Tag Archives: DRC

New Photos - Congo (Brazzaville)

November 4, 2008 – 5:36 am

Brazzaville also shaped up to be a new exercise in patience for The World by Road. We came into town expecting to get our Angola visas without to much problem, but instead spent about two weeks dealing with probably the most incompetent and confused diplomatic corps in the world. Again, we were forced to push on after a long and frustrating time ultimately without any Angolan visas in our passports. Unfortunately, upon entering Kinshasa in the DRC on the other side of the river, we were promptly deported for not having onward visas… a regulation that had only recently been put into place. Forced to return back across the Congo River to Brazzaville, we enlisted the help of the US Embassy. The embassy staff was outstanding and helped us to get into the DRC in a very round about way which included getting signed, sealed and stamped letters stating that our final destination was Zambia even though it is essentially impossible to travel overland from Kinshasa to Zambia.

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Africa, Congo, New Photos | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

New Photos - DRC

October 26, 2008 – 7:57 pm

Our trip through the DRC was quick, only lasting about 3 days. We were kicked out of Kinshasa and had to get to Matadi for our Angola visas. We did manage to check out the Chutes de Zongo, one of the only established tourist attractions in the entire DRC.

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Africa, DRC, New Photos | Also tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Quick Update

June 9, 2008 – 10:55 am

This update is gong to have to be quick because internet is slow and expensive here in the DRC. That’s right, we finally made it out of one Congo and into well, another Congo. We have had a tremendous amount of help and support from people here and back home, but our progress is due in large part to the amazing staff at the United States Embassy in Brazzaville. Without help from people like Kelly Daniel, we would still be stuck there, so thanks a bunch. I also want to thank Olivier and Catherine at the Hippocampe Hotel in Brazzaville for making our stay there an enjoyable experience. If you ever find yourself in Brazzaville, Hippocampe is well worth the visit. We also recieved a lot of help from the DRC Consul in Brazzaville himself… if it were not for his assistance we probably would have been deported from the DRC again… another story for another time! I also want to think Bob in Kinshasa and all the great people at Heineken here in the DRC for all of their hospitality.

So that quickly brings you up to date. We are currently in Matadi, DRC on the border with Angola. We stopped by the Angola Consulate today and so far, so good. We are supposed to pick up our Angola transit visas tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed. If everything goes as planned, we will be crossing the border into Angola on Wednesday. Obviously there are a lot of things that have happened over the past few weeks, but again, internet is an extreme luxury here, so the stories and photos will have to wait… probably until we get into Namibia in a week or so.

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By Steve Bouey | Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (5)

Going Through A Rough Patch

April 24, 2008 – 8:23 am

We have not posted anything in a few days, but honestly, we have had a lot of other things on our minds. We are, without a doubt, at one of the most difficult points in the expedition here in the Congo. After securing relatively difficult to obtain visas for both the Republic of the Congo and The Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.) in Libreville, we left Gabon and it was not long before we encountered what we had been told would be a long stretch of bad roads.

Actually, the roads heading from Libreville south to the border were not that bad but once we crossed through the bamboo gate signifying the Congo frontier, they took a pretty significant turn for the worse. In fact, the after reaching the first major town, Dolisie, we were informed by some people that our proposed route south through the remainder of the Congo and the D.R.C. would not be possible because the roads have been washed out by rains. Technically, it is the beginning of the dry season here, but the damage had already been done and the lingering rains ensured that nothing has really been done, or will be done, anytime soon to fix the damages.

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We knew we were going to encounter some problems with the roads and we also knew were could potentially encounter some problems with bandits in rebels. So far, we have been lucky with no unfortunate encounters here in the Congo, but again, we were warned about our onward route. We were convinced to deviate from our original route and head west, back to the coast and try and slip through the Angolan enclave of Cabinda before heading down into the DRC and then on into Angola. Well, as it turns out, rebel activity in and around Cabinda has flared up in the last month and so to have clashes between rebels and government forces around the D.R.C./Angola border near Matadi, where we were planning on crossing. So now we are trying to figure out just how to get our trucks, and ourselves, south. We have some great new friends from South Africa who have been going out of their way to help us in our situation here in the Congo and things are looking as well as they can I guess.

Oh yeah, I am also finding out first hand how bad it sucks to have malaria. Yes, on top of the bad roads and the threat from rebel groups and bandits operating in the area I have to do it with a combination of blistering fevers, core shaking chills and body aches that I have never felt before. The most striking part about all of this is that we still have it a lot easier than the majority of the people here.

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By Steve Bouey | Posted in Congo, Road Conditions, Sickness | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (3)