894.jpg At some point Ana climbed the roof of the Landie, you can see her boots in the photo :) http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5901.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5907.jpg It was Xmas Eve, an incentive to quickly set up camp and cook our cabbage for dinner. We had promised the kids a big fire to help Santa find us in the middle of nowhere. We lit a glorious pile of wood and waited for the flying sleigh to magically show up on the tropical sky. Day 3 - 25/12 Christmas Day Km: 82 Road: deep wet black sand Weather: 37�C, sunny & hot http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN0980.jpg In the morning the kids had plenty of gifts to unwrap: Barbies, books, candy, sunglasses. We gave Jacques a Brie and Camembert to Delphine, and Cadbury toffees to the kiddies. We got almond candy for ourselves. :) Happy days! http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN0985.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5910.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5917.jpg Elisa with her new doll http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5901.jpg As we were packing up, an unsettling SMS from Alper arrived: we had 2 ferry crossing ahead of us and the first required 15000 francs, 10 liters of diesel and a 24V battery to start up the engine. We had researched before departure and were aware of the epic story of a Belgian couple who struggled on the route from Lubumbashi to KIN a couple of years back. They had done it in dry season and still had barely made it with the car in one piece. They had mentioned this dreaded ferry crossing, when they got stuck in the middle of the river, battery dead, having to push start the jeep on the ferry to recharge the battery and be able to keep going. A horror story and we were dead sure we were not on the same route, but w e were wrong. So we wondered: are we prepared to face such a situation or should be try to go back and follow the alternate route via N1? After much deliberation, we opted against the ferry gamble and we spend the rest of the day going back to the tarmac, which 20 km off the junction became un-passable due to a broken bridge. The new piste was here: a narrow path hardly visible from the main road, but this was the path that we had chosen to follow 2000 km east to Lubumbashi. |
DR Congo Rally - Kinshasa to Lubumbashi
Ziua/ Day 4 - 26/12
Km: 113 Starea drumului/ Road: nisip negru adanc/ deep wet black sand Vremea/ Weather: 38�C, furtuna matinala urmata de soare/ morning storm followed by sun http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5937.jpg Rainy season is in full swing, but luckily we are spared from the impressive storm! http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5947.jpg The moist sand is not so bad, but soon the sun dries up the road and I am reminded of the Mali to Burkina day of hell. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5955.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5957.jpg Elisa doesn't miss a single chance to walk barefoot on the warm soft sand, a true free spirit! http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN0997.jpg At lunch we have a new birthday celebration in our little group: Lea is turning 5 and Delphine had improvised a yummy cake, breakfast cereals and chocolate truffles. Lea gets the classic French "1000 Bornes" and Cadbury chocolate from us. Happy B-Day, Lea! http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN1007.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5958.jpg The unsealed National 1 is routinely crossed by surreally charged trucks and lorries. The scarred body of sand, mud and water could be more accurately described as a piece of land art, rather than a national road. Torrential downpours transform the pits dug by the truck people into massive craters. Green murky waters fill them, rotting, smelling, glistening like puss on a corpse. This unimaginable road is where hundreds of bike-people spend their lives. They push their modified bikes, loaded with over 100 liters of fuel, for days and days under the scorching sun, through the deep muddy sand, supplying petrol and diesel throughout the region. This in turn yields record prices for fuel: 2600 francs/liter!!!!! http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5964.jpg In this difficult terrain even finding a bush camp can be tricky� Ziua/ Day 5 - 27/12 Km: 30 Starea drumului/ Road: nisip adanc/ deep sand Vremea/ Weather: 38�C, soare/ hot http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN1010.jpg Some 50 people arrive in the early hours to see the strangers who slept in the bush. They were hoping we can give them some jobs, but they had to settle with an ordinary session of white watching... http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN1013.jpg �followed by a photo shoot. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN1016.jpg Our day was to be remembered for 3 crucial moments when the Landie got badly stuck. We were becoming experts at lifting, cabling, digging, but we were still novices in tracing the hidden water under the sandy tracks, the moving sand patches, the traps. In Congo you are never alone, even in the apparent middle of nowhere people would start pouring in from the bush, asking for money to help or even to just watch us struggle. We discovered that communication was difficult, and that people's minds are sometimes fogged by confusion and lack of correlation with the real world. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5982.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5986.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5971.jpg Then we hit rock bottom: it was my turn to get stuck, and it was to be the most spectacular moto event of the whole trip. If you have seen what happened to Cyril Despres during Dakar 2012, you get the idea. I tried to avoid the murky parts and I knew I could not balance the bike on the slender path for bicycles, so I took my chances and rev it up through what appeared to be a puddle. And I got stuck waist deep in mud, like in wet cement. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5973.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5977.jpg We got help from the 2 truck people we were helping to reach the next village. I was out, but I was also sure that I had to take some more load of the bike if we were to continue. Ziua/ Day 6 - 28/12 Km: 40 Starea drumului/ Road: nisip adanc/ deep sand Vremea/ Weather: 38�C, soare/ hot http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5992.jpg Wild orchids in the bush where we slept over night. A good sign for the new day ahead of us! http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5996.jpg But it was a deceitful one: this road was tougher than us, curving our every attempt to play it. The Defender got stock over and over again and the rescue tools started to get jammed with sand. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_5997.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/DSCN1019.jpg In the extreme heat the right front tyre was loose from the rim, so sand got in, and the tyre deflated. We soon leart that the air conditioning compressor from the car, that Jacques also used to power some handy tools, was no longer working. We would investigate that later at the bivouac. My chain was also looking bad� I was worried that we were heading for disaster. 3 km before the bridge in Luange we got stopped by the police again: we were crossing from one county to another, so they wanted to write down on their notebooks our passport and visa info. But they could hardly read or write, so after we beard with them 30 min., we just left. But after the bridge the others were waiting. One more hour of lame chatter, while Ana and Jacques were buying food and water from the villagers. Then we got the bad news: the trucks were stuck, blocking the deviation for the small vehicles, so we had to go through the enormous mud trenches. I got out through some villager's yard, but of course the car got stuck and the riot began: people gone berserk at the situation, and we struggled to cope with the stress, noise, heat and difficult operation. We somehow managed to get out of that madness and find a calm bush camp for our worn out souls. But the night didn't spare us: a huge storm started, with massive thunders and lightenings that struck so close they made us cuddle in fear. Our tent was leaking water, we folded our mattresses, laid towels and t-shirts on the puddles that dribbled in, and tried to get some sleep. |
DR Congo Rally - Kinshasa to Lubumbashi
Ziua/ Day 7 - 29/12
Km: 0 Vremea/ Weather: 36�C, soare/ hot We knew we had to try to fix the compressor and inflate the tires, so got to work. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6002.jpg We oiled it and tried many things, but it was too late. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6003.jpg So we greased the Hi-Lift and inflated the tires with my small compressor. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6008.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6010.jpg In the meantime the girls did the laundry with rain water from last night. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6005.jpg Ziua/ Day 8 - 30/12 Km: 37 Starea drumului/ Road: nisip foarte adanc/ bad deep sand Vremea/ Weather: 34�C innorat/ cloudy Our most difficult moment will remain unphotographed. In the morning of our 200th day on African adventure, we had our toughest climb: a hilly, muddy track with huge holes dug by downpours. The kids and girls climbed on foot, but the car was inevitably stuck and later dug out. We had to dug away to cut our way, because the road was too narrow ahead to continue. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMGP6229.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMGP6231.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMGP6232.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMGP6233.jpg Before noon I was stuck in deep sand and I had to tilt the bike on one side and pull it away into the right track. Jacques jumped in to give me a hand, but slipped and fell onto his back, hitting the hardened roadside. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMGP6236.jpg For a few seconds he could not breathe: we knew we had to stop and lay the mat for him to rest. He took some anti-inflammatory drug and a pain killer, but we were all shaken by the event. After lunch he was not feeling any better and was too tired and too stressed to cope with the innumerable people that chased the car like hyenas a wounded elephant. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6017.jpg After another breakdown we knew the day should come to an end: we got out of the mud and searched for a place. Unfortunately we ended up in a fly infested plane, the bloody beast were biting really badly so we wasted no time to look for shelter in our tents. Ziua/ Day 9 - 31/12 Revelion/ New Years Eve Km: 15 Starea drumului/ Road: nisip adanc/ deep sand Vremea/ Weather: 34�C, soare/ hot http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6034.jpg Jack woke up all stiff in the back: I was facing the potential dead-ends alone. The road continued to keep us guessing, alternating steaming swamps with flat sandy patches, narrow paths or hilly ravines. And navigation was confusing: in some villages, people would stare as if we were freaks, and we tried all day to keep our poker faces on. We were struggling to make sense of the contradictory information we could harvest from the locals. Finding the deviations and avoiding at all costs the dreaded N1 was imperative if we were to arrive at the end of this trip. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6041.jpg Sometimes you don't find the providential tree where you want it to be. One time we mount the winch on a palm stub, and Delphine keeps a watchful eye on the fable wood screeching and threatening to give up. Ducks swim in the rainwater ponds and pigs enjoy a mud bath. If not for the excited crowds, the whites stuck in deep **** and covered in sweat and dirt, this would make a lovely photo subject. But this is no serene scene from some travel magazine. We bump again into familiar faces: over the coming days we would meet several times with the same trucks. These people are the real deal. We may have been pushed into driving on this road but we only have to do it once in our life. But for them, their life is this road. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6045.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6055.jpg Every mistake can have cruel repercussions on this cathartic trip: we find the car suspended, centimeters from tumbling into a big hole. Villagers rush to enjoy the show, kids occupying the better "seats". We could picture them with the bags of popcorn and Coke cups, munching on. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6062.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6017.jpg http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6065.jpg We work in vain, only to finally attempt a desperate solution: pulling the 3.5 tone jeep using only man power. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6082.jpg And it works: dozens of villagers jump at the opportunity to participate in the event and then ask to mount the bike and get their photos taken. http://intotheworld.eu/blog/congo/IMG_6086.jpg We spot a strange beauty: an African woman with clear green eyes. |
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