I'm returning to DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo, the "big" Congo, former Belgian Congo) for a year, leaving on June 27th from the USA. I'll live in the small village of Epulu at the heart of the Ituri forest. Epulu is the headquarters of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve - protected habitat for this "forest" giraffe which is found only there. The okapis have an prepubescent/awkward appearance, but their beauty is a gentle, shy disposition and the rarity of an encounter with them. Epulu is the home to a mix of gardes de parc, conservation biologists, and M'buti pygmies - the original inhabitants of these forests, who are allowed to live and hunt within the park, as they have since time immemorial.
My work will support Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) activities throughout the DRC - projects in the swamp forests of Salonga, lowland gorilla habitat of Kahuzi-Biega, volcanoes of Virunga, and the endless green mountains of Itombwe. How can I not be thrilled to see the magnificent scenery, and to learn from people who have struggled and persisted through the instability of life in Congo, yet exhibit a beautiful 'joie de vivre!'? Keep up with my adventure here!
