DRC

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has only a few towns that are safe enough to travel to. Happily, one of these towns in Goma, just a few kms from Gisenyi where we were relaxing along the shores of Lake Kivu enjoying the sights, especially the local fisherman venturing out at dusk, their song floating to us along the water. They, uniquely, head out on three 8 meter long canoes lashed together 3 meters apart with 10 meter bamboo poles pointing forward and behind (fore and aft for you nautical types). They are quite a sight.

We purposefully held off on heading over to Goma until the DRC's 50th anniversary of independence was over. When we arrived in Goma we were greeted by dusty streets filled with UN soldiers and their blue helmets, some of them in tanks parked around the UN headquarters close to our hotel. I have to say, as a tourist, there's nothing quite like entering a new country and seeing armed tanks in the street, and this was definitely a first for us. It of course doesn't take long for you to ask yourself the obvious question, "What the hell have we come here for?" Although our (usually easy to adhere to) general rule of thumb is to not approach anybody in an armed tank, these mostly Indian, machine gun carrying peace keepers, seemed like nice guys and were more up for a chat about cricket than anything else. We took these to be a common sight, but it turns out they were just there for the anniversary in case any trouble started brewing (word on the street was the celebrations were drunken but peaceful, much like a 50th anniversary party anywhere else).

After a few quick arrangements with the helpful Vianney at the ICCN tourist office we were set to head up the amazing Nyirangongo Volcano. Nyirangongo towers over the countryside at 3740m and has erupted twice, once in 1977 and once in 2002, though the 2002 eruption was so sluggish that there were few casualties despite a huge amount of the town being coated in lava. This lava has now largely been turned into fences and buildings, but you see it - and stumble over it - everywhere in town. The volcano was also a rebel stronghold for 9 months in 2009 but the trail has been open since this March and there haven't been any major problems.

Unsurprisingly, the walk up was not easy. Who would have thought walking up the side of a volcano would be steep, slippery and muscle-ache-inducing? The top 200 m involved a scramble up a very steep slope of volcanic rock, though the porters in their rubber boots didn't seem to be having any problems whatsoever. The roughly 6 hour walk was a lot of fun and the scenery was lovely. As an added bonus, we didn't get drenched by any rain or even hemmed in by any fog which was more than welcome. We were accompanied up to the top by Bosco and about 3 other armed guards/guides who didn't talk much but seemed happy to answer a few questions.

The views at the top more than made up for any hardships were were feeling during the walk. It was incredible, one of the most amazing thing either of us have seen and probably the best thing we've seen on this trip. From the top you can look directly into the crater and see a lake of bubbling lava about 500 m below. You can even feel the heat from the molten rock when the wind blows towards you. The views just get more incredible as the sun drops and the night takes over. The whole lake glows a hellish red and you can literally see the lava roil below. It's incredible. A rare opportunity to peer through a portal and spy on what is happening much deeper under this planet's more commonly viewed outer crust. It's incredibly powerful, mesmorising and highly, highly recommendable.

It's also very cold. It got to about 2 degrees, maybe zero when we were all tucked up in our little tent pitched somewhat precariously on its little ledge, praying we wouldn't have to take a night trip to the dunny. Not so long ago a tourist lost her life here, falling over the edge into the volcano itself.

The walk down left us jelly-legged for days (literally 6 days, to various degrees) but it was still totally worth it.

This is truly a dangerous area to be. Not only do you have to deal with the volcano and its associated treachery (lava, eruptions and perilously steep walls), the on-going rebel activity in the area but you also have to be careful in the surrounding Lake Kivu as it releases deadly CO2 and methane which collect on the surface and can asphyxiate swimmers! "Is anywhere safe?" you may ask, well with their strict 'no weapons' policy we had no bother in the bars.

But it's not all doom and gloom, thanks to the high numbers of UN workers there is an extremely well stocked (albeit expensive) supermarket, offering rarely found (for Africa) first world tastes (cheeses, sliced meats, good fresh bread and Belgian beers.) Needless to say we dined on many homemade sandwiches during our short stay in the DRC.