Chukudu – Moonlion Safaris

Above: CBD Goma. Copyright Rupi Mangat

Published: 20 July 2019

Congo’s been my dream destination even before Nyiragongo erupted in 2002 and nearly wiped out the little town of Goma in eastern DRC that’s on the shores of Lake Kivu and neighbouring Rwanda. The country is gigantic and the second largest in Africa, the Congo River sways 3,000 kilometres across its girth flowing through the mighty Congo forest which like the Amazon forest is a major lung of our planet. The river empties with such force into the Atlantic that for 200 kilometres into the ocean the water is said to be fresh.

2002 Nyiragngo lava near Goma.. Courtest Bantou Mangat (800x450) — 2002 Nyiragngo lava near Goma.. Courtest Bantou Mangat

Continue reading “Gone to Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo” →

Above: Boy practising acrobatics by Lake Kivu in Gisenyi, Rwanda. Copyright Rupi Mangat

Published: The East African Nation Media 26 June 2019

Goma and Gisenyi echo Charles Dickens’s novel, A Tale of Two Cities, based on a peaceful London and a Paris dogged by unrest before and after the French Revolution.

Goma and Gisenyi share a horrific history — the Congo wars and the Rwandan Genocide Against Tutsi.

Recently I spent a few days in the two cities separated by an international border, Goma in DR Congo and Gisenyi in Rwanda. Gisenyi is genteel while Goma is a work in progress after being dogged by years of unrest — wars and a volcano eruption. Both cities straddle Lake Kivu in the Albertine Rift. The lake is a source of methane and carbon dioxide gases that have the potential of being hazardous.

Mount Nyiragongo and Lake Kivu From Lake Kivu Serena Hotel in Gisenyi, Rwanda. Courtesy Lake Kivu Serena

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