Democratic Republic of Congo: Lubumbashi to Kinshasa

[RadioBaobab]

Thank you so much for all the kind words. It is a great feeling to know we are not boring you guys with our little trip report here ;-)

I notice your bullbar seems to be winch ready. Do you not have a winch on the truck? Seems it would come in handy with all the bogs you get stuck in!

Nope, no winch. We would have used it often if we had one, but at when we were preparing for the trip we could choose between buying a winch, or an extra month on the road. We went for the extra month.

A winch can be handy, but there is always an alternative. Sometimes it meant it takes days to get out, instead of minutes.

[RadioBaobab]

We had been driving in akward angles a lot, and a few times already we could feel two wheels lifting off, but until now we managed to always end up on our 4 wheels. Until now..

We had two wheels in the air and we were resting on our side. Luckily the eroded sidewall made sure we did not fall too deep. We knew it would happen sooner or later but the sound of bending sheetmetal still scared us a bit.



It was nothing spectacular (sorry ) but nevertheless, we were in a situation were our wheels were 20 cm off the ground. We do not have locking differentials by the way.

We got our shovel out again :roll: and starting to add ground underneath our wheels to make them grip again and made the next few meters a bit more level hoping that we would righten ourselves again. It worked like a charm but it was a great amount of work. Damage was limited to a few extra dents.

Still exhausted we continued, still in bizarre angles.

Then we tipped over again..

[RadioBaobab]

"Annoyed" would be a correct word to describe our mood. We could still see were we tipped over last time and we knew how much digging it takes to get the car righted again.

No choice... out came the shovel... and eventually we got out again... and it did not take another kilometer before we... tipped over again... and again..

And again.

At this rate it would take years to get us to Ilebo, we had to find a way to keep moving. Now, most of the road was ok to drive on. The little indicator on our dashoard learned us that we could keep driving until about 35 degrees tilt angle. It were only occasional patches were the angle would become too big and we'de be on our sides.

We figured that if we would keep enough momentum, that we would slide forward on our side and "bounce back" on our wheels. So, that is what we did. We kept the speed up and if the road dipped too much we would tip over. Because of the higher speed the impact on the side was much bigger. But that, combined with the forward movement created a "jo-jo" effect (do you guys know what a jo-jo is? Not sure if it is called the same in English).

Move forward. Tip over. Slide forward a bit on the side of the car. Bounce back. Wheels touch the ground. Move forward. And repeat.

Some of the longer steep section were maybe 100meter long. We would "bounce" numerous times to get trough this. When we got trough we had a fixed procedure:

- Depending on what side we tipped over, the person sitting on the opposite side would get out of the car first.
- Armed with a hamer and spanner "20" go to the other side of the car
- Bang and bend the door back into shape so it would open again
- Both of us would walk back the part we just "bounced" trough, picking up all the parts of the car that fell of. Usually the mirrors, various bits and pieces of the filling cap, the sandladders, indicator lights and the odd bits of our roofrack.







Strong car!

This technique is probably not described in any "4x4 driving techniques" handbook. :wink:

[RadioBaobab]

That day we did the "tip over thing" at least 20 times. After a while you stop worrying about the dents, but I can still hear the sound of the impacts.

Then, out of the blue, there was a road! This was completely absurd, as this road led to nowhere, but here it was, a recently build road about 10 meters wide. The forest was cut and cleared, the ground was made level and smooth as silk 8O



Where did this come from?

We drove onto the road and immediately started sinking in. I floored it to keep momentum and we crept forward, leaving deep ruts behind us.

We felt really bad when that happened. Somebody put a huge amount of effort in building a road here. And then comes along this stupid tourist and he just pulls two big ruts spot in the middle of this road.

We did not stay around to take a picture of our ruts, we were a bit embarrased.

The road dissapeared as suddenyl as it appeared before.



What the ... ?

[LaOutbackTrail]

You guys demonstrate the profound difference between YOU and 99% of the guys on this forum....

With this one picture.

Your truck is to be used and not just for show.



More please!

[goodwoodweirdo]

Strong car!

This technique is probably not described in any "4x4 driving techniques" handbook. :wink:

I have tears in my eye’s….

More please..

[6string]

Move forward. Tip over. Slide forward a bit on the side of the car. Bounce back. Wheels touch the ground. Move forward. And repeat.

Legit.

[mph]

Thanks the great read...Sorry about your cruiser!!!!

[constructeur]

Salut Frederik!

I've reviewed your website and I'm still curious of a few things. These questions apply to all your travels, not just this trip.

How do you and Josephine get on with washing clothes? and if they need drying (If it's the rainy season and you can't rely on the sun or dry heat)

How are you cooking?

How is your car interior outfitted?

Could you also include something of items or tools you wish you had, and things you installed and don't use that much.

[grahamfitter]

Nope, no winch. We would have used it often if we had one, but at when we were preparing for the trip we could choose between buying a winch, or an extra month on the road. We went for the extra month.

Good for you!

When you were busy digging, did you think you should have bought a winch instead of some other things you bought for the trip? Or would you have preferred to leave them behind, too, for another extra month on the road?

Thanks for a great story. Hopefully it inspires many others.