Tremble in the Jungle - Congo

Article by: Nick Ray, February 2006

The black hole that followed became Africa's first great war, sucking in as many as nine countries at its height and leading to the deaths of more than three million Congolese. Add to the mess the Interahamwe ('those who kill together') responsible for the Rwandan genocide; the Mai Mai who believe holy water protects them from bullets and wear sink plugs around their necks; and Mobutu's old henchmen still living off the land... So it was with some caution I crossed the border into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This was not your regular weekend break.

Goma is the capital of North Kivu Province and has been controlled by pro-Rwandese elements for a number of years. If the civil war wasn't hard enough on the population, Nyiragongo volcano erupted in January 2002, burying the city centre in lava and giving birth to a modern-day Pompeii.

Goma feels like a normal city until the buildings vanish, giving way to a lunar landscape

Crossing over from Rwanda, Goma feels like a normal city until the buildings vanish, giving way to a lunar landscape with only the most basic of roads cut into the hardened lava. The ground floors of many buildings remain buried; the day the volcano vented its fury having frozen them in time. A river of rock flows all the way down from the still-smoking volcano, cutting the runway of Goma Airport in half along the way.

But life goes on. Some Congolese are doing well and most businessmen have three mobile phones, one for the Rwanda network, one for local calls and one to connect to Kinshasa, just three hours away by air, or a nightmarish four weeks by road and river.

By night the city comes alive, as the local nightclubs kick off. Cap Sud, Dallas Super Dance Club and Coco Jambos, all were heaving at the hinges and the great thing about the Congolese is they don't need five beers to warm up. They stroll up dancing, even at 7pm, and the places just throb with energy. But for me, with more than 100km (62mi) of Congolese roads and two gorilla parks waiting, it wasn't going to be an all-nighter.

Goma was never really a concern. It was the idea of driving upcountry that unsettled me. Even the most balanced media coverage of the DRC is full of bloodlust, tribal warfare and mass rape. And it does go on. But Congo is the size of Western Europe and local knowledge is all.

By night the city comes alive... the great thing about the Congolese is they don't need five beers to warm up

Parc National des Virungas itself is almost the size of Belgium and covers topography so varied that it encompasses five separate national parks across the border in Uganda, from Mgahinga in the far south to Semuliki further north. The government, such as it exists, controls very little of the park, but with mountain gorilla permits changing hands at US$250 a visit and 40 permits a day available in Congo, they have made sure they control the areas that make money. Gorilla visits in Uganda and Rwanda are block-booked in peak season, so for backpackers Congo is emerging as the only place to go.

Heading north from Goma, we were following the river of lava back towards the base of the volcano (unfortunately lava doesn't make for the smoothest driving surface). Volcanoes peppered the landscape, Nyiragongo to the left and Bisoke and Karisimbi to the right. The road winds its way through dense forest in places, perfect for an ambush in the Congo of today, ideal for jungle trekking in the Congo of tomorrow.

The Congolese park authorities were keen for me to compare the situation on the ground with Rwanda and Uganda. Viewing the mountain gorillas is, quite simply, beyond words. No bars, no windows, we were the privileged few guests in their domain. That they are still here, despite the anarchy swirling in the land beyond, is a testament to the dedication and commitment of the park rangers, unpaid for months at a time and threatened with death by poachers.

No bars, no windows, we were the privileged few guests in the mountain gorilla's domain

Congo may be ungovernable, a superstate of too many peoples with too little to bind them together. Maybe it needed a Mobutu as the glue that held it together. Maybe it will evolve into the United States of Congo some day down the line. The future remains uncertain, but at least some people are trying to make the best of a bad situation. One way or another Congo could well be the last great adventure for anyone willing to take the plunge. It's hardly democratic, it's barely a republic, but it is Congo.