We traveled
a bit more southwards and now enter the "once-owned-by-Belgium" Congo. As in Chad we
were required to have a visa to enter this country.
Don’t forget to exchange
your Euros for some Congolese Francs, but it’s not a disaster when you have
forgotten this because there are ATM’s available in Congo.
First of
all we went fishing in the largest lake of Congo, Tanganyikameer. Michiel
caught a fish of almost one meter long, unfortunately he had to throw the
animal back into the water.
In this
country everyone seems to be poor, at least everyone but the government. The
citizens of Congo are among the poorest in the world. But Congo as a country is
considered to be the richest country in the world thanks to its natural
resources. Their raw minerals are estimated to be worth 24 trillion US$.
It was hard
to see the lack of respect for the women in this country. Violence against
women seems to be perceived as normal by most of the people in Congo.
French is de main language in this country, but unfortunately most people we’ve
met speak some kind of dialect between French and Dutch.
Music is
almost as important as drinking water for the Congolese. So we tried to learn a
little bit of the local dance style and then went to a pub for a drink and
tested our skills on the dance floor. This was a great evening, it sure is a good idea to have a drink, or two.
The food
was not great, we learned to eat the national dish which is called “moambe”,
which means “8” because it’s made out of eight ingredients.
Travelling
in Congo is not something you do for fun, because it’s extremely dangerous. Try to avoid traveling, travel only when necessary. The
public transport is absolutely unreliable, luckily we had a very good guide who
knew where to go and how to get there with the least amount of danger.
Sources:
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