The last of our DRC adventures

Continuation of Monday, April 2,  2018 

The public space at Mikena Lodge

Back at Mikena Lodge, we cleaned up and had breakfast and free time until 11am.  The neighborhood Blue and Colobus monkeys were very busy dropping fruit and shit from the trees overhead.  Our table was the recipient of the latter during breakfast.

A Blue monkey with full cheeks.

A Colobus monkey. They have long white tails that would make good dusters.

Our plan for the day was to fly north up the western Rift Valley to Lake Edward and go for a game drive.  We lift off at 11am and enjoy a fun fight up the valley. 

A lovely white water spring creek.

A clear spring water course with a small rapid.

Hamish flies low, banking tightly over small crooked rivers of fresh water from numerous springs and between the trees giving us close up views of crystal clear cascading waterfalls. 

We weaved our way along the water course.

Following the water below the tree tops.

We cannot wipe the smiles of delight off our faces.  Watching closely, we spot the odd hippo with just its nose and eyes breaking the surface.  The spring water gives way to a brown river and soon we are flying up the eastern side of Lake Edward. 

A parade of elephant leaving the lake shore.

A herd of buffalo.

Midway up lake we spot elephant and buffalo from the air and land in the far northern part of Virunga National Park, where we have now been since we left Goma.   

A male Cobb standing proud, curious and unafraid.

A female Cobb with three large wart hogs.

Eric, our  guide with a Land Rover picks us up and off we go looking for birds and game and a place to have the lunch we brought from Mikena Lodge.  

A fairly common Spur Lap Wing.

We spot water buck,

A male Water Buck

Spur Lap Wing birds and, a new one for me,  the little pale-brown shore bird with an orange head and bright, white eye stripes, called Burchell’s courser. 

A Burchell’s courser.

It is very warm in the valley and the spot we had planned for lunch had been taken over by a swarm of bees so the only other shade the guide would consider for a lunch sight is the Kyangoro Ranger Station, where 22 rangers live while they protect Virunga Park from poachers. 

A ranger guard keeping an eye on our truck.

Conditions are not very comfortable, but the rangers don’t seem to mind.  We eat a delicious lunch of medium-rare, beef tenderloin, potato salad, fresh greens and beer in a round, wooden dining structure.  Once outside the station enclosure, our guide drives off road looking for animals in the flat, open grassland.   

Topi. We have never seen so many in one place.

The most unexpected and prolific animal we see is a large, coffee colored antelope called Topi.  We have seen a few of them in our travels through African game parks, but never in large numbers.   Here we saw several herds of them with many babies.  They are a very pretty animal. 

Saddle Billed Stork. Good looking birds that are easy to spot.

We spotted a large saddle-billed stork standing in a small water hole, large herds of buffalo, several families of wart hog; groups of small, tan colored Cobb antelope and a few elephant in the distance. 

Cape buffalo keeping an eye on us.

We are surprised that the animals were not very disturbed by our vehicle. 

A baby surrounded by a protective family.

They did not run way from us the way they had in Zakouma National Park in Chad.  Gradually we make it to the Ishasha River, near the edge of the lake, in search of hippo.  We see well over a hundred of them lounging in small pods in the shallow water.  We get the hoped for grunts and groans from them and a few move about and pose for us.   

A hippo giving us the evil eye.

Wow! A hippo and a buffalo keeping company.

But not for long. This is the hippo’s domain.

Although we are told there are cats and other predators in the park, we see none.   The park is in a slow recovery after years of uninterrupted poaching during the war years. It is clearly a super place for Savannah animals and everyone hopes the game will return.  Back in the helicopter we return to Mikena Lodge with more up close and personal flying.  At one point Hamish flies us close, up the flank of an extinct volcano only to drop back down the side with a whoosh.  We all giggle in delight.  

We have been in Virunga National Park for five days and four nights with Hamish and the helicopter, 5Y CCP.  Our center of activity has been Mikena Lodge, from which all the park’s tourist accommodations are managed by a capable woman named Julie.  We stayed at the lodge 2 of the 4 nights.  Tchegera Island is also in the park and managed by Julie.  It is the only part of Lake Kivu in the park.  The shelters at the top of Nyiragongo Volcano are also under her management.  Based on our report of conditions there, she immediately sent a man up the volcano to make repairs.   

The four of us, Hamish, Noriko, Mark and I, share one last meal together and comment on how much we have enjoyed all our experiences and, most especially, our Congo adventures with Hamish and the helicopter.  Hamish tells us we will have about 20 flights for almost 12 hours of air time by the time we get back to Entebbe and that there is room for one additional flight, if we want.  We can either sleep in in the morning or go for a sunrise flight back over the active volcanos.  Silly question!  

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

We meet at 6am for our last fly about to the active volcanoes. 

Early morning mountains in the mist.

Unfortunately, the weather does not cooperate and we are unable to get to Nyiragongo at all. 

Nyrigongo Volcano still in the mist, but sending up steam.

Hamish flies us over some old volcanos and then over the moonscaped Nyamulagira.  It started erupting in 1882 and has erupted 34 times since then.  The last big eruption was in 1994.  In 2001 there was a flank eruption.  No more top eruptions are expected.   From there, we headed for the tallest volcano, Mt. Makina.  We had flown around it once, but not made it to the top due to cloud cover. 

THe top of Mt Mikena opens to us.

This morning the flanks are clouded up, but the top is clear and Hamish gets us up close and over the top for some wonderful images. 

We can see bits of snow clinging to the steep hillsides of Mt Mikena.

There are even patches of snow near the top of the 14,000 foot peak, where the temperature was 39 degrees.  Back down the mountain, we fly over lava fields and fertile countryside and spend 45 minutes in the air.  Back at Mikena Lodge, we have breakfast and pack for our last flight out of Mikena to Entebbe.

Good bye to our nice cottage at Mikena Lodge.

We have all taken turns being in the front seat and this time it is Noriko’s turn to be front.  We arrive at Goma at 11:45am.  Hamish leaves us at the helicopter while he negotiates the Congo departure procedures.  That took an hour.  Then we headed toward Bwindi.  We had hoped to fly low over Scott Kellermann at the Bwindi Community Hospital and wave to him, but the sky over the Impenetrable Forest was in total clouds and rain.  So instead, we flew 30 miles out of our way through heavy rain just to avoid the worst of the weather.  Then it was direct to Entebbe.  

After 2 hours we made our last landing and were met by Hassan, the friendly Entebbe Airport handler who had helped us on our arrival days earlier.  We took his information so we can use his services again when we come back in September.  We said our good byes to Noriko, who was headed for the lounge to wait for her flights back to Japan.  Hamish joined us at the Protea Hotel, 5 minutes from the airport.  We were assigned a day room in which to relax until 9pm.  Hamish was next door and staying overnight.  He planned to fly back to Kenya early the next morning.  We said good bye to him and thanked him profusely for providing us with such a wonderful experience and such masterful flying.   Then we showered and ordered room service.  Mark had a big fat hamburger and I had pasta and a salad.  Comfort food for both of us.  I finally had good wifi, uploaded several photos into the last Cameroon post and sent it off, as well as the Congo information post I had written weeks prior.  That felt good.  At 9pm, we headed back to the airport and our nonstop KLM flight to Amsterdam.  We slept nearly all the way and woke up in time for breakfast and landing.

More in Virunga National Park, DRC

Hopefully, this map will help you get oriented with our Congo travels.

The area of our DRC adventures. Lake Kivu and Goma are near the bottom.  The ink dot on the lake just left of Goma represents Tchegera Island.  Mikena Lodge is in Rumangabe, north of Goma on the red road.  Just left of that is Nyamulagira Volcano at 3299 meters.  To the right of the road, at 4437 meters with no name listed, is Nyiragongo Volcano.  We also flew up valley to the right shore of Lake Edward for our game drive, still in Virunga National Park.

Sunday April 1, 2018   Easter

Happy Easter.  Here on this tiny tropical island in Lake Kivu in the Congo, it does not feel much like our most religious event of the year, but I spend some time gratefully contemplating the Risen Lord anyway.  

Our tent on Tchegera Island with the helicopter in the background.

Then we are off for an early morning flight along the western side of  the very placid Lake Kivu, which is 80 miles long and 20 miles wide. 

A small fishing village with the three boat catamarans.

The land around the lake is very fertile, with small fishing villages doting the shoreline.  Home made, three hulled, catamaran style fishing boats provide stability and extra room for fish. 

An old Belgian estate home.

Here and there along the shore, are aging, once stately and grand, homes that belonged to rich Belgians when the country was a Belgium colony before independence in 1960.  

Another one of many fishing villages on Lake Kivu.

After awhile we turn away from the lake and fly over huge lava fields, both raw and recent (2011 and 2014) and older (2001 and earlier), where vegetation is pushing through the lava. 

Lava flows from different eruptions. Easy to see which is new and which is old.

Hamish gently lands on an active shield volcano named Nyamulagira that is 10,033 feet high. 

The moonlike landscape on Nyamulagira Volcano.

It feels like we are aliens who have landed on Mars in our space ship.  No footprints anywhere, except ours. 

Us in a field of dead tree trunks.  And yes, we are cold in this high, windy scene.

Burnt remains of trees, black pumice and jagged rocks cover miles of undulating surface interrupted by small steam vents that warm us as we pass near them, until we reach the edge and peer into the abyss.  The crater walls are multicolored from different exposed minerals. 

Steam vents through the pumice and jumbled rock surface.

A rocky outcrop.

Up close the cold lava folded into interesting shapes.

 

We three musketeers, still together after 2 1/2 weeks of awfully wonderful adventures.

Steam rises from many large vents that interrupt our view.  We each head out in different directions to see what we can find, while, back at our space ship,

Coffee and biscuits on the moon.

Hamish sets out biscuits and hot, French press coffee on a small table. Together we share the other worldly experience.  

Our ship lifts off and we make one last circle around the edge of the crater so we can see the bottom.  There is no red lava, but many large steam vents.   Hamish turns us toward Nyiragongo, the 11,385 foot high starts volcano for a look at its awesome lava lake from every side and angle and the 12 cliff hanging A frame shelters where we will be spending the night. 

Approaching the rim of Nyiragongo Volcano.

Getting closer to the rim.

 

The “helicopter pad” landing sight. The shelters are high on the right corner.

It is pretty daunting to see how steep and jagged the climb will be even from the short distance to the top the helicopter pad will provide.  Soon we are back to the island for breakfast and time to relax and contemplate the coming adventure.  

After a large lunch of lamb chops with mashed eggplant, carrots and another dense chocolate mouse,  Mark and I went for a swim in the lake and prepared a small pack for our overnight adventure on Nyiragongo.  We can see the volcano from the island and watch for a cloud free window to open.  From the time we lift off the island at 4:10pm until we land on the volcano, berely 10 minutes pass. 

Coming in for our landing on the volcano.  Porters wait to help with our gear.

We climb from 5,200 feet to 11,000 feet and the temperature drops from a balmy 80 degrees to 50.  The landing sight had been painstakingly carved out of the jagged volcanic rock wall and is just large enough for Hamish to find a perch.  He admits to an adrenaline rush and heightened attention.  He is, for certain, an expert with the helicopter and makes his effort look natural and easy.  

We finally make it to the rim. It took two men and all their strength to get me up toe steep, rocky slope.

Once firmly in place we begin the short, but difficult hike up the rest of the mountain to the peak.  It took two porters more than 20 minutes to help me up the short, but steep rocky mountain wall to the jagged top. 

We enjoy piping hot mugs of soup in the canteen, in spite of the rain.  The wood is too wet for a fire.

After a brief look at the lava lake, we set up our sleeping bags in the shelters, one for Hamish and Mark and one for Noriko and me.  We were the last of the 23 people staying overnight to arrive.  Everyone else had made the 5 and a half hour hike up the mountain and already taken the good shelters, each of which was 6 by 9 feet with a small door at one end.  The door to ours was broken, so we swapped shelters with the boys. 

Me at the rim in the rain. The view is still incredible.

 

The world’s largest lava lake shows us its grandeur.

Back up at the peak, we enjoyed the view of the world’s largest lava lake, heard the pops and rumbles it makes and felt a bit of the tremendous heat it puts out.  Mark learned that there are 282 million cubic feet of lava in this crater.   For a brief time, the experience was sublime.

As we watched it began to rain.  We hoped it would be short lived, but it was not.  Hamish fetched ponchos he had brought and we put them on, although we were already wet.  There are 12 shelters on 3 levels, with the canteen being in the top row next to the ridge.  We carefully walked over the jagged rocks to it and received a large mug of very hot squash soup from the white-coated chef – a nice touch in spite of the outlandish location.   We, along with several others, huddled under the overhang of the shelter next to the canteen and tried, unsuccessfully, to stay dry.  Dinner was to come later, but only Hamish stayed up for it.  The rest of us went back to the ridge to watch the lake glow red in the dimming light.  We watched until it was totally dark and we were all soaked and getting cold.   We had our torches with us and Mark helped me down to our shelter on the 3rd and lowest level.  It was only 7:30, but there was nothing to do but get out of our wet clothes and go to bed. 

Noriko takes a photo of me in our small, leaky shelter. It was a long night.

Noriko and I considered the long night ahead on thin mattresses in strange sleeping bags in the cold, pitch black A frame shelter at 11,000 feet and accepted our fate.  Quickly, we peed near the shelter with our ponchos still on and used our torches to organize ourselves in the tiny space.  Once in bed, it took awhile to find a comfortable position and warm up.  Soon, I heard Noriko’s soft breathing and knew she was asleep.  I laid there listening to the rain.  Finally, there was a lull and I quickly put on my shoes and stepped out into the dark to find a place to pee again.  When I got back inside, it was 9pm.  Back in the bag, I settled onto my good ear and was soon asleep myself.  About 1am, Noriko was up and moving all around the space and finally woke me up to tell me the shelter was leaking and her bed was all wet.  She did not know what to do and I could only offer my extra pair of dry socks, which I had brought jus in case I needed them.  I, luckily, was not in the path of the leak and was snug as a bug in a rug.   As I drifted back to sleep, she was sitting up and trying to stay dry, though not warm or comfortable.  Eventually, she moved her mattress next to mine and curled up in the top half of her bag, which was not wet.  At 5:30, someone banged on our door and said breakfast was ready. 

We wasted no time in getting dressed in our still wet clothing and getting out of the shelter.  Gratefully, the rain had stopped.  

 

Monday, April 2, 2018  

 I hiked back up to the ledge and looked down into the lava lake one last time. 

Looking over the shoulder of a hiker. We share the experience one last time.

It was still reddish in the early morning light.  Then back at the canteen, I had a coffee and some toast with a piece of cheese.  Having gone all night with only a cup of soup, I was hungry.  Everyone was packing up to head down the hill. 

Bosco, the porter who helped me up the hill, showed up to help me down. Noriko’s porters have already started helping her.

Apparently others had also had unpleasant, wet nights and wanted to get to hot showers and clean, dry clothing as soon as possible. 

The hikers begin their long journey down the volcano. The helicopter looks far away.

As we negotiated the cliff face back to the helicopter, several folks wished they could fly away with us.  I could not blame them.  Once Hamish lifted us off our perch, we floated down the mountain and back to Mikena Lodge for hot showers, clean clothes and breakfast, all before the hikers were barely an hour from the top with 4 more hours to go.  Having a helicopter at our disposal is an incredible treat we will never forget.  

Mark makes it to our bird first.  The tail hangs off the edge.