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DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
From South Africa? Sure.
From Congo? Be happy you aren't coming home with new lead.
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
My boy scout knife was a hunting knife, and my BB gun in SA was an AK.
 

AngryMetalsmith

Business is good, thanks for asking
Jun 4, 2006
21,075
9,778
I have no idea where I am
If you are shot at, move and move fast. If you can, move across the line of fire and not directly away from the shooting. If you are part of a group, scatter in different directions. This will confuse the person with the firearm, long enough to find cover.
Seriously, who needs to be told this ?

I've heard automatic weapons being fired in close proximity several times. Each time I went the opposite direction, crazy huh.



Actually, now that I think about it I remember pulling some idiot jam band fans off the street who were walking in the direction of shooting and people running for cover. When I asked them what they were thinking they said that was where they were parked.
 

ultraNoob

Yoshinoya Destroyer
Jan 20, 2007
4,504
1
Hills of Paradise
...
Actually, now that I think about it I remember pulling some idiot jam band fans off the street who were walking in the direction of shooting and people running for cover. When I asked them what they were thinking they said that was where they were parked.
Shoulda let'em go. Woulda kept them from breeding.
 

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,494
9,525
being broke and stranded in africa sounds like a wonderful experience.
 

valve bouncer

Master Dildoist
Feb 11, 2002
7,843
114
Japan
I just have no interest in going. Wild animals. AIDS. Civil war. Female circumcision.

Fvck that place.
Don't forget chronic dysentry!
A bloke once told that when Africa drives you crazy to remember one thing "Africa always wins you back". It's true too. Go Dirt, you know you won't regret it, well if you get cerebral malaria or get hacked to death with a panga you might, but apart from that, well, you know, you've been there.
 

$tinkle

Expert on blowing
Feb 12, 2003
14,591
6
Found some folks interested in flowing the capital, which is clutch, because my divorce is going to drain me.
plz explain this to me: why don't you just ditch it all & go. she's not going to follow you to africa for a few shillings, and if she does, you can sell into slavery.
Don't forget chronic dysentry!
A bloke once told that when Africa drives you crazy to remember one thing "Africa always wins you back". It's true too. Go Dirt, you know you won't regret it, well if you get cerebral malaria or get hacked to death with a panga you might, but apart from that, well, you know, you've been there.
lonelyplanet, globe trekker, and rick steves all failed to mention this
 

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
Sure you are going to go....Just like StinkyBoy is moving to Omaha & Biggins is moving to Flagstaff. :D
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
I'm out of here late April, confirmed this morning.
And then somehow I just got roped into going to Kenya with another group in June. Thankfully I will already be in Africa, so I just have to get there from RUC.

I'll take photos, post them up here, just for no other reason than to prove I am not dead.
 

MikeD

Leader and Demogogue of the Ridemonkey Satinists
Oct 26, 2001
11,669
1,713
chez moi
Good luck and have fun. Don't be a disaster tourist and feed your own ego with other people's misery. There are a lot of mid-20s NGO types hanging around who just think they're the world's coolest people for being in the DRC. It's a wierd reverse tough-guy aesthetic. You will definitely get some perspective, though.

Give a healthy respect to situations of which you're not an organic part. It's really hard for an outsider to comprehend what's really going on there; I'm 95% baffled by it and it gets worse the harder you look.


Random particulars of note:

You'll generally be very safe in CNDP territory as a foreigner, at least you would be before all these internal CNDP issues started cropping up. Nkunda's a media master and knows where his bread is buttered.

The FARDC is frankly more of a danger to you, and the mai-mai are the worst. (this is all in the Kivus...up north, I don't know what the LRA is up to but wouldn't want to cross them.) FARDC will demand bribes from anyone for anything.

Know that photography is generally illegal in the DRC and people don't react well to it, especially soldiers. I'm sure your buddies have the proper permits, but that might not matter to everyone (again, the FARDC...they generally don't get paid and try to wring money out of what they can...) Luckily, as an obvious media crew, you'll probably get less hassled than anyone else probably would.

Rwanda just tossed its hat into the ring and crossed the border into Goma, too, which is another whole enchilada. I've heard today that you currently can't leave Goma north of Kibati and the west is closed off a little down the road.

Goma is dirty but has an astounding landscape...I wouldn't recommend climbing the volcanoes or trying to partake of other park activities due to the security situation surrounding it. You could be totally fine and wonder why everyone else is such a scaredy-cat, or you could end up killed/kidnapped and wishing you'd just stayed home--not a risk I recommend. Gisenyi on the Rwanda side is chill and super clean and orderly, like the rest of [totalitarian] Rwanda. The lowland gorillas in Bukavu are supposed to be really cool to go and see, and are far from the current conflict.

Again...stay safe. You'll want the French girlie around because rudimentary French may be the only non-African language you'll be able to communicate with in many places.

And none of this will be relevant info in April anyhow...stuff changes fast.
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
That was the impression I got with a lot of what is going on over there, that it changes so fast that making any massive and hard preparations might be worthless, and that being able to be flexible with all of this is going to be what keeps things on the up and up.

I've been to other really interesting places during real interesting times, and it has always humbled me. Sometimes the depth to which people can **** with one another over something which frankly I have not had the ability to comprehend has always astounded me. The older I get, the less I realize that I know and understand.

We're working on the permits as we speak so that we go as a media crew as opposed to a bunch of peckerwoods in the heart of deepest Africa with cameras and a hot french girl. I think that without these permits, and a grip of bribe money, that this is not the best idea, and I have expressed that to those putting this show together.

On a side note, I just also got invited to do a humanitarian trip into Kenya with about a week's lag between Congo and there. MikeD; do you have any time in that part of Africa? We're going to be hiking in 5000 pairs of shoes to a AIDS orphanage there. Sort of wondering what to expect in transit there.
 

MikeD

Leader and Demogogue of the Ridemonkey Satinists
Oct 26, 2001
11,669
1,713
chez moi
Never been to Kenya; you might try contacting the embassy to see if they have any security background they could pass you. Try American Citizen Services and/or the Regional Security Office...but Kenya's a big place and they're probably busy and might be unwilling to do much besides pass out the official travel warnings; it's usually easier to deal with them in small countries, I think. They're also going to try and dissuade you from doing anything remotely dangerous, so you might not get much encouragement out of them either.

Have you looked at the State Department travel warnings for Congo? I mean, they pretty much just say "don't go", so I don't know how much useful info you'll glean. There might be something on Kenya, too... check www.state.gov.

Also, bribes could save you, but I generally told anyone who asked to **** off and just walked/drove away/through--it's like not feeding the bears at Yellowstone IMHO...but your safety trumps all. Avoiding getting put in the tight spot is the key, but it's not always possible, especially if you have a goal to fulfill.
 

Secret Squirrel

There is no Justice!
Dec 21, 2004
8,150
1
Up sh*t creek, without a paddle
Good luck and have fun.

The lowland gorillas in Bukavu are supposed to be really cool to go and see, and are far from the current conflict.
All I can think about now is the part of the movie Captain Ron where they get taken hostage by guerrillas...

"I said 'Watch out for the guerrillas'..."
"GOR-illas!!!! You said GOR-illas...not GUE-rrillas!!!"