Tuesday, June 17, 2014
SPECIAL EDITION BLOG POST: Written by Blake Berry!
I wanted to let you know about an adventure we had last month. It should be noted that everything in DRC…even the most straightforward of tasks can quickly become adventures.
By way of background, Lindsey and I are relocating from Gemena, DRC to Kinshasa, DRC (the capital city). As a part of this move I needed to take the WA Toyota Hilux truck, 2 drivers and 2 motorcycles from Gemena to Akula, our closest port city, located on a tributary of the Congo River. The plan was simple, drive the truck to Akula, put it on a boat, leave the first driver to guard the truck on the boat, for the short, 1-week trip to Kinshasa. Then, the second driver and I would return to Gemena on the 2 motorcycles. Once back in Gemena I would pack up the house while my very pregnant wife tries to remain cool. This is all in preparation to move to Kinshasa 3 days later. The plan to transport the truck to Akula was solid. It was estimated to not take more than 8 hours, from start to finish. This is a whole other story…but it took WAY longer than expected (a whole different adventure).
On Saturday May 10th, Lindsey and I flew to Kinshasa and the boat departed for Kinshasa with the truck. On May 23rd, already 1 week late, I received a call from Luka, the man who was responsible for protecting the truck. He said that the barge was in the middle (middle as in Left and Right not top to bottom) of the river, 180kms from Kinshasa, when the motor on the pusher quit and would not restart. Without the ability to steer, the barge soon ran into the large rocks that are found in this part of the river and the barge started to fill with water and sink. Thankfully, the front of the boat, where the truck was loaded, came to rest on the rock which had punctured the hull, and for the time being, had stabilized and was not in danger of sinking.
The next morning, I asked some friends in Kinshasa to begin looking for a new boat and barge to go up river and save the truck before it sinks. Around 12pm on the 24th, my friends had located a suitable combination, but at an outrageous price. I arrived at the docks for the negotiation and after several hours of conversation we had an agreement and they planned to depart that evening to travel all night. Unfortunately, they were delayed by about 24 hours due to rain and some issues with the port. A friend, who is an expert in river travel/salvage and had volunteered to go with the new boat to supervise the transfer of the truck to the new barge, relayed all of this information to me later.
Once underway, they arrived in record-breaking time. The combination of an empty, narrow barge and 380-horse power allowed them to reach the wreck in less than 24 hours of up-river travel! Once on site, they made the transfer of the truck from one barge to the other and it went VERY smoothly. I made it clear from the beginning…life is more important than a truck…I would prefer to lose the truck before losing a life. In reviewing video of the transfer…we definitely selected the correct crew for the job!
Once secured, the barge was loaded with some ballast (other people’s stranded stuff) to stabilize the new barge, and they departed. The boat ran at full throttle…up river and made it back to Kinshasa, safely, the morning of the following day to unload the truck. There is much more to the story, and we will update this blog with the “extended version” at a later time. For now, enjoy the video of the transfer from one boat to the other posted below.