Category Archives: uncategorized

A Strong Woman and her Matropopo

The efficient, economical answer to supply problems,  “MATROPOPO”,  showed up on John’s budget request for the northern park.  Whatever it was, it cost thousands of dollars.  How are we to explain Matropopo to the finance department in Frankfurt, Germany? John was in the forest camp of Katopa about to start the descent of the Lomami […]

Open-Air Justice for Mai-mai

Starting on the 19th of January 2021, there was a public trial in the town of Kindu, the nearest large town to the Lomami National Park.  On trial were six Mai-Mai insurgents – call them village terrorists – that had banded around two young war-lords, Fidel on the west side of the park and Bernard […]

Dead: One Bonobo and One Man

The bonobo was killed first. It was 2018, on November 18th.  A patrol team, led by Elias Omana, was on surveillance in a forested part of the Lomami National Park near a point we call KK/4.   There was a scuffle of leaves.  Poachers were near.  The surveillance team ran, but the poachers were gone…they […]

Christmas 2020 on the Lomami River

We wanted the usual Christmas …as always, we planned to head back to family in the States.  We had our air tickets already in early November. Instead, our Christmas party was at Kakongo Camp on the Lomami River where John shared the smidgen of Johnnie Walker left in his single bottle. BECAUSE the USA Covid […]