Not everyone was as excited about Tim Butcher's homage to Henry Morton Stanley and his planned trip to Congo. In fact, nobody other than Butcher himself had anything positive to say about the idea. Words ranged from "impossible" to "suicidal" and everything in between. Butcher's adventure, though was exceptionally well researched. Butcher's first point of research was actually his mother who was raised in the Colonies and had trekked across Congo in 1953. He read Katherine Hepburn's diaries penned during the making of "The African Queen". He sought out missionaries, aid agencies, diplomats and mercenaries - in short, anyone whose time in the heart of Africa might in any way illuminate his.
In 2004, it was time to go.
Butcher managed his overland crossing at quite an impressive speed. He traveled by keeps, a helicopter and even a dig-out canoe that the locals called a pirogue. His forth four day odyssey from Lake Tanganyika to the headwaters of the river beat Stanley's nine hundred and ninety days hollow. Butcher states that the trip was not so much adventure travel as "ordeal travel". Although the beauty of his surroundings generated lyrical musing and a sense of peace and well-being it could not mask the obvious danger of his trip. He suffered fear, loneliness and sickness, and at times was actually very bored.
Traveling overland from Kalemie with aid workers, he is plagued by difficulties. The bikes they are using are unreliable and their fuel is contaminated. There is a colony of ants determined to bite them. Both rebel troops and government forces, although on opposing sides of the perpetual war, present the same danger to Butcher and his little group. Food is also a huge challenge. The local diet is cassava, a dish that smells of rancid cheese and the consistency of wallpaper paste with a taste that brings to mind both. There is never enough water to drink which means dehydration is always a threat. The river is a danger too, with crocodiles and insects carrying disease. Hidden villages along the banks offer both a warm welcome and a threat of mai-mai. There are also signs that things used to be better, as Butcher discovers Catholic missions from the days of the Poisonwood Bible.
Throughout the journey, Butcher begins to philosophize about the Congo's identity and how its experiences have made it the place it is today.
