Dicing with Death: Congo: Jungle Messengers

In this acclaimed series, we journey on some of the world’s most dangerous routes and explore the lengths people go to in order to change their destinies.

The Congolese have a saying that says “he who does not travel does not know the value of people…” Well, in South Kivu, the travelers are almost all heroes. It takes courage to travel the trails of this forsaken region. The town of Shabunda is one of the most remote in the Congo. Junior and Juvenal carry climb aboard an old German military truck. Despite their steel giant’s 8-wheel drive it takes them anywhere between 3 days and 3 weeks, depending on the season, to travel the 70km to the town.

The road through the jungle most often resembles a mud bath. Petrol is imported by truck as it’s too dangerous to carry by air, unlike food. As a result, commodity prices are soaring. Shabunda is so difficult to reach that the cost of living is higher there than in any European city, a bottle of water costing 5 dollars. The poorest families fetch food on bicycles or motorcycles from the end of the track. These slaves of the road carry as much as 250kg through the mud for 3 days.

So why is that 80,000 people stubbornly remain in Shabunda? It’s for the huge treasure that lies in the bed of the river that runs around it. Gold resources are vast. On motorbike, bicycle, behind the wheel or in the cockpit, the 6 million Congolese inhabitants of the Kivu region battle on day after day.

Full Series