Democratic Republic of Congo: Lubumbashi to Kinshasa

[Kiddmen57]

Thank you for sharing this amazing account of your adventure. I started reading this at lunch while at work, spent the rest of the day at work and all night at home reading the entire account in one sitting. Love the narration. I felt as if I was there with you.

 

[Thundercloud]

I can't put in words how much I enjoyed this story.

When I first saw it I only intended to read the first few postings. Instead I read the entire thing in one sitting in spite of the fact that i had many other things I needed to do. I felt your frustration with the corruption and your fear with the hostile people. You said that in some places you could feel the anger in the air. Only someone who has been in similar situations can fully appreciate what happened to you.

I liked that part at the end where you talked about people helping people. Here in the USA all we see of Africa in our media is either starving children or laughing happy villagers who go out of their way to help you. They tell us we are too rich and powerful as a nation and we should be more like the people in Africa where the whole village raises a child. This is our own media telling us this. We have celebrities who go to Africa to help, then come back and tell us commoners that we need to send money to such and such organization. I doubt that those celebrities ever got their hands dirty doing anything over there. Like you said it's those people who are there every day who get in and do the actual work are the ones who might make a difference.

I liked your thoughts about a winch and totally agree. it reminds me of a story of a man in Minnesota USA who always wanted to own a 4 wheel drive vehicle. Minnesota has a lot of snow in the winter and he felt a 4 wheel drive would make his life a lot easier. The day finally came that he saved enough money to buy the 4 wheel drive of his dreams and sure enough a few days after he bought it a huge snowstorm came. Two weeks had gone by when he showed up at the dealership where he had bought it at. One of the salespeople asked him how he liked the vehicle. He told the salesman " I'm here to trade it back in." The salesman said " For years you have talked of owning one of these, why do you want to trade it back in??" The fellow replied "Because all 4-wheel drive does is get you stuck further away from help."

I like your story so much that I have subscribed to Expidition Portal and I'm looking forward to reading more of your adventures. Good luck to both you and Josephine!

 

[Fokaone]

BRAVO RADIO BAOBAB/ LUBUMBASHI-KINSHA

First of all I want to congratulate you for the adventure you have done in the Congo , well done. Bravo!
But I just wanted to let you know the people you met in the Congo live real life , fight to get by with daily life. They never get assistance neither for the Congolese Government, which I agree with you. It is super corrupted , neither for anyone. All money and fund people always done in Europe to help in Africa , never reach those people. However , the NGO , UN , PAM , HCR, and more Spend there time to do administrative expense than helping for real. That money it just away from European to create jobs in Africa for US/European Citizens that don' have jobs. Using the funds to pay themselves as employees to the NGOs. It is easy just go in a refugee camp, take pics with few bags of corns, milk, beans ... with a big logo of Europe or US. Done deal show you on TV, NEWS round of applauds. We are helping indigenous . remember that you chose to travel the Congo , and you gave yourself a title as an adventurer. You should assume , and stop bitching every time people were mean to you. At least they didn't hurt you. I will invite you to cross post conflict countries like Afghanistan , and you will tell me; if you and your lovely girl friend would made it safe. Bro, I promise that you should be on the big screen TV. Congolese are not perfect, they are not the nicer people in the world , but I can tell that there are not evil. Germany/Hitler wanted to exterminate all Jewish back in the years. I guess it would be Musungu/Mudele killing other white. Just inform you , you are not the only one who did and succeed to drive from Lubumbashi to Kinshasa. A lot Congolese people did it, but never just post it online. I did it my self and I have pictures too that I will more than happy to share with you if you request. Just to let you know I even have a video. Your all story was about a nice , smart and courageous white guy and girl against the evil , stupid and annoying black Africans. Of course , you wrote it so you will always be an hero. The most relevant part of your story I remember was in People from Kasai was more nice and Friendly that those in Katanga. Typical Belgian, just like they way you did it in the past when the Belgian government use to take people from Kasai to work in Katanga and give them better position in the public companies; in order to create an ethnic conflict between same citizens. Again Bravo because that formula worked in Rwanda, and we know the result Genocide. I also work in the Congo in 1992 where Katangais was pushing people from Kasai to go back in there region. Right now that virus starts biting yourself with the separation between Flandre and Wallonie (Shame on you). Are you proud that everything that are good in the Congo were left by Belgians ? Well just to look the map of the roads in the Congo everybody will agree that those road were build up to evacuate the mining resources to Europe, proud again ? Kill and cut hand of several poor women , men and kids. I sure that you went back home with all your fingers ? Right, reason, why you had the ability to write your impressing muzungu/mundele adventure. Felicitation come vous le dite en Francais. I won't blame the Rwandan government for the fact that there are trying to shift to the British block. There is nothing good in your people Belgium , you are just poison that want to hurt everything around. I had a chance to visit Belgium. Stay there for only 2 days while I plan 4. Couldn't stand that a experienced a young black guy who left a seat for an old white lady in the bus. She sat down and said il au moins certaine personnes qui savent qu'ils ne sont pas chez eux ( There are at least some people that knows that there are not to in their countries). I can go more and more, but I prefer to stop because it is useless, and I will let you enjoy your white supremacy.

Feel free to debate and I invite or your fans to say what they feel

The Wrap-up

(It's going to be long... sorry. I normally don't like to be so serious, but I feel I have started something and I have to finish it. If you're only interested in the technical bits, they are the end)

So is that what Congo is really like?

Ofcourse not! This is what Congo could be like if you try to drive a 4x4 from Lubumbashi to Kinshasa.
In the beginning of the rainy season.
Unsupported.
In 2008.
After being on the road non-stop for more then 600 days travelling half of the world.
...

That is a very specific situation and leads to very specific events with specific people who show a specific behaviour. It can hardly draw a representative picture about the Congo, about us or about overland travel in general. (I feel like I am writing a typical American disclaimer here, please don't put your children in the microwave oven! )

The important bit here is: it's a trip report. Nothing more nothing less. I have told the events as they have happened. I have added the extra dimension to describe our feelings and thoughts at that moment. I have no hidden agenda. I am not trying to push my own agenda/principles/opinions on you. I am not paid to write this trip report nor am I representing some company whose interest I might be defending. My job or my future does not depend on it. As a result I have no reason to paint a nicer, or worse, picture then how it really was. I have been very honest about everything that has happened and made ourselves very vulnerable for critisism at that as I also do not hide our mistakes. It is also important to note that we are not complaining or whining when we repeat certain things (the corruption, the bribes, ..). Those are just the things that happened, I tell them how it happened and how we felt at that moment. When all is said and done you must certainly not forget that this report is just a simple unambitious report. Not an opinion article in your favourite magazine. Not an official report describing humanity in Congo. Not an overland handbook on how to traverse the Congo and interact with the 'locals'. Oh.. and English is my third language, so sorry about the spelling!

The result is a very crude story. Certainly not a happy story. You might even have a foul taste in your mouth when reading certain passages. Because of the description of the misery. Because of our behaviour.

Please, allow me to add a bit more perspective and hopefully make you understand - if only a little - the view of Congo we gave trough our eyes.

What happened before you entered Congo?

The complete answer is ofcourse impossibly long, but I feel it is important to summarize a bit what we have been up to before, as I think some people think the Congo story is a stand-alone event where we flew in and when it was done flew back out again. An impulsive plan just for the sake of adventure. It wasn't.

in 2006 we sold all our belongings (literally: ALL), quit our jobs, took all of our saving money and decided to go on a little trip. We had done our homework during the many months/years we had saved up for it and bought and prepared a Landcruiser. (I will go into further detail on the preperations later on). We planned to travel for 1 year. People who have done this too will certainly remember the moment when you say goodbye to all your family and friends knowing you will not see them for an entire year. That is a big decision to make. We travelled overland, 25.000km down Africa (west route) and after 9 months found ourselves in South Africa. We liked the travelling so much and found it such a pitty that we had such little time left to drive back that we started counting our money: Lo-and-behold, if we didn't do crazy stuff we could extend our 1 year trip with another year. We shipped our car to Japan and from there drove trough Siberian Russia, Mongolia, Central Asia (all the *stan countries), the middle east back to Africa. Once there, we really longed to visit the East side of Africa and while we were at it we could visit DRC, a country that I have dreamed and read about for so long. So that is what we did. After the traverse of DRC we would find ourselves back on the westcoast and we would drive back north as central as possible (via Niger-Algeria) which was a pretty daunty route in 2008. We travelled for 715 days non-stop. 100.000km. We never went home or even set foot on the European continent during that time. In fact, we did not have a 'home' apart from our car. We had crossed dozens of remote deserts, driven trough some of the most barren mountain ranges in the world, hacked ourway trough many jungles. Returned on our paths many times when we though we were risking it too much. Always unsupported. Always with the two of us. Always with the same car.

We had been in Kinshasa the first time in 2006 with the plan to drive to Lubumbashi. We had done our preperations and were ready. But then the elections came and Kinshasa transformed into a war zone, and lef the rest of the country as unstable as it could be. We rushed out of the country towards Angola at that time.

By no means do we consider ourselves experienced travellers or experts in Africa or "Third World problems" (and certainly not in their solutions). The first months of our trip were quite difficult. Learning to adapt to the cultural differences, how to deal with officials, bribes, corruption. Seeing and living between poor people. Seeing the influence foreign aid has (good and bad). Seeing the attitude of people change when crossing country borders... when crossing continents. After a while we got the hang of it. It's a continuous search for balance and when you think you found it, things change again and you need to rethink everything all over again. It never ends. But that's allright for us. We did stupid things every single day. We still do. We have always done. But we do try to learn from our mistakes.

You just did this for your own pleasure? What about supporting a good cause?

We prepared this trip for many, many months so ofcourse this topic came across. Many people do it. But if you dig a bit deeper one really needs sponsorship to get started. We have also seen people who only do the good cause thing to get sponsorship. Fair enough, they get a few bits and pieces to bolt onto their car and in return raise a bit of money for some NGO in return. Usually not too much, but every bit helps. A win-win situation. But this did not fully convince me. I do not feel comfortable with sponsorship if I have the feeling I am not retuning something valuable. I am just not good at selling myself(and too honest). I also don't like a car plastered with stickers when travelling around, it draws way too much attention. I also feel uncomfortable with many NGO's. There are many, many good projects, but there are probably an equal amount of nonsense projects as well. If I attach my name to a project, I want it to be a genuine project. To make a long story short I am not good at this entire sponsorship/aid thing and would probably have made a mess of it. That does not make us heroes, but that is allright because we are no heroes.

How can you travel trough such impoverished countries without providing them with some sort of aid? Be it money or supplies or volunteer work?

I felt guilty about that in the beginning, certainly when we decided not to attach support to some good cause to our trip. But why was that?

Why is it that we have no problem spending millions on a house and a new car. Eat out, wear fancy clothes. Go on a beach holiday to the other side of the world. And never feel guilty about it? But as soon as we set foot in poor-poor Africa that attitude changes and we feel we MUST provide aid. We could all cancel that Internet subscription we have and send that money to Africa every month. A ridiculous thought ofcourse... but yet, we cannot set foot on African soil without bringing a stash of old clothes, a gazillion of pens and feel best about it when our car is plastered in stickers from NGO's. Not that there is anything wrong with that (well, sometimes there a few things wrong with that), but why do we feel as if it is a necessity?

Isn't there a poor part of our hometown? Don't we ever pass trough there? Do we support these local causes?
Do we feel guilty when we see a begger in our hometown? Do we have the instant reflex to give that begger a ridiculously large amount of money and a pen? Ofcourse not, because we are afraid he'll spend it on a bottle of liquor from the nightshop. But why don't we care about what happens to the aid we all sent to Africa? Ever been to a market in Africa? You can buy your donated T-shirt back and all the pens we have thrown out of the window when blasting past.

Give sweets to children? You'll get paid with an instant smile and it will make you feel realy good about yourself. Do you also give them toothpaste and brush? Pay the dentist? Do you know these kids can earn more by looking sad at the side of the road then their parents earn working? Parents actually stop sending them to school and make them stand at the side of the road as it is so profitable. So by giving a sweet to a kid you could have potentially been (partly) responsible for it dropping out of school and waisiting all chances of a good future. Far fetched you think? Not really I'm afraid. I have seen that first-hand in several countries. Does that mean you cannot do something as simple as give a sweet to a kid? Ofcourse you can. But in our hometowns, we don't just give sweets to children we don't know, do we? We usually even ask at the parents if we can. Providing aid requires a bit more then just giving away a few things. That is what makes it so hard when you are constantly on the move. Now substitue sweet with any other thing you would like to donate.

I can go on for a long time with questions like that.. There is SO much that can go wrong with providing aid. That is ofcourse no reason not to provide aid, but at least we should appreciate the fact that it is a bit more complicated then we would like to think. I have no answers, I don't know how to do it 'right'. I try my best in own way and I can only hope others do the same.

Jay Leno, of all people, once said: "In America, we like everybody to know about the good work we do anonymously". The in America bit is not important(replace it with 'western world' maybe?), but the rest is. He said this about why the Toyota Prius was so popular while he thought it was not really saving the planet at all. It's all about image.
Sensitive topics. Who doesn't want to save the planet? Who doesn't want to do something about poverty in Africa? The reality is, we don't do much AT ALL, but we want to keep up the image. And we even convince ourselves that we do. And preferably we want to boast about it on the Internet, show off on our websites, talk about it on forums. We want to write books about it, want to discuss it. We want everyone to know how important WE think it is. And preferably at the same time belittle people whom we think don't do enough. And you know what, at the end of the day there is no more time, money or resources left to actually do something about it. But we sleep good at night ofcourse, it's the others who failed, not us! And we have a portfolio to prove it!

This is ofcourse very unfair to the many people who are actually helping out on the field. Or assisting with logistics from abroad. As always it is very unfair to generalize. People like Frère Louis we met in Congo is one of these people. Their generosity and engagement is endless. I have immense respect for him. Nobody knows about him ofcourse... he's too busy doing 'the good thing'. He is definitaly somebody worth supporting in any way possible. If you really want to donate, I think that is the way to go. Find a reliable organisation person and give it them with as little in-between people as possible. Who would have thought that providing aid would be such hard work eh?

So how does that correlate to our adventure in Congo? The reality is: there was very little we could on the ground. We did not have the time, we did not have the money, we did not have the supplies. Time, money and supplies, all of it can be generated. But for us, at that time, it was not possible. Period.

The everyday little gestures(giving and receiving) don't usually make our trip reports. They are just the most normal things in the world - not worth mentioning(at least not for the right reasons). If we receive exceptional hospitality, we will write about it. I we provide exceptional help, we will (probably) write about it. If you do not read many good experiences in our trip report... that's because they did not happen and I did not want to make the little gestures - both directions - look bigger then they really were.

I wrote the anecdote of the guy on a little motorbike who asked for oil. If I had just given it to him and nothing would have happened I would not have written about it. I wrote about it because it struck me that I was so hard at that time to him. The whole series of events prior to that situation made me act that way. I do not approve my behaviour. I felt bad for that guy afterwords, I wished I would have reacted otherwise. But put me in exactly the same situation and I would react exactly the same. That's the whole point: Congo changed our normal behaviour. Nowhere in Africa (or elsewhere) had we experienced this to such an extent. That is what I write about. That is also why I dared referencing to Conrad's book.

Have you noticed how little this entire explication actually takes the Congolese (or other benificiaries of our aid) opinion into account? It does not seem to matter much in most discussions I have seen. I often make the mistake of forgetting that all this aid we are discussing is actually meant for a real live person. And I don't think I am alone. So what is his idea about all this aid stuff? Do we actually care when, for the umpteenth time, we have this discussion? Or do we think we are expert enough to know his opinion without asking?

Ok, but why don't you pay for services you receive? Why do you expect freebies from some of the poorest people in the world?

That seems to be a hot topic for many people and for starters I would like to recommend to reread my report again. Because asking something for free is something I never do. I don't even dare it at home. That does not mean I will not accept anything for free if people insist. But asking? Sorry, no. Expecting? Even less.

I am very proud on the way we take our responsibility if we take risks. We often take risks (as you might have noticed), but never will we not accept the concequences. We got stuck hundreds of time and we knew we would before we entered Congo. We always started working our way out on our own. We did not ask for help when we thought we did not need it, and we rarely did. Yes, I did get cross when people begged when we were digging. But it's not like they were offering help in return for money, they were just begging. Was it friendly to be cross? Ofcourse not.. but hey, I am a human being like all of us you know.

If we get offered help (we did not ask, remember) in return for money and we do not really need it, we usually decline. Our experience tells us that we lose more time with negotiating about the price then with fixing it ourselves. Our experience in Congo tells us that, unlike most other parts of Africa, the asking price will be insanely high to start with anyway and the discussions will probably be very heated (we have to think about our security too). Does that mean we have denied them the chance for a quick job? It certainly does! But it is just impossible, and dangerous, to proceed like that all the time. That is the reality and sorry to dissapoint you that it does not correspond to what you would have liked us to do.

What if people started helping us, why did I tell them they would not get any money? Unlike us, westerners, these people do not need fancy contracts with addendums and disclaimers. They know perfectly well what I am saying. They also know I am a mundele who might not know the regular customs, so they take a very small risk that they will not actually receive anything. But these people are not stupid. Nor are they ignorant. They know they will get rewarded. They know they will get rewarded more then if they would be helping a fellow Congolese. But it will not the be the 'Grand Prize' they had hoped for in the beginning.

 

[Irchyfeet80]

Inspirational, I'm planning over landing Africa in 2014-15 With this stretch of Africa on the route......anyone planning the same should email me, I realise there's plenty of time but I'm keen to discuss travel in Africa anytime as it's fascinated me for as long as I can remember!!

 

[concretejungle]

I do wonder now with terrorism growing in the Africa continent if that will really be the reason not to travel in this area? Instead of locals looking for money or any handout, there might be some terrorist waiting to blow you up.

 

[deLabé]

Don't sweat it too much. Africa's been dangerous in places for years. I don't think it's more dangerous now, but any given place can become more dangerous for a while. Most of the time they're not aiming at you.

I do wonder now with terrorism growing in the Africa continent if that will really be the reason not to travel in this area? Instead of locals looking for money or any handout, there might be some terrorist waiting to blow you up.

 

[RMP&O]

I like the "warp-up" closing statements. While I may not agree with all of it it is nice to hear a person reflect upon the journey they took after it has been some time. Doing something for the first time is the adventure. Doing something again it will never be like it was the first time, for better or for worse.

I still stand by my points made some time ago in this thread, which were....

Got the time to do a trip like this and the money, well you got the time to learn to work on your own truck before you go. You also got the time and money to buy something like a winch and learn how to use it right. Nobody can ever make you do that, you can go on any trip however you want. But if you have troubles in such and such dangerous country by going unprepared, and by prepared I mean armed with knowledge, don't be surprised.

Myself, I love nothing more than an adventure. But I also like to go prepared so that when I get stuck or break down, it isn't a big hassle or take time (and money) away from the other experiences I am after on the trip. Trust me, I get the whole "but the break downs or stuck is part of the adventure" thing. Thing is those kinds of experiences happen anyways with or without a winch a winch just happens to make it a lot easier to deal with. I don't need to prove to myself I can dig a truck out of the mud with a shovel and a high lift jack. I did that in my younger days. It takes all kinds to make the world go around though and if your idea of adventure is breaking your truck in a hostile country and then being at the mercy of the locals hey by all means do it! Myself, I would rather spend time in such a country not digging with a shovel or hoping the locals didn't do more damage to my truck than they fixed!

Cheers

 

[trooper25]

I am somewhat new to this forum and I just now read this amazing journey and I must say it is by far the best thing I have read in a very long time. Did they ever write a book or anything? I noticed the website is somewhat outdated as well, I wonder what they are up to. Rmp&o your posts are stupid and not needed, you talk about him not being able to work on his truck and all that nonsense but he made it through one of the worst places in the world with his vehicle AND also in your write up you had several times when you had to take your truck to a mechanic to get it worked on. You didnt even make it a couple weeks in easy terrain with out your truck breaking down and having to order parts, he was out for over a year and a half. Both of your adventures are amazing and you both chose to share them differently but please do not bring down someone else's story just because it is not how you would have told it. You yourself said in your story...If you do not have anyting nice to say then keep it to yourself, but here you are with several instances where you should have taken your own advice. Frederick and Josephine I know your not posting anymore and its been sometime but I hope someday I can find more of your stories because this was an inspiration to thousands of people including myself. I would take an adventure with you anyday.

 

[RMP&O]

I am somewhat new to this forum and I just now read this amazing journey and I must say it is by far the best thing I have read in a very long time. Did they ever write a book or anything? I noticed the website is somewhat outdated as well, I wonder what they are up to. Rmp&o your posts are stupid and not needed, you talk about him not being able to work on his truck and all that nonsense but he made it through one of the worst places in the world with his vehicle AND also in your write up you had several times when you had to take your truck to a mechanic to get it worked on. You didnt even make it a couple weeks in easy terrain with out your truck breaking down and having to order parts, he was out for over a year and a half. Both of your adventures are amazing and you both chose to share them differently but please do not bring down someone else's story just because it is not how you would have told it. You yourself said in your story...If you do not have anyting nice to say then keep it to yourself, but here you are with several instances where you should have taken your own advice. Frederick and Josephine I know your not posting anymore and its been sometime but I hope someday I can find more of your stories because this was an inspiration to thousands of people including myself. I would take an adventure with you anyday.

Man, that is a wall of text I had a little bit of a hard time reading.

How is advocating responsible travel not a good thing? How is saying, go prepared, a bad thing? How is pointing out that having this or that, like a winch, could save countless hours in the mud that could be spent doing something else, how is this bad? Part of advocating responsible travel is to say, don't beat on your truck. If you do, it may break, such as an axle shaft. There are basic fundamentals when it comes to a truck and taking it off pavement. And I don't see how advocating those is a bad thing.

Yes they did have an adventure, I enjoyed reading about it like a lot of people. However, should I not then say what I think or feel after reading it? Should I just sit here and keep my mouth shut unless what I have to say agrees with everyone else? If I read something and it reads as though somebody is not enjoying themselves, why not comment on that? Why not comment and say or offer things that can make the experience better for the next guy? I read about them getting their truck stuck badly and then breaking it. This happened more than once. Then they don't like very poor people standing around and haggling them while they play in the mud with a shovel. That doesn't sound very fun to me or even an experience I need to make my life better. So I really don't see what is wrong with commenting on that and offering up my own opinions.

I read a lot of trip reports. One thing that always strikes me in these reports is when the travelers complain about break downs and shoddy mechanic work after wards. On a trip you have all the time in the world, you are on vacation! It is more important to sit in a hammock with a cold beverage then it is to know that your lifeline, aka your truck, is in good order? And how is it unreasonable to say to a person, if you have time to travel for many many months you have time to learn how to work on your truck? If you choose not to, fine, by all means your choice. But then when you break down and complain about it, um ya that is nice.

Why are people so sensitive these days about most things? Why is constructive criticism a bad thing? Why is somebody who says something not with the mainstream, by your words, stupid & not needed?

My own trips you comment on, I didn't break down. Never once was I stranded with a broken truck that required other peoples help before I could continue. I fixed my truck on the road when I needed to in order to prevent myself from ending up broke down on the side of the road. Yes I had people work on my truck, because I didn't have things like onboard welding and I don't care to dump my fluids on the side of the road. Every time I went to a mechanic I needed to get rid of old fluids and I just am not the kind of guy to dump those in the ditch. I welcome and welcomed comments in my trip reports about most anything. I am open to all discussion. You can actually see that in my trip reports can you not? What I think is not ok is putting a person down, bashing on the places they travel, spewing unfounded gibber and fear mongering. You will find between my first trip & second one I learned a lot about my truck as well as how to go from point A to point B smoothly without dramas. On the second trip for example, I had virtually zero problems with the truck. Maybe I missed it but I really have not read this kind of thing here in this thread. Ya know, the whole, if you had to do it again what would you change kind of thing. To me they seem much more defensive in their comments about it all than I would expect after doing a trip through the Congo.

Cheers

 

[cmayes]

Fantastic read! I'd buy the book!

 

[FullTankHank]

Amazing, I just read this in one sitting. By far the best thread I have read here. Truly an adventure.

 

[madmax718]

Love the write up, you guy (and gal) have some big !@#!
Its amazing enough to do it as a funded multi vehicle trip- more amazing it was done solo vehicle- crazy without a winch- and to find a woman to do it with you... I give her the most props.

Here's a lesson learned: A stitch in time.. saves 9.. (ben Franklin?)

I think I would have went for a winch- even if it means eating some ramen for a few weeks.

And yet, there were 3 spare tires! (did any even get used?)

 

[Africa Mike]

This is an amazing post - these two must be the first to pass through that route since the late 1980's. Well done!
I am however disturbed by a few of the posting which indicate that other forum members are thinking about travelling through the DR Congo. If you are planning this - don't! DO NOT GO TO THE D.R. CONGO.
I have just finished 30 years of work in the aid field in Africa and I know DR Congo well. What you need to understand is that when you look on Google Maps and see all those roads in the Congo is this - those roads are fictional - they have mostly not existed since about 1965. The jungle and the rain in the Congo reclaims dirt roads in about 3 years so intense maintenance is required, which has not been done. There are only roads around Kinshasa, from Matadi to Kitwit, mostly rebuilt recently by aid projects. Outside that roads are dirt tracks best accessed by 100cc motorcycles - narrow and light weight enough to carry over logs or put into canoes to cross rivers. There is currently some road building being done by aid donors so you need to do research first. If you are traveling up Africa go via Angola (fairly safe now) and try to access the boat to the Cabinda enclave, or zap up the Matadi-Kinshasa road and cross to Brazzaville as fast as possible. The Matadi road has been remade so is excellent but it has recently been plagued by armed bandits so travel in convoy.
MORE IMPORTANTLY - from 1990 to 2005 the DR Congo endured low level civil war which has generated a large number of rebel/ terrorist groups which are amongst the most evil in the world - known for torturing victims by hacking bits off before killing them, including a number of westerners. 80% of the Congo is thus a no-go zone, from the Lake Tanganyika region up to Kisangani and the Sudan border, across to Bukavu and the Uganda border, and across to Mbuji-Maji and Mbandaka. Do not feel tempted to travel here - unless you can join a UN convey with armed soldiers.
Even the western portion of DR Congo is quite dangerous. The problem is that Congo locals have only known trouble from outsiders (including other tribes) since the Arab slaving raids of the 15thC. They have learnt that outsiders bring death and pain, so some tribes have naturally decided to kill any outsiders on sight - after robbing, raping and hacking bits off. Their existence is utterly miserable and pathetic - so they will kill you for your wristwatch. Image what the sight of white faces in a 4-wheel drive means to them. You will note that the couple in this trip survived by racing through villages, even though some villagers could have been quite nice. You just can't tell the good from the bad villages. Cities are far more dangerous.
The govt officials are equally bad - with their only aim being to extort as much from you as possible. My general rule at army checkpoints was to speed up and race past, while ducking to avoid being shot (not so bad as they don't normally have bullets and after noon are too drunk to aim). Easier than progressively losing your cargo and valuables to govt crooks. Do not approach police or army for help - you need to talk to local merchants.

 

[Wainiha]

Where is the next adventure?

 

[madmax718]

Thank you , Africa Mike. After reading their story, Africa will not be somewhere where I will go... without a convoy. They got bigger cohonas than I do.