Central Africa

Detailed Journal - Kinshasa (DRC) to Yaoundé (Cameroon)

29 November 2002 - 10 December 2002

After a relatively leisurely start I drove to the Landrover dealer in Kinshasa to see what the damage was. Luckily they weren't too busy, and were able to put a team of about four people onto checking out the vehicle. The damage wasn't too bad, although several things that should have been picked up in South Africa needed fixing. The damage was to the tie-rod on the front axle, which I had bent and ripped off one of its supporting brackets. I had also lost all four mud-guards (which we did not replace), and ruined the two passenger steps on the left-hand side (I had previously removed the ones on the right). We removed the remnants.

The remainder of the work was to replace the two front shock-absorbers which had completely failed, while one of the rear shock absorbers (which were Old Man Emu shocks, and only 18-months old with only about 40 000 kilometres on them - and all that was tar road work) was in poor condition (On return to South Africa, the failed one was replaced free of charge). The front and rear brakes pads had also worn right through, and we had to replace several seals and install a new master cylinder kit. The only problem with all this was that everything in DRC is very expensive, and the final bill was over US$ 900. I was impressed by their care for my vehicle - until I realised that the cover was actually to protect their clothes from the mud.

The managing director of the Landrover in DRC was Richard Wynne and his partner Claudine, who drove a Landrover-engined vehicle - A London taxi cab. He was able to confirrm (as far as is practical) that no-one else had tried driving from Angola to DRC. He is also experienced on bad roads, having organized the Camel Trophy in Zaire (as it then was), which was the first (and last) to have been abandoned as too difficult. Very kindly, he put me up for the night.

One aspect of Kinshasa I really enjoyed was that their traffic police all wore blue uniforms with bright yellow steel helmets (but photographing them is not recommended). They were certainly visible, and actually helped the flow of traffic (a rarity in my experience of Africa).

Again, I didn't record any birds.

Richard helped me with getting the ticket and permits to take the ferry across to Brazzaville - a process that took about 3 hours and $75. However, the normal ferry was out of order, so they were using the smaller alternative (which was actually three identical small boats roped together. This only left at 15h00 - and would be the last till Monday - and so I returned to Richard's house where we swam and relaxed until returning to the ferry at 14h00. While the Landrover was loaded at 14h30, the boat only actually left at 15h45, since there were so many other supplies, etc to load.

The trip from DRC to Congo takes about 30 minutes (photo), but by the time the boat had unloaded most of its passengers and supplies it was 18h00 - and only then did it move over to the landing where a vehicle could get off. By then, all the officials had left and gone home for the week-end - taking my passport with them.

So I had no choice but to find a reasonable hotel - which is an impossibility in Brazzaville. In the end some policemen directed me to what they thought would be the best, and it wasn't too bad. The Hotel Ondongowa Makoa was fairly basic and had no restaurant, but did have running water and a flush toilet - and cost CFA 20,000 (about $30). Since they didn't serve food, I had to go out to a nearby street cafe where I managed to get two beers and an omelette for CFA 4,000. I was to discover that Francophone Africa was very expensive!

While at the hotel, I tried to find out if the road to Gabon via Lékoni was indeed passable - the only information I had so far obtained was that "yes, I know of someone who did it once - but that was in the dry season". Here one person who spoke good English informed me that the road to Oyo was in good condition as their president was building an airport there. Also, he thought that there was a good road to Franceville. So maybe I could make the trip OK. This was actually the second of the stretches of the trip where I did not know what to expect. Having endured the first such stretch through northern Angola to DRC, I was obviously apprehensive about the next part - so this was very reassuring.

I did no bird-watching during the day, and although I was looking for various water-birds on the Congo, the only species seen was Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus graellsii).

I left the hotel at sunrise, and soon realised that there was no such thing as a petrol station in Congo - fuel was only sold in bottles and plastic cans at the roadside. Fuel here was around CFA 700 ($1) per litre. I topped up before leaving, as I was not sure what the situation would be ahead.

From Brazzaville I travelled north on the main road which was good tar (photo). Perhaps surprisingly, the road passed through extensive open grassland areas - primarily along the Bateke plateau, the area being surrounded by lowland forest. I was aware of the Lefini Reserve, but was also aware that permission was necessary in advance, and no-one could tell me where. While I drove past the reserve, there were no signs as to where one might enter, and since they were currently reintroducing gorillas, security was likely to be tight, so I didn't want to risk an unauthorized entry. This was the area where I was really hoping to see included:
* Akun Eagle-Owl (Bubo leucostictus)
* Vermiculated Fishing-Owl (Scotopelia bouvieri)

I continued north to Oyo, where I was hoping to travel east to the Congo River (or at least a major tributary). However, the police were quite adamant that this was not permitted - there was no way I could get near the Congo River. This was a major disappointment as several species such as:
* African River Martin (Pseudochelidon eurystomina),
* Congo Sand Martin (Riparia congica),
* Congo Black-bellied Sunbird (Cinnyris congoensis), and
* Bob-tailed Weaver (Brachycope anomala)
could only be found in this area.

Having failed in this goal I drove back about 5 kilometres to where a bridge crossed the Alima river, and where there was a small village - and the locals were quite prepared to allow me to camp by the river.

I left the river after checking out for any interesting species, but no sign of any of the specials. I passed through Oyo and continued to Obouya, where I turned west. The road began as a superb sand road, which was perfectly smooth (first photo). Even so, the odd undulation and stream crossing still lead to my vehicle grounding on even the most innocuous looking area (second photo). This good road continued to Boundji, even though it ran through several forest areas - one of which produced a female Yellow-throated Green Cuckoo sitting on an exposed branch. In the more open areas, Congo Moor-Chat was very common.

After Boundji, the road started to deteriorate, especially in the forest patches, and in one I came across a truck that was stuck. I was not comfortable driving past it since it was a steep drop to a river, and let them try and get it out of the way themselves. After half an hour (of good bird-watching), a Mitsubishi station-wagon appeared, and the driver was not prepared to wait, and got the truckers to dig out the sand and make a path between the truck and the swamp. He got through safely, so I followed. From there on the road was quite good, and one could average about 40 km/h - excluding bird-watching stops.

There was no ferry across a river in Congo - as indicated on the Michelin map - and by 16h00 I had reached the Gabon border, where I had no problems at all on either side. The latter stages of the road were on "upland moors" even though the altitude was only around 700 metres (photo). By 17h00 I had reached Lékoni, and decided to stay in the Hotel Lékoni, which was quite pleasant, if expensive (at CFA 15 000 per night). Even though I was travelling, many species were seen.

I started the day in a small forest patch to the north-east of Lékoni, but had little joy, so then drove to the south to the canyons (photo) and the forest patches around there. The forest edges proved very productive, and I found most of the specials in the area.

I spent much of the late afternoon at the edge of the forest overlooking the lake, and suddenly found that a number of insects decided I was a good meal. In the evening I took the "old" road back from the canyons and was able to locate Finsch's Francolin.

Given the insect life, I decided to stay the next night at the same hotel. Since I didn't have enough CFAs, the hotel manager was prepared to accept US$ instead.

I left Lékoni and drove to Franceville where I could obtain more cash - the road was good tar all the way. It took some time to find the only bank in Franceville (there seemed to be nowhere else to change money there) since it was about 3 kilometres away from the commercial centre of town. This whole process wasted a lot of time, so I only left Lékoni at about 10h30. I then returned back to Kele, where a new tar road had been built running north to Akieni. From here on to Makokou the road was dirt, but in generally very good condition with surprisingly few potholes. I can't find my notes for this stretch, but do remember that two lifers were seen several times - Black-bellied Seedcracker (Pirenestes ostrinus) and Western Bluebill (Spermophaga haematina pustulata).

I actually reached Makokou just after sunset. This was a major surprise as this was the third of the four unknown stretches in the planning phases - I had allowed three days for this section. However, in the thick forest and with the heavy cloud cover, it was dark on the road before sunset. I found the Hotel Belinga Palace, which had recently been renovated, and was a very pleasant place to stay. That evening, I discovered that the Lékoni insects were rather nastier than I had imagined!

I started off trying to find the Mpassa Research Station, to see if access was possible - since it had been closed down in the early 1990's. To my surprise I found that the (now renamed) Ipassa Research Centre was still very much in existence, and the road to it was being upgraded. At around 09h00, the director Guy Mpion arrived, and we had a pleasant chat - obviously he spoke good English. He was able to give me permission to walk around the centre, and to also walk along the main track into the reserve. One of the biologists named Augustin was going in to the forest to carry out more research, so he showed me the main track.

After he left to start his work, I spent the rest of the day (until about 15h00) birding this main track, with considerable success. At 15h00, the rain started in earnest, so I returned to the vehicle, and then went back to town, where the rain cleared up in the late afternoon, and I tracked down Gosling's Apalis by the bridge over the river. Since there was virtually no place to camp - other than the Research Centre (which was not allowed) - I stayed at the hotel.

That evening I met with Guy, and we discussed what birding I could do over the next few days. He went out of his way to set things up for me, for which I was extremely grateful.

Friday 6^th December 2002

I arranged to pick him up at his house the next morning and take him to the Research Station at 06h30 so I could get some early birding in. However, I had to return and drop him off at his house at 08h00. To my embarrassment, he had left his office keys at his home, and so just had to wait around while I was birding. Anyway after I had dropped him off at his house, I returned and spent the rest of the day on the main track by the water tower Luckily I had driven my Landrover there, because it rained heavily for about 4 hours in total at various times during the day. Even so, a great day's birding.

However, I still missed quite a few species that I had hoped to find in the area:
* Plumed Guineafowl (Guttera plumifera)
* Black Dwarf Hornbill (Tockus hartlaubi)
* Black-collared Lovebird (Agapornis swinderniana)
* Akun Eagle-Owl (Bubo leucostictus)
* Vermiculated Fishing-Owl (Scotopelia bouvieri)
* Grey-throated Rail (Canirallus oculeus)
* Spot-breasted Ibis (Bostrychia rara)
* African River-Martin (Pseudochelidon eurystomina)
* Yellow-throated Nicator (Nicator vireo)
* Yellow-crowned Weaver (Ploceus dorsomaculatus)
* Red-crowned Malimbe (Malimbus coronatus)
even though they should all still be possible from my planned eastern DRC and West African trips.

Saturday 7^th December 2002

Augustin arrived at the hotel at 07h00, and we departed on the road east towards Mekambo, the best site for Rockfowl. It was 150 kilometres to the east, which we were able to cover in 3 hours - again the road was in very good condition. This was Augustin's home village, so he knew everyone there, and was able to arrange for one of the local hunters to act as our guide. It was then a one and a half hour walk to reach the Rockfowl cave. While we knew that they would not be at the cave at this time - you need to be there at dawn or dusk to see them at the cave, I was hoping that we might see them on the way up (or down).

It wasn't a very tough walk, except near the top, where the path had been badly blocked by elephants knocking down trees. It was while we were trying to get past these - and Augustin was shouting to the local guide - that I got brief sighting of the Rockfowl running along the ground. Realizing that there was going to be no chance of getting a better sighting - it was hard walking with all the trailing vines - I continued up to the cave, about 300 metres further up the hill. At this point a new problem arose - I was going to have problems because my knee was already hurting (an ongoing problem that I have suffered from on many occasions).

We then started back down the hill much more slowly, and I really struggled on both up and down stretches - although I had no problems on level ground. Anyway, we finally got back to the village at 15h00, whereupon we set off back to Makokou. After about an hour we came up behind an old, overloaded pick-up, but just before I could overtake, I got a massive attack of cramp, and so stopped for about 10 minutes. When we continued it only took about 5 kilometres to find the pick-up, which was now upside down in the middle of the road. With about 20 people present, it took a bit of time to sort out who needed urgent help, and who was OK. It appeared there were four badly injured, and the rest would be OK if they could get to a nearby village. So first we rolled the vehicle over (using the winch), and then I loaded up the four injured people (an old man who had broken an arm, a baby with a nasty head wound, a boy of 8 with a broken arm, and a girl of about 14 who had broken her leg, and may have damaged her back. Once they were all loaded on the back, it was then a 70 kilometre drive to Makokou, which was the nearest town with a hospital. The trip took about two hours as I had to slow down wherever it got too bumpy. We got them to the hospital, but I am not sure how much good it did them, for the hospital didn't seem to have many facilities. But at least the doctor was able to ease their pain a bit.

Again I stayed at the Hotel Belinga Palace. The one major species that I should have found during the day was Oriole Cuckoo-Shrike (Campephaga oriolina).

Sunday 8^th December 2002

I left just after sunrise, and stopped of at Guy's house to thank him for arranging all the great bird-watching over the last few days. The road east to Lalara was generally fine, although trucks seemed to have no problems getting stuck. In one place, two had got stuck opposite each other, and I reckoned there was just enough room to squeeze between the two. I was just about right - but knocked off the ladder on the side of the vehicle - it only stuck out an inch, but that was too much. Soon after that I found another truck stuck, where I couldn't get round it. I was also unable to pull it out, so had to wait for another truck to come along, and that was able to pull it out far enough so that I could get past. So I then crossed the bad ground, and ran a chain back to the truck and we managed to pull it through.

This road proved to have excellent birds, probably the most spectacular being a Long-tailed Hawk that flew across the road into a tree, fanning its tail as it landed in a tree next to the road.

After reaching Lalara, I turned left, where there was tar for a few hundred yards, and then onto a dirt road. For the next 100 kilometres drive to Alembe there were major road works, so in places the road was excellent, in others a real mess. However, the last 30 kilometres were excellent tar. Once at Alembe, it was another left turn heading east (I had been told this was the much better route than the short-cut through Booue). The road to Ayem is fair, although in a few places there are treacherous washouts (photo). After Ayem I was able to turn right to the La Lope Hotel, which has the exclusive tourist rights to the reserve - no individual may take their own vehicle into the reserve. Having arrived there at 16h30, I tried to find out how much it would cost. The cheapest hotel room was going to be 42 000 CFA, and a further 15 000 CFA for a drive into the reserve. However, the manager (called Christian) said that he would provide me with a good bird-watching guide (called Joachim) who would go out with me the next day, and I wouldn't have to join another group - we would go alone to the best birding spots.

Having settled that, I drove back out of the hotel grounds and camped just next to the railway between the hotel and the village.

Monday 9^th December 2002

While I was hoping to start early, Joachim was late, so I had a chance to do a bit of bird-watching, and found a Squacco Heron nearby. In the end, we only left the hotel at 07h30, and it was about a 30 minute drive to reach the best spot. We were dropped off there and walked a short distance to the site where the Dja River Warbler occurs. It was easy to see, and I was surprised to find a Blue-throated Roller sitting on a perch in the open there as well. After this we continued walking through some of the forest, and had to dodge a small herd of elephants. Many other excellent birds were found, including Rosy Bee-eaters which I was not expecting to see on the trip.

When we were collected at about 11h30, we returned to the hotel where Joachim showed me the Black-faced Canary, a bird I had long been looking for in Zambia. After that, I drove back to Alembe and then headed north to Cameroon. I would have liked to have birded the southern Gabonese coast, but there was no way of driving there - you can only fly into most of the areas.

I reached Lalara at 16h00, and then wondered how I would tackle the next stretch of road. I had been warned that it was in very bad condition, and that it was quite treacherous. Since it was raining again, and the areas was next to a river and quite swampy, I was dreading another stretch like that in DRC. This was the fourth stretch of which I was concerned - I had no idea what to expect, but knew it wouldn't be easy. What a surprise - the small tar stretch at Lalara continued to the north - in fact the full 275 kilometres to the Cameroon border! It was an easy drive. On my way I passed a truly bizarre rock structure by the road (photo). By sunset I had covered about 150 kilometres (just south of Oyem), and camped close to the road. That night I heard Bates's Nightjar (Caprimulgus batesi).

As far as Gabon was concerned - apart form the species already listed above, I was hardly felt I had missed anything I could not find in future (eastern DRC and West Africa).

Tuesday 10^th December 2002

At sunrise I continued north, and reach the ferry at Eboro by 09h00. I had to wait 30 minutes until there were sufficient people to make the crossing worthwhile. Although mine was the only vehicle, the ferry could have taken three. But once there were 20 people present who wanted to cross, off we went. To my amazement, the crossing was free.

Once into Cameroon, Immigration and customs were very much a formality, and so I was off within a couple of minutes. It was then I realised that I had completed failed to pass through Immigration and Customs in Gabon - and this was probably where I should have paid for the ferry! The road to the Ambam, first village in Cameroon, was very poor, but thereafter it was good tar right to Yaoundé, which I reached at 13h00. My first stop was the Chad Embassy, to try and get a visa - otherwise I would have to retrace my steps. I found the embassy quite easily, and was again surprised - the visa was issued in 1 hour. From there I telephoned Guillaume Dzihouk, who I met outside the Hilton Hotel (a simple landmark to find) and we went off to his office. Here we discussed where I was planning to go, and who I could contact at each reserve. We also set up a quick walk the next morning to try and find Rockfowl in a spot just 30 minutes from Yaoundé.

After that Guillaume directed me to a local hotel that would take a credit card - I was having to keep an eye on my cash reserves as I knew that I was unable to use my credit card to get cash until I reached Kenya. The first one we tried was full, but there were several to choose from, and the Tango Hotel was fine.

I kept no record of the species seen during the day, and in fact hadn't seen anything special.