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New Photos - Congo (Road to Dolisie)

November 1, 2008 – 2:30 am

Everyone was a little anxious heading into the Congo. We had been told that the roads were bad, that there were some potentially dangerous areas in terms of rebel activity and instability and that things in general would be a bit more difficult compared to what we had already experienced in Africa. Immediately after crossing the border from Gabon, we encountered some of those difficulties and first up to bat was our encounter with the border guards. The border crossing we chose to enter the Congo was pretty remote and there is probably not that much traffic so when we showed up, the guards were eager to see just who we were, and more importantly what we had with us. They border guards were fairly friendly, but after an hour or so of pulling everything we owned out of the trucks and going through each bag individually, even down to our toiletry kits, our patience began to wear a little thin. It proved to be the most extensive search of our trucks and our belongs to date on the expedition and to make matters worse, I was already starting to suffer from the early symptoms of malaria. I honestly do not think they were overly concerned with the security of their borders, but instead simply bored and curious.

The road south into the Congo was in pretty rough shape. It was narrow, corrugated and filled with water and mud, which made snaking our way through the jungle towards Dolisie a slow process, slow enough that we did not even come close to making it. Just before nightfall, we approached a small village and decided to ask permission to set up camp. Not knowing much about the security situation in the Congo, we figured we would be better off in the company of villagers than out in the jungle on our own. We were right, and the villagers welcomed us in with open arms. We were quite the attraction as we set up camp, prepared dinner and made some quick repairs to the trucks.

The next morning, we literally limped into Dolisie with a flat tire courtesy of the bad roads but luckily, we were fortunate enough to meet some South Africans on the road into town who offered to help us out. Derek and his colleagues were working for the telecom company MTN installing cell phone towers in the area and helped us to patch up our tires, get me the malaria medication I desperately needed and allowed us to set up our camp in the safe confines of the MTN warehouse in town. Derek was even kind enough to let me crash in his hotel room while I swat out one of the roughest nights in my life.

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By Steve Bouey | Posted in Africa, Congo, New Photos | Also tagged Africa, borders, Congo, Dolisie, malaria, palm wine | Comments (0)

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 Africa, Congo, DRC, malaria, mud | Comments (3)

Welcome To The Middle Of Nowhere

March 24, 2008 – 10:37 am

“Welcome to the middle of nowhere!” This was the friendly response we got from several people as we pulled into the remote and dusty town of Timbuktu. For us here at The World by Road, Timbuktu is an important stopover on our way around the world. I can now say that I have literally driven my car, complete with Colorado license plates, to Timbuktu and back. O.K., I still have a long way to go before I actually make it back, but you get the idea.

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Getting to Timbuktu was no small feat. The last 200 kilometers of road leading up to the town now holds the far from fabulous distinction of being the worst road we have driven on during the course of the expedition. Conversation stopping corrugation, blowing dust, sand storms and car swallowing sand pits ensured that it would take nearly five hours drive this particular stretch of road. I think I can now somewhat relate to what the early traders felt like when they made their trek across the desert and finally arrived in the somewhat less inhospitable confines of Timbuktu… it was still well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit when we arrived at 5 in the afternoon. Fortunately for us, we were able to track down some cold beer to celebrate which was also nice considering we arrived on St. Patrick’s Day. (There is one for the “I Never” game… I have never downed a beer in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in Timbuktu)

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Mark investigates one of the “sand traps”

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If the road does not get you, the dust devils will…

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The scenery on the road to the middle of nowhere was quite nice

Having finally arrived in Timbuktu, the conversation switched from the possibilities of future boasting about the achievement, to how Timbuktu actually got so famous and became such a well recognized name. How is it that the name of an African town established by Tuareg desert nomads can be so easily recognized in America and the rest of the world by such a broad spectrum of society? The answer? We do not know.

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Bouey and Mark get the lowdown on Timbuktu from a local Tuareg

Timbuktu is a dusty place, constantly on the verge of being swallowed by the surrounding desert and is a far cry today from is glamorous status as a trade center for hundreds of years. Timbuktu does hold a high degree of significance in the Muslim world, but that still does not explain why a fifth grader from Missouri would recognize the name. The image of Timbuktu being a mysterious and mythical place, synonymous with being at the end of the world or symbolizing the middle of nowhere still holds strong today throughout most of the world, and none us us really know why. Whatever the case may be, and for whatever reason, people know and will continue to recognize the name Timbuktu, and the fact that we actually drove there in our own cars might seem even more mythical to some than the place itself.

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