Ilanit Chernick
JOHANNESBURG: Following a treacherous and dusty journey through parts of remote Angola, Kingsley Holgate and his team have finally made it to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
While in Angola, the team stopped off at a number of villages to hand out mosquito nets and educate locals about malaria, something they will continue to do in the DRC.
“Finally, we exit Angola at Kimpangu. Aah! But it’s lunch. You wait! The prickly equatorial heat beats down. We break out a Landy (Land Rover) tailgate lunch, standard fare of bully beef, tinned fish, bananas and local bread,” Holgate told the Cape Times’s sister paper The Star.
It was a struggle to get through the DRC border as Holgate noticed the body language of the officials. “This looks like it’s going to be a tough one. I notice a leftover sign from the past, a small forgotten concrete sign reads Congo Belge, The Belgium Congo.”
“I explain all about our crazy mission to get to the ‘Heart of Africa’, but that doesn’t stop the paper shuffling. They ask us, ‘Name of mother, father’s name. Name of hotel in Kinshasa?’”
After the barrage of questions, the group was finally allowed to enter the DRC. The next few days are a whirlwind of activity for them.
“Elephant Art for kids at the St Francois College give the youth the opportunity to speak out against the slaughter of Africa’s elephants.
“Papa Kadima, who helps with this project, dreams of bringing the Parc de N’sele, an old private nature reserve back to life by reintroducing game from South Africa,” Holgate explained.
But in a rush of nerves, the continuation of the Holgate team trip suddenly hung in the balance as the main ferryboat broke down.
“Everything we’ve worked so hard for seems to now hang in the balance and in the heat of the Congo Basin, our patience is wearing thin as corrupt, greedy officials bunch around us like vultures, determined to extract as much as possible.”
Finally, after seven hours of negotiations and a massive dent in the team’s non-existent budget, they are finally allowed to cross by way of a “special arrangement” with a private barge owner.
“We attempt to lower the three expedition Landies on to a rusty old flat barge with an antique tugboat to push us across to Brazzaville,” Holgate said.
When The Star left them, they were sailing along the vast Congo River towards Brazzaville in the DRC.
“Seems there’s some bad blood between the two countries at the moment. Relationships, we are told, are a bit frozen and we are in the middle,” Holgate said.