Arrived in Epulu!

Dear Friends,

I've reached Epulu after an interesting journey which I could only
make with the help of the street-smart, experienced helpers (drivers,
market-navigators, friendly folks at WCS offices in Beni & Mambasa).
Epulu is a small village at the center of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve,
which functions as the headquarters for conservationists and park
guards, and perhaps more tourists some day!

I say the journey was interesting, because I just realized how
helpless I am. After staying in Entebbe, Uganda for two nights, then
flying to Beni, DRC and staying there for two nights, we departed from
Beni to Epulu for what ended up being an all-day affair.

First of all, with my limited French, its difficult to think of what I
want to say (which I'm not all that great at in English!).
Nevertheless, people graciously and forgivingly try to figger me out!

The drivers Jupiter and Jean-Pierre successfully navigated the
washed-out roads, which having other African roads from which to
compare (Bundibugyo) - were not horrible.

The river-crossing where a bridge is out is very interesting! We did
unfortunately run a motorcycle off the road which was carrying two
gentlemen. The rules of the road, are that the biggest gets right of
way, and they need to follow the track, even if its on the opposite
side of the road (they aren't so much like lanes).

The gentlemen were riding the opposite direction as us and tried to
move off to the side, and ran straight into the ditch. We stopped as
the shaken moto-riders brushed themselves off, and looked at their
bike in the bushes which was now facing the opposite direction. They
were fine and the bike was fine, and we avoided major confrontation.
When we arrived in Mambasa, which at 70 km from Epulu, is the closest
town with a major market and fuel. Some people approached Jean-Pierre
and and some heated discussion ensued when they tried to get the
police involved, saying someone had died because of us. It was
clearly a ridiculous attempt to gain advantage from our organization.

Further on, a goose ran into our truck and was severely injured or
killed (I couldn't see if the owner who ran after it with a machete -
needed to use it). Immediately JP stopped again as a crowd formed -
$10 appeased the owner enough it seemed.

After fueling up, we arrived in Epulu around 5 at night. It was just
in time to greet a few people and find my house (chez moi). Its a
simple house without electricity for the moment, and with an
out-kitchen, out-house, and out-bath. I was offered hot water for my
bucket bath - nice! There is wildlife literally out my back door -
red-tailed monkeys, hornbills, and birds I'll have to learn to
identify. And also inside! Something cleaned up my dirty dish and
moved a lemon peel across the room, and I won the battle with this
hellacious-looking large insect that had glowing eyes and darted after
me. I supposed we'll learn to coexist to some extent, or better yet,
that they'll learn to fear me.

So far so good - Its gonna be fun time in heart of the jungle!

--
Joel A. Masselink
+++++++++++++++++
jmasselink@gmail.com
Wildlife Conservation Society
Epulu, DR Congo

Returning to "big" Congo

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!

Unrest in North Kivu

The offensive by the CNDP (National Congress for Defense of the People - Congolese Tutsis) rebel group was extremely aggressive this week....they seized control of Virunga Park HQ, and Congolese army and UN compounds. They are getting propped up by the Rwandan gov't. The Congolese national army is a big problem. As soon as the CNDP starts firing, they run to the hills, and start looting and hurting the people they're meant to protect. The civilians are at the mercy of the CNDP, who thankfully are not outright attacking them. However, the CNDP are certainly living off what civilians have left behind, and are not overly concerned with protecting them. They are expansionist, and seeking greater control over the North Kivu region. They control most access to Virunga park, and some motivation for this offensive may be plans to control gorilla tourism, charcoal-harvesting, logging, and mining for themselves and Rwanda. Politically, CNDP also wants the DRC gov't to finally move the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide or their progeny to be extracted from the national army and possibly moved back to Rwanda to either stand trial or be reintegrated. This process is tough - after 14 years, its difficult to decide who really should be DDR'd(disarmament-demobilize-reintegration) and sent to Rwanda. This lack of clarity plays into the hands of the CNDP to expand their power. Let's hope some political diplomacy will be able to quickly bring some solution to this - such as pursuing DDR of the Rwandan genocidaires, and offering amnesty and quick integration of the CNDP into the national army. Unless a mandate for international special forces to do battle with the CNDP, it is quite apparent that the CNDP ambitions will not be quelled by the current MONUC mandate to fire only when fired upon, and the undisciplined national army. Thankfully the international community seems to be rapidly pursuant of a solution...lets hope it is rapid enough to save some lives of civilians who are caught up in this mess.

Post-DRC Publicity

Hi, back in the US, I've paid attention to how often DRC is in international news. The best sources of news are MONUC and BBC. Tuesday night, National Geographic Explorer is hosting back to back 1-hr programs focused on different issues in the Congo - and I urge you to watch these informative views of this complicated, fascinating place.

Tuesday, Sept 16 on National Geographic Channel
9 EST - Gorilla Murders - Virunga Natl Park, East DRC
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/explorer/3817/Overview

10 EST - Congo Bush Pilots - have served as the only reliable transport during the last 30 yrs, flying humanitarians, missionaries and businessmen all over the jungle.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/explorer/3818/Overview

I am so fortunate to have had a great learning opportunity this summer, and am thankful that all travels were safe...planes, cars, motorcycles, border crossings...I am fortunate. People who shouldn't get hurt sometimes do....a 23 yr old professional pilot flew me all the way across DRC on a humanitarian flight 3 weeks before he piloted the same flight and perhaps the same plane crashed. It was carrying a copilot and 15 passengers and bad weather somehow caused it to crash into a mountain. He had amassed an incredible amount of hours on the Beechcraft 1900 and other planes, but something went wrong very quickly between Kisangani and Bukavu. This NGO was the only airline that the USG, UN, and other humanitarians are permitted to fly, and has a perfect flight safety record since its founding in the 1980s. Its a tragedy, as a talented man's life was cut far too short, but he truly lived and served in his given years.

Fortunately, the two other staff members who worked my flight were not on the plane that crashed. Rest in Peace to the pilots and humanitarians who have given their lives in the service of others.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/explorer/3818/Overview#tab-Photos/0

The Journey in Ituri (Pt 2.)

After spending our night in Epulu, Jean-Remy and I went to visit the Okapis in the "zoo". For conservation purposes, 14 okapis are kept in large open-air pens, complete with trees and close lines holding the branches they eat. Using their long tongues, okapis prefer to eat upwards like their taller cousins. They are strikingly innocent and beautiful. They freeze still and stare when they hear people. One eventually was brave enough to approach the fence to say hello...tres jolie she was! Their body is similar to a horse, head to a giraffe, and rear-end has the black-white pattern of a zebra.

Later, around the park ranger facilities I heard a loud cry, and saw a baby chimpanzee tethered to a table leg. The story was that its mother was killed and the baby was abandoned and ill, and turned into park authorities. It had to have been the saddest looking little animal I've ever seen. Hopefully they had some way to get it to an orphanage.

After a long journey, we returned to Beni. The town has 4 Monuc bases, but fortunately there is little for these blue helmets(from South Africa, India, and somewhere else) to do! It was fascinating to visit Beni after spending time with missionaries just across the border in Uganda. They've lived in the Bundibugyo district for 15 years or more, only 5 miles from the border, but due to chronic insecurity and uncertainty, have ventured little into the DRC. They receive patients at the health center who speak French or are Congolese residents, or sport the local "French cut" flattop hairstyle, but see very little commerce go thru to Congo - save for a few massive road graters recently. The border has basically been a barrier for the missionaries travels and work. It has has left Bundibugyo underdeveloped - seemingly the end of the road, cut off from the rest of Uganda by the towering Rwenzori mountains, and little thru traffic to DRC. During the upheavals of civil war, many rebels made chaos of this border region. They had myriad questions when we met, about what it looks like, how its different, is it just forest?, etc. It felt no different from Bundibugyo. Mud and wattle houses lined the roads which were crowded with tons of people/livestock/transport, while little children relentlessly called out to me "Mzungu! Mzungu!". Save for the French signs, its the same on the surface. People probably have low standards for local government and services.

The road between Bundibugyo and Beni was improved by the EU in 2005. The guys watching the gate on the road told me it was easy to pass thru to Uganda - 72 kilometers to the border, through the primeval forest of Virungas National Park. Unfortunately I was unable to take this fascinating route this time, but hopefully others will now! Some of the missionaries have longed to pass into Congo to try to spot an okapi, so with the relative stability of this micro-region, they will be enabled to fulfill those desires.

Voila! Bienvenu!!!

Bonjour du monde! I am back in the USA already- enjoying summertime! This is after a wild week of travel to 3 countries and transportation methods of varying comfort levels. AirServ flew via a few other outposts which gave me some great aerial views of the primeval forest landscape of central DRC. Finally we arrived in Goma, the city bounded by all of the following: volcano, beautiful lake, Rwanda; and refugees and rebels lingering not far away. Its a beautiful setting...with any sense of stability would no doubt attract lots of tourists.

After asking around about tourism in the area, I was steered to head to Rwanda. As an American, no visa is required, and the place is anglophone friendly. Gustave, the chauffeur, drove with me to Volcans National Park thru the terraced Milles Collines (thousands hills) and tea fields of the countryside. Beautiful! That park is the one to visit for tracking mountain gorillas high up on the slopes of green volcanoes. However, I neither had $500 or the time, but got to imagine how cool it would be to sit close to these humble beasts for an hour.

In Beni, a smallish city north of Goma in north Kivu, I met with Wildlife Conservation Society who drove with me the 300 km to Epulu in the middle of the Okapi Faunal Reserve - a world heritage site and famous protected area in the Ituri Rainforest. The drive was beautiful...the roads surprisingly good and crowded with smart looking people and livestock. We killed or straddled no less than 5 chickens and goats as we barrelled along. The ride also included a ferry ride across the Ituri River, whose bridge had collapsed a year ago under the weight of an overloaded truck. This has really disrupted business for those who transit thru, but has spawned some local economic activity - vegetable/fruit markets, boat builders, supervisors and ferry pullers(?!) - definition: those on the boat who hold and pull the rope that spans both shores hand over hand.

Jean-Remy, the WCS officer, and I hiked to a forest plot of 10 hectares on which every tree has been mapped and catalogued - the process takes a year, and has been done 3 times in to monitor 5 year intervals of forest dynamics. A few BaMbuti pygmies are caretakers for the plot's camp, and help a Congolese PhD student researching Lianas...its fun to look at these vines and to try to figure out where they start and end. They know the forest well...every fruit, tree species, footprint, and disturbance. One of the pygmy guides said something about rain...as I strained my ear, within 10 seconds began to hear the distant sound of rain. Luckily the canopy protected us from feeling anything more than a light mist. We returned to the agriculture by settlements along the road, and after 6 hours in the forest finally saw some monkeys...3 or 4 different kinds. We stayed right next to the Epulu River at the home of American primatologists - After climbing around a tree by the river, Jean-Remy told me about the home-school teacher who was attacked by a nile crocodile there! We closed the night with a Primus and some plastic chairs under the moonlit sky in the tiny village's Okapi-emblazoned bar. What a place! More to come about the journey later....

Well..that is just the first few days...but

Into the Bush

I am 10 days from departing Africa, and finally have an exit strategy. It is pretty much the coolest I could have ever hoped for. After 2.5 months of developing a macroview of USG-funded conservation efforts in the Congo Basin, and being lost in the loveable chaos that is Kinshasa….I’ll leave the megacity for the forest to visit on-the ground conservation in Okapi Faunal Reserve, a World Heritage Site in Ituri District, DRC. Okapis, or “forest giraffes” – are odd looking, and have much shorter necks than their savannah relatives an adaptation to foraging in forests. This region has multiple conservation issues – rare endemic species, pressure from hunting, degraded local livelihoods due to human immigration for economic opportunities like gold mining,.
Monday, Aug 11 I depart to Goma, the eastern city on Lake Kivu, which gets partially destroyed every few decades by nearby volcanic eruptions. It is also the de-facto IDP camp of the hot-zone of the various convoluted conflicts. For two nights, I hang out there in transit to Beni, a city one hour north by plane. From Beni, I’ll travel about 300km on improved roads (gravel tracks) with conservationists from WCS through primordial forest to the ranger station in Okapi reserve. A high population of pygmies live and hunt in the park and use inobtrusive methods (hunting duikers with dogs and nets I think), while the “national highway” that bisects the reserve for commerce between Bunia and Kisangani, opens the park to human traffic and increased human migration. The settlers clear thickly forested land for agriculture and hunt with snares and rifles. The soil is quite poor in nutrients and requires frequent rotation and long fallow periods. The human presence in and around the park is factored into management procedures as CARPE and conservationists try to preserve livelihoods of natives and key species.
Nearby is the only legit logging concession in all of eastern DRC, for a company who leases the land and pays taxes. They have problems with immigrants on the fringes of the property cutting timber for themselves. The company has a saw mill which produces value-added timber products for export.
After returning to Beni, I’ll take a taxi thru the safe savannah part of Virungas park north of Lake George to the Uganda border. There I’ll meet great friends for a few days in Queen Elizabeth NP and some wildlife. What an opportunity ya? It has been a heck of an time, learning about this complex place, and learning about USG activities to promote conservation and management of natural resources of the Congo Basin.