I must admit I don't like asphalt. I enjoy driving on dirt roads. Josephine does not always agree with me regarding that matter. But this time I was properply pleased to see this. It would take the stress out of our rear axle. And it was good to know that our 4th and 5th gear were still there! ;-)

The road is Chinese made. You can recognize the chinese from a distance by the big straw hats they wear. Everywhere in Congo people, especially kids, would shout "Chinois" (Chinese in French) to us. For many Congolese everybody who is not black is "Chinois". That is due to the large community of Chinese living in Congo.

The relationship between China and Congo is worrying to say the least. I will not bore you to death with the details, but if you are interested, do a google search on the deals regarding the mining concessions and you will find plenty to read.
In short: China has lend Congo many billions for rebuilding their infrastructure. Almost all infrastructure works are then outsourced to.. Chinese companies. The chinese companies bring their own - underpaid - workforce and provide little to no employment to the local population. In return for the loan China gets huge mining concessions. Astronomical 'signature fees' were appointed to the officials who signed the contracts ofcourse. The whole deal is immensly beneficial for the Chinese, but the question is what is in it for the Congolese?
And what happens when the 5 billion is spent? They'll have a few nice roads and bridges. But what about maintenance of this infrastructure?

After a few police checks (no more talks about the permit here... ) we arrive din Kikwit. So many people on the street! Such a big city! We got lost a few times but eventually arrived in the mission of the Frère Oblats (Oblates). A very energetic Congolese, Frère Jean-Marie welcomes us. We had also hoped to meet Frère Léon, a belgian missionary, but unfortunately he was in Kinshasa. The mission has Internet access (via satelite, only a few hours a day) and a guest house where we set up our camp.

When the darkness fell it was striking how little light we could see in this big city. Kikwit has an estimated population in excess of 300.000 people. But there is no electricity. The rich can afford to run a generator for a few hours a day, the rest has to make do with candles, oil lamps or nothing at all.

__________________
2006-2007-2008 : Brussels - Cape town - Tokio - Lubumbashi - Brussels

http://www.radiobaobab.be

Progress after 31 days since we left Lubumbashi. 36 days since we entered Congo
Kikwit

__________________
2006-2007-2008 : Brussels - Cape town - Tokio - Lubumbashi - Brussels

http://www.radiobaobab.be

This has been riveting. I have been following your thread on here and on Expedition Portal. Wonderful stuff! Thanks for sharing. I think my favorite part has been the "and we tipped over, and again, and again, and again" Cracked me up when you said that your idea of getting through it likely would not appear in any 4x4 magazines!

Well thanks again for sharing, it has been very pleasurable to read.

Cheers

__________________
Brian C, -Traveler Relations,
The Muskoka Foundation -Volunteer Programs For Overland Travelers

Yours is a great story - please keep it up.

__________________
JOHN WELLS
+2783 350-5487

Great story, please keep it coming

Fred,

What's taking you from continuing your story! You are keeping everybody waiting mate! This is not yet the end, is it?

cheers,
noel

Hello

I've moved a couple of posts from here to the HU Bar. Please continue your "Off Topic" and "Inappropriate for this thread" discussions there or offline.

This is a ride (or drive...) report sub-forum where people take a lot of time and effort to tell their tales, without being interrupted by off topic chatter. If you like Fred's report, say so (we all like praise; in this case it's highly justified). If you have any other views please voice them elsewhere.

Thanks,
Over and Out

__________________

TBS.com

Day 32

We felt at ease here in Kikwit. We could feel the stress of the state of roads making place for the stress on how to get our car back in a proper condition again. Energetic Frère Jean-Marie came to us with a suggestion to use his mechanics. He had two guys who did all the maintenance stuff on the mission's vehicles. Fair enough. They made an inventory of all the required parts and set off to see if they were available and how much they would cost.

This left us waiting at the mission's guesthouse. They had simple rooms for 15$US a night but without mosquito nets. So we camped in the yard and used the rooms to have a toilet and a shower (what a luxury!).

Every morning we were in Kikwit we would get a visit from the same souvenir seller. It's the first time we met somebody who sells souvenirs in Congo. Not surprisingly as there aren't many people to sell souvenirs to. It was an older guy and he had this determination that souvenir sellers have. We are always very hesitant of showing interest as that means they will not stop trying until you buy something. But we gave in in the end as he had some cool looking stuff and he actually entertained us quite well. We showed interest in a chess game but could not agree on a price.

Later that day the mechanics came back with a list of parts. Most of the parts were not available in Kikwit and would have to be ordered in Kinshasa. And the others were just plain expensive. 200$ for a chinese-made battery, this reeked. We honestly asked Frère Jean Marie about this and he seemed to be a bit embarrased about the topic. He did not deny the prices were inflated but he shrugged at it and said we could afford it anyway. That was a bit dissapointing because we couldn't.

Then came a phone call. It was Paolo, an Italian working for CTB. We had received his contacts earlier and sent him a text message that we were in Kikwit. Paolo, being Italian, has this Italian way of talking and handling things. Flamboyant is the right word I think. He was the right man in the right place for sure!

Paolo is one of these guys that breath Africa. He had lived and worked for many years in Africa, seemingly only in the most horrific troubled areas. He lived in Kikwit now. He would help us to try to get a second opinion on the parts and at the same time invited us to stay at his place.

That night Paolo took us to a restaurant. The only 'restaurant' in Kikwit that served something else then fufu. The only restaurant per se. People here do not have a habit of eating out. The restaurant was a bit hidden away in a flooded backyard and consisted of little more then a few plastic chairs and tables and a makeshift braai. It was owned and run by an older Lebanese guy. He had this horrible cough and looked terrible as if he could drop dead any minute. A younger Lebanese was there too, he had recently arrived 'for business'. I did not ask about his business. I probably did not want to know. But he was a nice guy and even brought a Sheesha. These three were the only 'white people' in Kikwit. They would come together almost every night for a greasy meatskewer with french fries. It's the only thing there was. I loved it.

Why is that they only really hanged out with the three of them in a city of many hundred thousands? Paolo was married to a Congolese (she lived in Kinshasa) so he even spoke the language. The real reason is that once you befriend Congolese one gets caught up in the 'favour' mentality. You cannot deny a favour to a friend. Paolo, as the responsible for CTB had a 'business' to run. He would have hundreds of friends instantly and very soon the first 'favours' would be asked. Jobs, material, money. It would make it impossible for him to work here. He was friendly to his staff and treated them with respect. But he did not befriend them, because it would make his life impossible.

Day 33

The souvenir seller came back and we barthered and joked for another hour but we did not agree on a price.

Together with Paolo we went to the Technical School of Kikwit (not sure of the name, not the one of the Jesuïtes). This is where youngsters get their education as mechanics. The teachers had tons of experience and should know Landcruisers in-and-out. After some negotiation and thanks to Paolo we finally agreed on a price. It was less then half of what we were orignally asked for by the other mechanics. And they would start the work that same afternoon in the yard of CTB.

First job was to dismantle both the front and rear axles. The front to see what was broken. And the rear to fix the leaking seals and see if we could find some planetary gears that were in better condition then the ones we bought in Dibaya-Lubwe.



Front diff had the same problem as the rear one. Only here both the sun and the planetary gears would have to be replaced.



These would need to be ordered from Kinshasa and flown in. That's not easy task to get organized.

By now we also nearly ran out of cash.

__________________
2006-2007-2008 : Brussels - Cape town - Tokio - Lubumbashi - Brussels

http://www.radiobaobab.be

We had contacted the homefront with the question if they could find a way of getting money to us. Western Union and the likes would only do transactions to Kinshasa, but not to Kikwit. The fees Western Union charges are also pretty ridiculous. In the end we managed to get in contact with a Belgian lady in Kinshasa who owns a big company there. Our familiy would transfer the money to her Belgian account. As soon as she had received the money she would hand the money in US$ over to a contact we had in Kinshasa. That contact would then buy the parts we need, box it and put it on an airplane to Kikwit. Easy! :roll:

That night we were introduced to Timothé, Paolo's cuisinier. Timothé had this angry way of talking and looking, but friendly at the same time. He had special skills. Paolo (and his predecessor in Kikwit) had learned him the art of Italian cooking. He could cook up a pasta - from local ingredients - that an Italian would not critisize... and that is a feature! He was probably the best Italian chef in DRC!

Day 34

The souvenir seller was back that morning, he was in a bit of a hurry because a UN convoy would come for a day visit today. A quick round of haggling but we did not agree on a price.

We made use of the privacy Paolo's house provided to finally relax a bit. It's been a hectic month for us! Josephine decided that now was a good time to get rid of my beard and the carpet on my head. After 40 days of neglect, I couldn't agree more



While we waited for the money transfer and the parts to arrive we explored a bit of Kikwit (without a camera, we were suspicious enough already). In the city center 'on the hill' is an area that must have once been a very posh area. I could see the plush gardens and big villa's in my imagination, it was now transformed into rundown buildings. Green walls and makeshift corrugated roofs.

There was a recent asphalt road connecting the RN1 to the airport and across the only bridge over the Kwilu river. Most of the other roads had varying kinds of decaying asphalt or just dirt. On the asphalt road in town there were 'road works'. A big pile of sand was blocking the road with just a narrow path to get a car trough. They had made a toll booth ofcourse. Paolo told us the pile of sand was there now for over 4 years. They would constantly dig away and move the pile back and forth. There were no works, the road underneath the sand was perfectly fine.

Next to the river were a few 'bars'. A few plastic chairs and a cooler with hot drinks (no electricity-no money for ice). The owner of the bar was really glad to see us. He was complaining about business, the prices of basic goods had gone up recently and even less people now had a budget to go for a drink.

The price of eggs had gone up too. Josephine went to buy eggs at the small mission of the sisters. They too were complaining as they actually had too many eggs. They did not dare to reduce the price as that would make the other 'eggsalesman' angry. But it was clear that people could no longer afford eggs now. The sisters kept a monkey as a pet. It was a vicious monkey. Strange pet!

The mechanics fixed what they could without the missing parts (the gears, one hub for the rear axle + all the bolt required for the hub). We got hold of two new batteries. Indian made this time. 100$ a pop. They were junk but it worked for now.



Day 35 - 36 - 37

The souvenir guy came every day, a bit of haggling, a bit of talking. But we could not agree on a price.

We waited and generaly had an enjoyable stay in Kikwit... Paolo is one the most interesting persons we ever met. You should hear his stories!

__________________
2006-2007-2008 : Brussels - Cape town - Tokio - Lubumbashi - Brussels

http://www.radiobaobab.be