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Started By
Message
Belgian Couple's trip report on their monthlong+ expedition through the Congo...
Posted on 6/4/13 at 12:11 am
Posted on 6/4/13 at 12:11 am
I figured my Outdoor Brethren could appreciate this story...
Jones posted this last night on the OT. If you want a good read that will make you feel like you were riding along with them, you have to take the time to read this. I'm 20 pages deep and glued to it!
LINK
Here's an outtake from one of their posts:
Jones posted this last night on the OT. If you want a good read that will make you feel like you were riding along with them, you have to take the time to read this. I'm 20 pages deep and glued to it!
LINK
Here's an outtake from one of their posts:
quote:
We came across a truck that was parked in the middle of the track. Luckily the surrounding area was pretty open, so we could pass it.
Us: "Bonjour, ca va?" - "Hi, how are you?"
- Them: "Ca va un peu bien " - "I am doing a little bit ok" -> typical Congelese answer this!
Us: "Votre vehicle est en panne?" - "Did you truck broke down?"
- Them: "Oui, mais ils vient avec des nouveaux pièces" - "Yes, but they are coming with spare parts"
So we chat a bit and we ask what their problem exactly was. They left Ilebo for Kananga with a load of building materials for a rich guy in Kananga. Their engine had completely seized. Their cargo was transferred onto another truck and they had taken the engine out and transported the engine to Kinshasa to get it rebuild. In the meantime the truck 'crew' stayed onsite to safeguard the truck. But they were very happy as they just received news that the necessary parts for the engine were now ordered in Germany, so the parts would come arrive in Kinshasa in a few weeks time!
A fascinating story, and they told it as if the was the most normal thing in the world. Fair enough. We said our goodbyes and asked them one more final question. How long had they been here?
"Un peu plus qu'un an maintenant" - "Just over a year"
This post was edited on 6/4/13 at 12:31 am
5
Posted on 6/4/13 at 5:48 am to cdaniel76
I started my career in Cameroon and can say with certainty that story could be 100% true- such is they way in Africa- you see some interesting things.
I once saw a guy with the head off of his semi. Right there on the side of the road in Tanzania- pushrods laying out in the dirt.
I once saw a guy with the head off of his semi. Right there on the side of the road in Tanzania- pushrods laying out in the dirt.
Posted on 6/4/13 at 6:30 am to cdaniel76
Thanks a lot. As if I needed any incentive not to work today.
Posted on 6/4/13 at 1:01 pm to Teague
Holy shite this story has been killing my productivity today. Some of the cops in it would be right at home in the US.
This is on the last post and would have been more interesting in the first few pages. Sorry for the wall of text.
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.
This is on the last post and would have been more interesting in the first few pages. Sorry for the wall of text.
quote:
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.
Posted on 6/4/13 at 3:40 pm to cdaniel76
Well so much for getting work done today... Incredible read...
Posted on 6/4/13 at 3:49 pm to wickowick
Yeah, we are working 10 hours shifts this week. Thankfully, that filled about 8 of the 10 for me. 
Posted on 6/5/13 at 6:28 am to cdaniel76
I read that last night.
The congolese people, have no idea how bad they have it, now that china is taking over. They can keep their hands out all they want, its only going to get worse for those people.
I love the lack of supply and demand economics with the egg sales. Idiots.
The congolese people, have no idea how bad they have it, now that china is taking over. They can keep their hands out all they want, its only going to get worse for those people.
I love the lack of supply and demand economics with the egg sales. Idiots.
Posted on 6/5/13 at 7:54 am to Cracker
The part of the story how the country is rich in natural resources yet has no development and no money due to wars and corruption and how the older people remember the days of colonization and long for its return because even though it was not perfect it was better than what they have now. Very powerful...
Posted on 6/5/13 at 7:57 am to wickowick
I finished reading this Monday night and was like "Give me more!!!"
This report of their's from the Congo is only a few hundred miles of this couple's TWO YEAR trans-continental journey, spanning Asia and Africa. I want to read about everything from their journey. Simply amazing!
This report of their's from the Congo is only a few hundred miles of this couple's TWO YEAR trans-continental journey, spanning Asia and Africa. I want to read about everything from their journey. Simply amazing!
This post was edited on 6/5/13 at 7:59 am
Posted on 6/5/13 at 8:01 am to cdaniel76
Bookmarked
Posted on 6/5/13 at 8:13 am to cdaniel76
quote:
This report of their's from the Congo is only a few hundred miles of this couple's TWO YEAR trans-continental journey, spanning Asia and Africa. I want to read about everything from their journey. Simply amazing!
Have you found the threads for the other trips? I looked around with no luck...
Posted on 6/5/13 at 8:30 am to wickowick
I didn't find any either. I checked the OP's post history and aside from a few posts from before the trip, when he was searching for advice on preparing the vehicle, there's nothing else.
He gave a personal website in one of his posts but even it hasn't been updated much.
OPEN THIS IN GOOGLE CHROME SO IT CAN TRANSLATE FOR YOU. SITE IS WRITTEN IN DUTCH.
He gave a personal website in one of his posts but even it hasn't been updated much.
OPEN THIS IN GOOGLE CHROME SO IT CAN TRANSLATE FOR YOU. SITE IS WRITTEN IN DUTCH.
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