DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
I have just gotten back from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the rainforest of Africa. I flew both in and out of Kinshasa, their capital city. When I got there, I took a boat tour across the Congo river, over to Congo and back to where I started. While on the boat, I found it very fascinating that there were several giant boats with what looked to be thousands of people on them. There was a constant flow of people getting on the boat from small canoe looking boats, and people getting off of small boats, to the big one. The big party boats are a type of market, where trade happens. The Congo River Atlantic Ocean, Lake Tanganyika, Lulaba, and Lake Albert are just a few of the major waterways in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Congo Basin, is also somewhat like a major waterway in the Democratic Republic of the Congo because it contains all of the overflow of lots of rivers. In the duratiion of my stay, I went to check out parts of the rainforest as well. I went to the rainforest to mainly see wildlife. And in return, i saw many different species of animals, like birds, frogs, monkeys of some sort, along with many others. I really enjoyed how green and luscious the surroundings were. While walking through the rainforest, I relized that the humidity had caused my hair to get all puffy and frizzy! In my opinion, it was quite devostating to see all of the deforestaition action going on. There were lots of small spots cleared out where small villages lived, or farming was done. Deep inside the rainforest, I saw a few tribes living, like the Pygmies. Most people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are Christian, and speak French. I really enjoyed listening to people play their music. Their music is a combination of different types of music, like South America and African music, just to name a few. This combination makes up the African Rumba. Art done by both professionals and amatuers are stunning! Their style of art is a bit different, because they make lots of masks (which are not very commonly seen or worn in the U.S), wooden statues (while the statues in the U.S tend to be made out of different metals), and weaving. Some painting is done as well. Recently (not when I was visiting), the Ebola virus has spread into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and so far has killed ten induviduals. Also, fighting between the rebels and national army has threatened gorrilas.