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IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION |
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The view from the plane on
the way to Boma from Matadi. The Congo River winds through rocky valleys in this area of Congo.
("Matadi", the capital of Bas-Congo province, means
"stones" in Kikongo) This is the navigable part of the
river from the mouth to the port of Matadi where goods are offloaded for
transport by rail or by road primarily to Kinshasa. |
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A village on the banks of a
small Congo River tributary. |
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The Man and the Biosphere
Reserve of Luki on the road between Boma and Matadi. The
predominant tree species in the reserve is the "Limba". |
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One of the
animals hunted in the reserve area is the giant rat. Cane rats are
also hunted for meat. |
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Some
hunters still use flintlock rifles to hunt small
duikers like this one. |
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This
pangolin was caught using a wire snare. The animal has a tough
scaly outer layer to protect it from predators. It rolls up into a
ball so as to protect its soft stomach from attack. It is a slow
animal and can easily be caught by hunters. |
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A roadside
meat smoking operation. Seen here are prepared wild boar,
porcupine, and pangolin. The meat is sold to travelers going
to Boma, Matadi or Kinshasa. |
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A smoked
porcupine. Sticks are used to spread out the animal to accelerate smoking. |
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Here, one
can see the pangolin's claws and the pattern on the skin shows where
its scales were attached. |
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A
lone baobab on the banks of the Congo River. Angola can be seen in
the background across the river. |
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Boma
is used more and more often for offloading goods from boats. The
river has become hard to navigate as dredging has not been carried out
for years. Where once the river could be navigated by boats
carrying up to 24,000 metric tons, now the limit is 7,000 to 8,000
metric tons of cargo due to the dangerous sand bars in the
river. |
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PANORAMA
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