The DRC Part 1. - Cycling to Sandoa
April 2014
I first met Charlie on the road out of Cairo in Egypt towards the Red Sea, him on a bicycle and me on a motorbike. We then continued to bump into each other on our way south and despite him being on a bicycle we arrived in Cape Town in South Africa at roughly the same time! From here we made the plan of crossing the little-understood and seldom-visited Democratic Republic of Congo. So when Charlie reached Lusaka in Zambia on his way back north, I was to meet him there and exchange my motorbike for a bicycle. From here we would head for the small town of Sandoa in the South West of the DRC.
While we wait for our visas in Lusaka, Charlie gets his bike ready for the first leg of the trip.
For £96 I picked up a Buffalo Charger in Lusaka, It was a bit small but I hoped it would do!
Taking a break next to another badly parked truck.
First night on the road.
The one advantage with camping in a cemetery is that we are the only fools to be hanging out there at night.
Kasumbalesa, the last town before we cross into the Congo.
A Congelese woman carries her produce to the market.
Dodging inbetween trucks and taxis as we arrive into Lubumbashi, the mining capital of the DRC and our first stop.
Women lie on the floor of an Evangelical church in Lubumbashi after they fall into uncontrollable fits after believing they have 'caught the holy spirit'.
A small roadside restaurant outside Likasi. Lunch wasn't quite like how it was advertised.
Kolwezi was the end of the tarmac for us. The locals warned that the road from here gets very bad, to begin with we could not understand, and then later on we understood!
Kanzenze catholic mission.
On the search for a good out of the way spot to camp.
Sandy roads aren't fun; sandy roads and getting a puncture is even less fun.
An abandoned steam train left from the colonial times at Mutshatsha.
The sun sets over the main street in Mutshatsha.
A Panhard armoured car lies destroyed from the previous Congo wars.
Far away from the road and protected by the dense bush we pitch up for the night.
Charlie sits unamused that he has spent more time pushing than cycling.
A crowd gathers as we enter Tshimbalanga.
Hot, dirty and sweaty.
Catching some rest in the midday heat. Aswell as a dusting from a freak Bus.
Two brothers in their store in Sandoa.
Our route from Lusaka to Sandoa by bicycle.
After 1000 miles of cycling we made it to Sandoa, the town we had randomly picked on a map back in Cape Town as a good place to start our next challenge. From here we spent the next week in search of a pirogue (a traditional dug out canoe) with the plan of descending the River Lulua, only to be told by all locals that the rapids are too dangerous and no one has ever heard of someone doing it...
Next part
The DRC Part 2. - The Congo by River.
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