Democratic Republic of Congo: Lubumbashi to Kinshasa

Two Belgians traveled through the former Belgian Congo and posted their photos and observations on line. Here are some excerpts:

“It is that old generation that longs back to the colonial time. They acknowledge there were a lot of problems in that period and that they were discriminated by the white coloniser. But at least they had a functional country. They had roads and schools. They had jobs and could buy supplies. And above all, there was stability. Now there is nothing but uncertainty . . . waiting for the next war to start.”

“The first village we encountered seemed deserted at first, but as soon as we entered the village we saw people coming at us from all sides. They had machetes and sticks and were shouting. ‘Des Blancs. Argent!’–‘White people. Money!’ They were all over the place. This was not good! I floored it and sped out of the village. A rock hit the back of our car. What in gods name was that all about? Very few Congolese had made us feel welcome, but this was plain aggression! It scared the hell out of us. We passed another village, and once again a mob formed as soon as they heard us coming. Machetes flying round, racist slogans shouted. Once again we did not give them the chance to get near us and blasted out of the village. They tried following us. This was turning ugly, if we would get stuck here we would be in big trouble, these people did not want a chat!”