To Go Is To See.

In case you’re wondering where I disappeared two weeks ago when you missed the Friday post. I travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). My younger brother pal moved there two years ago to start rebuilding his life again. Since then I’ve been telling him that I will visit him, especially because it’s one of those places that is undilutedly (is that an English word) African. Bro decided to settle in Lubumbashi after trying Kinshasa. Maybe it’s because they have what I found to be the Swahili version of French. Compared to Kinshasa where I’m told they’ve speak Lingala and French. English and Kiswahili are foreign. I would have floated seriously.

DRC is a wonder of nature. With one million square kilometres of forest, it’s easily the lungs of the earth or at least the continent. It’s a huge country with three time zones, imagine that. It’s more than 4 times larger than Kenya. Kinshasa alone has a population of about 25 million people. Lubumbashi has about 6 – 8 million folks. If I found Lubumbashi crazy then Kinshasa must be a doctorate in crazy going by the population.

One of my goals this year was to travel to another African country for halftime work. Well, I did travel to another country though not for halftime. But there were halftime lessons gleaned from this visit and my brother’s leap from Kenya to DRC. He’s quite plugged in so it was clear to me that he landed on his feet. Halftime is messy in nature but once we go through that mess it all starts getting rewarding. That’s the case for my bro. Courage is a key requirement for effective transitions folks. It may be necessary to burn the bridge sometimes of an ended season for us to fully commit to the new season.

Thankfully we don’t need a visa to travel to DRC from here. Once we firmed up dates with my travelling buddy Sancho I formed a WhatsApp group with Evans for updates and planning. I named it, ‘To go Is to See’ as that’s exactly what we were going to do. I asked Sir God to order our steps and that was my only agenda. There are a lot of business opportunities in this huge mineral-rich country but I just wanted to travel there and see what happens.

A few people asked me if I had gone for the minerals and found some while there. Even upon my return, I was asked to show the gold I came with hehe. Mining is huge in DRC. We missed getting into the mines but what we saw from the outside were mountains made of dug-out earth. I wondered if they are that high then how deep would that hole into the ground be? Mining is a key economic activity but the downside to that was the hit the environment is taking. There was a constant smog and dust in the air that even made the sunset appear a strange orange colour.

We also met a few Kenyans who are daring abroad in that country. I couldn’t help but admire them. Imagine leaving what feels like the developed world in comparison. Travelling really does help one appreciate where they come from. Maybe that’s why travel is described as eye-opening. Kenyans are considered rough in comparison to their Ugandan and Tanzanian neighbours in East Africa. But in DRC I felt like the humblest person. Most folks are aggressive and loud. My host has adjusted quite well. His kichwa ngumu (hard-headed) is serving him well.

We visited two towns out of Lubumbashi and even drove to one of the border points with Zambia. Here I saw a bike that carries what would be a pickup load equivalent. These bikes are used to bring in goods from across the border. I think it’s a contender for the Guinness Book of Records. On the way back we met with some vijanas hawking what looked like huge rodents by the roadside. We had to stop for a closer look. They were cane rats as they called them and they are a delicacy there. Maybe we should have tried one hehe.

It was quite the week and at the end of our visit I was ready to come back home. The Lubumbashi airport was another hilarious highlight. It was my first time travelling and handing my passport and luggage to a stranger to go check me in, then I go have lunch outside the airport, came back 40 minutes to take off and got escorted like a VIP to the tarmac. Of course, at a fee hehe. Some may find this a disorderly and crazy place but there is always a method to the madness. We were forced to interact more with the folks we met and even learn some French laced with Swahili. Oh, and you can buy some fruits at the airport parking as you wait for your bags on arrival. Loved it.

Folks, sometimes it’s good to travel somewhere without an agenda. Just to go and see. I didn’t come back with a deal or some precious metal for that matter. But my view of life and appreciation of our beautiful continent was enlarged. Now I’m tempted to visit Kinshasa. I think I have an attraction to chaos hehe. Therein lies the vibrancy of life. Yes, we may have many problems facing us in Africa but I choose to amplify what’s good and unique to us even as we seek to solve the pressing matters around us. I’m glad I travelled to DRC. To go is to see folks.