Elie Mundima

Category: Out on Patrol | Date: Apr 03 2007 | By: admin

It rained a lot the first night they were in Njuma, and because of all the mud and sand the vehicle they were using slid off the track at the camp and was caught on the ledge.

Luckily we are used to this, and with the help of many strong arms the vehicle was soon on its way to the first patrol point.

On route we came across this truck carrying wood. Becase we are within the park’s limits, we had to make sure that the wood came from a legitmate source by checking the details given by the men. In this case the wood came from where a road is being built, and so the truck was allowed to continue on its way.

Once they reached the drop-off point, the rest of the way was by foot through the thick forest vegetation.

At certain intervals along the patrol, Deo Kakule Sindani uses GPS to establish the coordinates and to track their progress. The arrival of GPS has helped enormously with our navigation through the dense rainforest.

Towards the end of day, our men discovered some okapi traces. Unfortunately there are a lot of poachers in the area who try and trap okapi, which we will show you more of tommorow, but for now this is a great sign as okapi are unique to the Congo and we are very pleased to see that they are still in this area.

Technorati : Advance Force, Congo, Congo Rangers, DRC, Loggers, Okapi, WildlifeDirect