"The Map of the DRC"
“Matadi”
Part 1 Chapter 12
Part 1 Chapter 12
This
is an excerpt from the book INSECTUAL, page 51 :
The map of
Congo-Kinshasa called the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one and a half
times the size of Europe and 77 times the size of Belgium, reminds me of a
rectangular head with a long snout dipping into the Atlantic Ocean. The back of
the “neck” is the copper-rich Southeastern province of Shaba and running down
half the back of the head is a luminous blue braid. This is the region of the
great lakes starting with Lake Victoria to the north in Uganda and running down
through Lake Albert, Lake Edward and Lake Kivu to Lake Tanganyika in the south.
The top of the head is bordered by Uganda, Sudan and the Central African
Republic. The big green area covering at least one half of the whole country
resembles a brain. This is the tropical forest, one of the world’s great
sources of oxygen. The DRC is the heart and lungs of Africa.
The high forehead is bordered by Cameroon
and the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville). The snout, running toward
the Atlantic Ocean, squeezes itself between a rocky cliff into the delta that
forms the DRC’S narrow 25-kilometre-long coastline. Three cities, like three
jewels, are crammed into this delta. One of these jewels is Matadi.
We were on our way back from our weekend-long
local honeymoon at the small beach resort of Moanda on the shores of the
Atlantic. At Matadi, our car climbed the asphalted highway that cuts through
the rocky escarpment. This road is one of the most travelled in the whole DRC,
bringing goods to Kinshasa, since the Congo River between Matadi and Kinshasa
cannot be navigated because of its many cataracts. Reaching the top of this
escarpment, we stopped to take in the tremendous view over the harbour and the
narrow delta. Ocean steamers and cargo boats of all sizes were coming and
going. To our left lay Angola with its rich oil fields and facing us was
Congo-Brazzaville.
FREE: You can read the
first 24 pages of INSECTUAL for free. www.booklocker.com/7890
No comments:
Post a Comment