Hi All,
Having just arrived in Kolwezei from Kinshasa, I would like to affirm what Steven has stated in his post in terms of fuel, people and crazy corruption. Myself and jaybee started out from Kinshasa on the 20th of July on a KLR 650 and KTM 690 respectively.

No issues what so ever up to Kitwit and slept in a hotel in the center of town for $15 each. However from then on, things turned pear shaped (things took a turn for the worse). Unlike Steven, we opted for the southern route through Tshipaka.

We are both experienced riders on bikes more or less designed for this kind of travel. I can only describe the next 5 days as 'the sandy road from hell'. On our worst day we managed little more than 40kms, but we persevered as the only other option was to turn around and go back, which was not a pleasant option.

Although some parts of the road to Tshipaka were 'enjoyable' othertimes we were exhausted from picking up bikes dropped in sandy tracks and dealing with curious villagers. However, there was no problem in finding food along the track if you don't mind fufu and bush meat. Water was always provided free in villages, but it is wise to treat this water before drinking. We usually filled up a 5L container daily. I started out try to give 500 fr for this but actually many times the money was refused. It is customary to give water for free to thirsty travelers. In the end I would buy peanuts and sardines from a small shop and ask them for water, that way I was at least giving something back to people who don't have much. Bottled water was not commonly available because people simply can't afford it. I didn't see any communal water pumps/boreholes until almost in Kolwezei, way in the south.

During our 'adventurous 5 days' we dreamed of cold drinks and fresh water and maybe a pizza in Tshipaka. So it was quite a shock to arrive and be sent packing almost immediately. We happened upon a police checkpoint and eventually released but one of the rozzers was drunk and ended up following us on a bike taxi and making a scene. A scene in DRC involving a mbele normally results in a crowd of at least 50 shouting people. He tried to remove the key from my ignition but i was able to swat his hand away.

Chaos and mayhem ensued. Whilst talking with another official a few metres from my bike, some other guys started wheeling away my bike, which they promptly dropped. Because of the crowds I did not notice this, I was busy holding on to our passports and wondering how to get out of this mess.

Eventually after regaining possession of my bike and ensuring I had our passports, we just decided to get out of there and took off across one of the bridges crossing one of two rivers in the centre of town. Basically 'friendly' people in the crowd were telling us to do so and before it got more funky we grabbed our chance and got out of there. That is for about another 200m where we were stopped once again. I was ready to blow right though this stoppage, but jaybee (despite his taliban-like appearance) was able to sweet talk the lady copper and we were allowed to proceed within a minute or two.

We had to sneak back into the edges of town to do all our money changing, food/supply purchasing and fueling up before taking off back to the safety of the bush again with our tails between our legs.

Tshipaka turned out to be the epicentre of all the messed up things we had heard about DRC but the further we got away from there things started to get a bit more manageable. In Kananga we stayed at the Catholic Mission described in Stevens post above and the father there was a very nice man who fed us and was extremely hospitable.

The road conditions from then on are as Steven has described however we were prepped for worse conditions as our benchmark was the road into Tshipaka, which I would never want to do again in my life. We sweat so much during this time that I started drinking oral re-hydration salts because I was getting muscle cramps in the night.

However, we decided to bush camp and sleep outside every night except for Kananga and Mbuji-Mayi. We avoided villages as the whole freak show concept didn't appeal to us. In Mbuji - Mayi we slept in the grounds of the quite impressive Catholic Mission again and were treated to a sumptuous feed as well *clap*.

People like these restored my faith in humanity a bit because sometimes I found some people to be just plain rude and aggressive. Some peoples behavior was not justifiable and in the same vein as making monkey noises is unacceptable in the football field. Luckily I had a good book to read in the night times which was able to distract me from the daily grind of dealing with ignorance.

However, it's not to say that the trip was horrible all round. We had some great motorcycling in places and did meet some fantastic people. However, this crossing is not without its challenges both in the travel part and the moto part. If you really want to cross DRC on an electric uni-cycle or a fork lift, far be it from me to persuade you not to do that, however, you will maximise your chances of completing the crossing in/on a vehicle fit for purpose. In my opinion that is a light/mid weight off road capable motorbike.

I have tried to upload some pictures here, but network is not cooperating at the moment.

Feel free to ask questions, I'm happy to answer anything to best of my abilities.

Jaybee might be able to add some pics or insights as well.

regards All
CJ.

Here's a few pictures of the route, lots and sand and lots of people.

Attached Thumbnails

 

 

 

 

Great posts and great intel peeps!

Hopefully will be ridind the route sometime next year.

Cheers,
RN

Hi folks,


We passed through two weeks ago, almost same time as Cam and John (posts above).

On a 24 year old Yamaha XT600Z tenere and 2001 KLR650.

Contrary to them we followed the Illebo route. Hearing their story I think it is probably better to choose Illebo over Tshikapa, that is if you are not a sand-lover.

We only had 1 really hard day, where we only managed about 50-60km, from Kapia to Mapangu, due to loads of soft sand. The rest were always 100+ km days.

It ‘s good to calculate about 2 weeks (we did about 12 days). (this is in DRY season!)

And as Campbell mentions make sure both rider and motorbike are in good condition before you start and you’ll be alright.
Also be prepared to deal with people that have no clue what the words ‘personal space’ means. Stopping for 2 minutes to buy some bread or fuel will attract 50 people and more in no time. They will not steal from you, but some will touch you, ask questions, just stare at you. The first time this is funny, but not after the tenth time. Trick is to think of a happy place, block yourself from most of it and try to concentrate maybe on those few that are genuinely curious and answer their questions.

I am writing this not to say it’s easy, but it’s also not impossible. (I was quite nervous from the start, reading the story of the 800gs’ s fried clutch...)

A few tips:

• The One Million Dollar Tip: look out for bicycle tracks, if you want to save your energy and go easier on your motorbike!! You will see the main logistical system is people pushing their loads on bicycles. They also hate deep sand, so follow them!
• Staying at Catholic Missions: of the 11 nights we stayed one night in a village (really good experience) and once in construction camp of an Indian mining company. In Mapanga, we stayed at a really nice mission, drawback was that the Congolese abbay liked USD a lot and we didn’t talk about this beforehand. He tried to charge 45USD, we got away with 25USD (still enough). Normally you don’t need to pay, but better to briefly clarify this when you arrive: say you stayed at lots of missions for free before.
• Do you need to change all your USD in francs before leaving Kinshasa?: NO, you can pay EVERYWHERE with USD, although in smaller villages it ‘s better not to pay with 100USD notes. This will take time for them to change, during which the crowds will grow and grow ;-)

Have fun ;-)