Travel, Photography, Conservation and Random Thoughts
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Democratic Republic of the Congo
Virunga. A place that inspires fascination, desire, fear. That pulls at the heartstrings of many adventurers, a place that echoes Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. For it is a magical and beautiful place, hauntingly so for its story s often enshrined with violence and tragedy. This Chapter was very much unplanned, celebrating the life of a brave brave man who’s job it was to protect people as they climbed one of Africa’s most active volcanoes, Mt Nyiragongo.
At the ripe age of 15, I did a work placement for my school at WWF - UK. That’s when I heard about Virunga National Park for the first time. A few months later, they officially launched their campaign against Soco, a British company seeking to drill oil in the National Heritage site - which was completely prohibited by Congolese law.
4 years later, as a young conservationist completing her second year at university, and preparing an internship at The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya, I thought it was the right time for me to visit Virunga. Things were more stable politically, although with Kabila cancelling the elections in the DRC -meant to take place on 21st August 2017 - I didn’t know if I’d have another opportunity.
