Blogs from Congo Democratic Republic, Africa - page 3

After 14 hours in the air and 3 on the ground in the Brussels Airport, we arrived safely at N'Djili Airport in Kinshasa, Congo. Wefour American SNDs -- Maureen, Margaret, Evelyn and yours truly -- were fortunate to have as traveling companions 3 Congolese SNDs -- Anaclette, Ursule and Marie Dominique -- who were returning home from an international education conference at Emmanuel College in Boston. The baggage claim experience was a sight to behold. Unfortunately I could not take photos because of a law forbidding this. The presence of many uniformed police officers would discourage anyone from breaking any law! It took an hour and a half to recover all our bags -- no small feat given all the congestion around the carousel and the fact that the tram that usually brings baggage from the ... read more

My legs were more than a little wobbly after the five plus hour climb, one that took me up an increasingly steep gradient, made all the more difficult by alternating stretches of slippery smooth rock and loose, jagged gravel. But now I was nearly at the top, just a few feet away from my goal. Before I mustered the energy to climb the last stretch, I turned to look at the surrounding vista. From my perch, more than 11,000 feet above sea level, I had an unhindered view of Lake Kivu, with the rambling outlines of distant Goma spread along its shore, and the wide, surprisingly flat plain at the base of the mountain, which quickly gave rise to another chain of mountains that mark the beginning of Rwanda. All looked verdantly healthy; all appeared peaceful. ... read more

21 octobre : Lunch, bol de cereale. Souper, bol de soupe. 22 octobre : Lunch, croissant au chocolat et yaourt. Journee du rapport. Souper, salade. 23 octobre : Reste de la journee a l’appart a ne rien faire. En soiree, sorti avec Stephane de la MONUSCO, un autre Quebecois que j’avais déjà croise en Cote-d’Ivoire. J’ai pu prendre un plat tipiquement de chez-nous, ailes de poulet et frites avec 2 bieres. 24 octobre : Lunch, melon d’eau. Souper, au Grand Hotel de Kinshasa avec deux observateurs de l’Union europeenne que j’avais déjà croise au Niger. Sonia du Portugal et Daniele d’Italie. J’ai pris un poisson meuniere. 25 octobre : Lunch, salade de fruits et un shawarma. Souper, gibelotte de legumes. 26 octobre : Lunch, riz cantonais. Souper, biscottes avec beurre d’arachide. Termine ma journee de travail ... read more

‘We don’t have any respect for our lives, the dangers from the volcano and lake is like a game for us. We are not like you westerners and plan for the bad, it is when we find ourselves in a dangerous position we think, oh I wish we had planned for the future. We are more scared and worried of our own people and in one week, after the election we are expecting something really bad to happen.’ This was a conversation we had on with a local from perhaps the most dangerous city in the world Goma, which is just across the border from Rwanda. Driving around Goma was like in safari where you are sitting in the safely and watching through the window to the reality – demonstrations, propaganda less than a week before ... read more

Is walking into the world’s most dangerous city something to be proud of? How about walking into the middle of a conflict zone? Why not hire Congolese soldiers and climb on one of the world’s most deadly volcanoes? Sod it, why not camp in a war-torn area next to a lava lake? It sounds extreme, almost insane, but it is all a load of hellfire and brimstone to me. “Nyiragongo is a two-mile-high volcano towering over the eastern edge of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—one of the world’s most active volcanoes. When? Is the question that haunts a team of Congolese Seismologists; when will Nyiragongo erupt?” (Finkle, 2011, National Geographic) Arriving in Kigali (Rwanda) and hearing about the possibility of visiting an active and deadly volcano strangely appealed. Realizing the volcanic creator contains the ... read more