Months of debating and conversation occurred between me and Bradt Guides prior to my writing this book. While they expressed great interest in publishing a guide to the Congos, I needed to educate them on the challenges involved. Did the parks listed on maps even exist? Were there any animals left? Could one safely traverse the country – or even do so unsafely? Could I write this book without having the budget of an entire department of the UN behind me, or even by simply not chartering too many aircraft?
Luckily, Bradt Guides gave me the room to write what was needed and did not obsess too much over details that could change at a moment's notice. This book is the culmination of over five years of visits to both countries, and a lot of time keeping up on news updates, crossing my fingers to make sure things do not change overnight. More than most countries, this could easily happen in the Congos. Twice when I visited Kinshasa, combat broke out within a week of my departure. Advisories on where was safe to visit in Virunga park were being updated relentlessly as fighting swept over regions around Goma.
I was once taking a taxi from Kigali's airport to a bus heading for Bukavu, and the driver called me crazy. He didn't even imagine that someone would want to visit the Congo, simply for ‘tourism’. This concern was echoed by many people in neighbouring countries – the Congos are too unstable for any sane person to visit.
Yet on the other side, I would see telltale signs of a tourist industry in its infancy. There are even backpackers in Goma these days – though they rarely go further afield. Slowly but surely, tourists are coming back to the region, usually in small groups and aiming to be isolated from the larger countries and politics surrounding them. Often, tour groups will take chartered aircraft directly to the northern parts of Congo-Brazzaville rather than take a risk visiting the capital. Hopefully in a few years, companies will have the confidence to visit there as well. As always, I'll be watching, with fingers crossed.
