Gazing in the Congo (DRC): the dark heart of Africa (2006-2017)

[Stan]

Hey Tom !

Yep and it was our old friends who did it

Nasty bunch those Interahamwe. I'm kinda sorta relieved we left before cannibalism became popular again

Good slide show here on life in the Congo

I really like the dirt bike stuck in the mud...reminds me of exploring with Stan

Looks like time stood still in most of those pics. Just showed my better half; she nearly got sick. Abysmal how it looks to me like any other day in Goma or Kinshasa (I reckon one can adjust to nearly anything these days).

Can't make out the 'arrow' or 'R' on the motocross front fender clearly, but it looks very familiar... I think it was a mining company's emblem at one time. Looks like ownership has suddenly changed hands

And then here is the latest from Goma. Lake Kivu is still bubbling:

Seems the majority of the SITREP is situation normal. Love the being demoted part with subsequent salary decreases - that's a keeper. Funny those Chinese, they were far sneakier in the 80s and 90s with their activities in Zaire. Now getting caught with their pants down translates into slight discomfort just ahead of the Olympics and perhaps a more handsome back scratching at the Ministry of Mines this EOM

For the uninitiated, lake Kivu is one of three dead lakes containing high dissolved volumes of CO2. While most of the fruit cakes (volcanologists) that Tom hung out with in Goma didn't see the lake bed doing an overturn (roll over) anytime soon, which would have made the genocide and refugee crisis look like a picnic (as Tom once wrote... "God missed his chance on making a statement on genocide"), I often wondered about our existence at the lake house every evening watching Nyiragongo smoke and her fishers glow, and the lake dropping 4 feet over night

Stan--excellent, and sobering, piece. Thanks for pointing it out.

Hey Rex ! There's a few more links, but we collectively decided not to post last night. Kinda real sick Sierra.

Regards, Stan