Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It was in the peacefulness of Kananga that the Derksens and I heard of the crisis
in Kinshasa through the ham radio network. It started with the ambassadors of Belgium,
FranceandtheUnitedStateswhojointlythreatenedPresidentMobutowitheconomicsanc-
tions. They demanded that he stop embezzling funds from the country and to open up the
nationtofreeelections.Ifhedidnotcomply,hisassets(property,investmentsandbankac-
counts) around the world would be frozen. The information through the radio reports was
that Mobuto's presidential guard (who were well-paid, well-fed, well-armed and well-de-
voted) was sent to the diplomatic areas of the city on a shooting rampage. The embassies
weretargetedtointimidateMobutu'sforeigncritics.ThepresidentialguardshotattheBel-
gian and French Embassies and sadly killed the French ambassador while he was in his
office peering out the window.
Immediately,theFrenchparamilitary stormedintoKinshasabyhelicopter torescue
the other embassy staff. The Belgian and the American troops were waiting on high alert
acrosstheZaïreRiverinBrazzavillereadytoevacuatetheirpersonnelifneeded.TheZaïri-
an government declared a state of emergency and a curfew was imposed between sunset
andsunrise.ThegovernmentdeniedthatMobutu'spresidentialguardcausedthehavocand
blamed the regular army who 'accidentally' got carried away upset when the shop owners
refused to accept their 5 million zaïre notes.
Back in Kananga, I was comforted when Richard and Marylyn told me that only
the cities and large towns had a curfew, not the small villages. Even Kananga which was
quite large didn't have a curfew. It really showed me how little power Kinshasa really had
in the rural Zaïre especially in the southern province of Shaba where the resistance move-
ment was born.
Before the children left for school the next morning, we took a lot of photos to-
gether. I stayed with Richard as he radioed the Canadian Embassy to let them know of my
plans. He also radioed the family in Mbuji Mayi to tell them that I was on my way. I pro-
fusely thanked Richard for his help and kindness and said my final good-bye. I hoped that
one day we would meet again. What a great man!
By 8:30 a.m., I was on the road. My pace was relatively slow for sections of the
roadwerehorrendous.AfterIpassedtheairport,myspeeddoubledandsomesectionswere
actually paved. The good quality of the road lasted for about 30 kilometres or so, and then
the ruts, potholes and sharp rocks appeared.
I noticed that the tire pressure was low in my front tire. After I pumped it up and
continued,ashorttimelaterthepressurefellagain.Istoppedinahamlettoreplacethetube
withanewoneandnotsoonafter Ileft, thetire deflated. Iwasangryatmyself forIshould
have first checked the tire itself for any embedded foreign objects. I found the culprit, a
small piece ofmetal thatpenetrated thetread.Withalocal audience standing overme,Ire-
paired my tube and then took a break. I managed 80 kilometres but still had 17 kilometres
for Lake Mukamba.
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