Congo Rangers

Category: Crises, Logistics, Mountain Gorillas, Rangers | Date: Apr 05 2007 | By: admin

Yesterday we had to evacuate Camp Karema up at Bukima in the Mikeno Sector. We received information that the Rwandan military could have been on their way to Bukima - Rwanda does after all only lie some 6km away. There are often rumors of security threats in this area, and all have to be taken seriously.

So we packed up our belongings, cleared away as much as possible, hid the new generator in the bush (that is a heavy piece of equipment let me tell you), and set off back down to Goma which is about a 2 hour drive.

We are continuing to monitor the situation with ICCN and the park station at Rumangabo. I think that the threat has diminished and that will go back up to Camp Karema in a few days. Let’s hope so.

The hut is now built and we are doing the finishing touches. Patrick and I are ecstatic!

The Vsat has been installed and we are just waiting for the connection.

For the Vsat to connect to the satellite the generator needs to be on all day, and of course yesterday that had to be aborted.

It sounds crazy I am guessing to outsiders when I talk about the security threats in this area - Mai Mai, Interhamwe (Rwandan Hutus), Nkunda’s men, Rwandan military - but it is after all still an unstable area. We just have to keep going. Virunga National Park is important not just to Congo, but to the whole world. I care about the park and the wildlife in it. That is why I am here.

Technorati : bukima, fzs, iccn, karema, mountain gorilla, wildlifedirect