stan1234

Today is my fianl day here in the DRC.I lerned so much about their history and culture. The civil unrest that is plaugeing this country has not destroyed what this country was bulit upon. The local tribes might be in danger but they shall not perish from the earth. It reminds me of home and how people are killing each other because they are diffrent. but still no one shall perish from this earth. ... read more

today I went to a meusem . I took notes when I was there. this is what I wrote. "Formerly the Belgian Congo, this territory was inhabited by ancient Negrito peoples (Pygmies), who were pushed into the mountains by Bantu and Nilotic invaders. The American correspondent Henry M. Stanley navigated the Congo River in 1877 and opened the interior to exploration. Commissioned by King Leopold II of the Belgians, Stanley made treaties with native chiefs that enabled the king to obtain personal title to the territory at the Berlin Conference of 1885" I lerned so much from my vist.... read more

Today I went hiking on Mount Stanley (quite the coinsidence). It is the highest point in the DRC. Its total height is 5110m. The hike very tireing. I also saw some of the mountian wildlife. when we came down the mountain they told me that Mount Nyamuragira was about to errupt so I couldn't go into the central eastern area of the DRC.... read more

Today I went to the capital of the DRC: Kinshasa. There, I learned about their culture,economy, government, art, and music. Music: Kwasa-kwasa is the local music, which can be heard very often by the local natives. Here the music dances are quite popular in the area, which is accompanied with musical instruments like the thumb piano and drums. Congo jazz and soukous is some of the pouplar tunes that are played along with a guitar. Mbuti natives have set along their own style of vocal tunes, which is widely accepted within the area. The art revolotion was started with the boom in the copper industry within the southern region of Katanga, a traditional art form was still maintained within the region wherein portraits were drafted within a copper sheet, thereby enclosed with clays and textures. Several ... read more

Today I visited congos caves. When I was at the Dimba cave in southern congo. There I found some of the oldest rements of human cilivilzation. Some people say that they are from around 18,000 B.C. or earlier. The Matupi cave is a important archaeological monument in Ituri rainforest. This cave contains sediments which have recorded a sequence of human occupation lasting for the last 40,000 years. Here I found some of the oldest microlithic tools in the world used for arrows and saws. When these tools were made 12,000 years ago when this place was a savannah. Kakanda malachite caves - Katanga. Caves lined with highly unusual malachite stalactites. I found also unique malachite crystals up to 2 cm large. The Thysville group of caves with endemic blind fish Caecobarbus geertsii Boulenger, 1921 living in ... read more

In my recent travels I am now at the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A country in the central african reigion. It has the population of 70,916,439. It is about a fourth of the size of the United States of america. My entry into this country was hard because the state department has bocked all essential travel into the country on account of possible violence. It has a hot humid climate in the north to the west. It gets cooler to the south and the east.... read more