Deadliest Journeys - Congo The road itself is very difficult It's just about impossible The only way to get there is just by sheer strength and willpower you have to be men Only Moses could have made it through this road Kongo is a building site You have to learn how to drive along the building site Our life is about hitting with great kisses Life here is all about suffering look at the state of this road, but this rapid on Though this Africa visited with traders who have to sell our merchandise elsewhere We have to get through whatever it takes in order to make a living Despite the hardships will make it what get through Things are hopping at the road terminus in Lumumba sheep in the Congo Traders throng around the only available transport hoping to get a lift to sell their goods in the town of buchamma Hey mind my stuff will you it's fragile We're up straight We put the contact numbers on Eugene is one of the few truckers willing to risk the notorious Road. The metal rods are sticking out far too far The bundles of goods are carefully positioned wasting space on board means less money for Eugene Move this case over there put this one that way The fees are based on the bulk of the goods themselves That foam there. That's 12,000 francs 3 kilos and by their weight, how much is that 40 kilos? The price is about a dollar a kilo and it's non-negotiable The lightest one I'm telling you, it's 40 Dama I decide the prices based on the charges I have to pay for parking Well, you're the boss Eugene but we have to pay a lot what about giving us a break The road is really bad that's why my transportation costs are high I need to make some money So with any heavy bundle I charge fifteen or twenty thousand francs I need the money to buy them another truck The vehicles last for maybe three four or five years, but it could break down in a month or a year or two The road is merciless taking a heavy toll on the trucks Many have more than a million kilometers on the clock. But Eugene's truck is relatively new it only has notched up 700,000 kilometers It's not really new. It's secondhand from Europe Out here. That's what we call new anything from Europe Eugene's insurance comes in the form of his driver Domingo We almost forgot the crowbar you never know when we might need it for a puncture Eugene pays him a small fortune three hundred dollars a trip three times the average salary in the Congo push push Domingos unquestionably worth his wages. He's considered one of the best drivers around and After using the road for 10 years, he knows it well Make sure the lids are all on tight head change this lid There's 170 liters of fuel in reserve in the middle of the bush there are no petrol stations To top up his income Eugene has sold off 10 places to passengers on top of his truck There's no bus service. And once again, he decides what the fees are $20 one-way, I Don't know why we have to pay so much on such an awful dangerous road That's just the way it is Before each trip Eugene hands over a fistful of money to Domingo who handles the petty cash To cover his meals and for any contingencies along the way But a Congolese Frank is a Congolese Frank Will get the rest of it after but this is what the passengers have paid for That's it that's all they've paid well what do you mean Put all the money down, let's do this properly the road is risky, so I need 15,000 12,000 Gather round everyone. Let's pray to God that the journey goes well Eugene never leaves without first receiving the village priests blessings Our Father we thank you for this journey We beseech you to protect us along the way at the start and at the end It's a path that man cannot make on foot Protect them from accidents and preserve their lives and a system against the natural and the supernatural throughout the journey Even if this is a man-made vehicle, please take it under your wing in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen Start the engines How long will it take you to get to bukhara? Oh, I think it'll we'll be there in four days Four days of torture for those who have put their trust in Eugene's truck nicknamed the fuck Oh sure, or warthog after the animal that lives in the bush Machine counted 11 passengers in all but only 10 have paid He stops the truck and soon discovers one passenger has smuggled on board his fiancee Listen I run a tight ship here. She has to get off Who's gonna pay for her I'll take care of it fine. Okay. She stays She might be his fiancee, I don't know things have to be clear here I need to know who's on board and make sure the list is correct and that they've paid it's a question of money I can't just take whoever wants to get on board if there's an accident. I'm responsible. It's not a bus, you know For the first 50 kilometers, the road is paved warthog trundles along at a steady 40 kilometres an hour Later the road becomes a dirt track no more towns just villages and the average speed drops to barely 20 kilometers an hour The going gets tough Incredibly the road was once actually paved four decades ago But after years of neglect nature in the form of tropical rains and furnace like heat has repossessed the ground Eugene who knows the road? Well that track poses. No surprises No, we're fine we can carry on we're cool the driver isn't too concerned either is calm Six hours into the trip and they've covered 80 kilometers Time to stop for some food and at the last village before the real challenges of the jungle begin Share out the sugarcane Money please money You think this is bad just wait you'll see it's much much worse Drivers be careful an accident can happen at any time? For men in slightest risk the slightest lapse or distraction on bang you'll have an accident for sure That's it. Appear. Next up is a pro team named way Well, that's why all the drivers that use this road are professionals experienced you have to be this is not a road anyone can manage The first difficulties soon appear The rainy season has ended but the downpours have taken a terrible toll Leaving huge holes filled with mud domingo has to maneuver the 15 tonne truck with great care You have to be gentle with the gears and the steering that's the secret I'll stay really focused It's a hard way to make a living take huge risks whenever I buy a truck You see this kind of road it doesn't matter if the trucks are new or secondhand everything is unpredictable Even the lifespan of a truck and conditions like these The truck can break up after just two trips even with the best driver you're always just one step from disaster You're right we come across trucks that have got stuck in the mud at nighttime then they spend more time on this road than planned That's right. That means delay is easy. Does it I say Yeah, that's right easy does it But God has other plans warmers from the start warthog is falling behind schedule Should have covered 300 kilometers but so far they've made just 150 Eugene and Domingo decide to drive through the night despite the danger We've never driven this part at night because it's quite a risk trucks can easily get stuck We've pushed our luck along these past seven kilometers. We owe it to our customers to make up the delay We never drive after 6:00. Usually. It's for their sake this time Twenty three hours on the road time to take a break at the small village of Kenzie where a party is in full swing Well, not apparently there's a wake someone from the villagers died, that's the way they do funerals here Okay, we join you sure the more the merrier Morning is done by candlelight There's no electricity out here The men are dancing in honor of the memory of Papa Kumba a village headsman who died three days earlier It's a straightforward tradition and the Congo death is greeted with smiles Stopping with these people we have to share in their in their grief because that's the way it's done in Africa Africans are a community Africans share things. It's by association Drink we drink singing we sing in the morning we say goodbye After a few hours sleep it's time to press ahead one of the worst stretches of track lies ahead 500 kilometers to go to bukhoma In this part of the road the potholes could be as deep as three meters To negotiate the track Eugene uses three Scouts to plot a route and past the holes Bu and an elephant hang on to the outside of the truck acting as spotters for the driver You Tricky But when it comes to the hardest stretches of road everyone has a different opinion Domingo wants to go that way along the edge. You've seen the plants over there. And then where the water is It's a deathtrap you're wasting your time, I think we should go around you keep saying go through the middle It's okay the high wheelbase will see us through Don't listen to them I think you can get through go-go by the side As a precaution Domingo asks the passengers to get off the truck It's overloaded and more worryingly unbalanced by the huge amount of goods. It's transporting It could tip over at any moment on the uneven surface Once the truck is on its way Domingo cannot afford to stop the fear of the vehicle getting bogged down Passengers follow on foot Life here is all about suffering look at the state of this road. It's like this every day All we do is suffer the truck goes ahead and we have to follow on foot The road gets eroded more and more. Hey you white man when you go home, tell them to help rebuild our roads It's like a Calvary this road Didn't think we'd after war Can see you'll get feet of iron It's endless this trip if it's like this all the way we'll have to go on foot That's a crap road come on you can do it Seven kilometers later and the passengers can finally board the truck again We've made it through one of the worst parts sure you can say that again Eugene is proud of his driver. I Didn't think we could do it to be honest Now we know what's behind us It was slippery very slippery You know only Moses could have got through easily Yeah, it's a tough one Chum it's worse than bad Once we left new wooden bar sheep. There's no way we can stop. There's no choice. We're in the thick of it Now I say bring it on Trucks good, so don't panic. We'll make it through just need the strength to do it Over the next few days Domingo and his team will do their utmost to prevent the warthog from getting bogged down The track is in such a poor state that it takes Eugene's truck all day to cover just 25 kilometers If he'll has a road then this surely must be it sequel At times the truck can barely make two kilometers an hour They left Lubin Bashi nine days ago and have so far covered just 250 kilometers They're still 400 to go Perched on the truck the passengers are at their wit's end a ferocious wind Whips the warthog, but Eugene seems unconcerned by their complaints Jen you don't care about us. Do you well, why should I we'll make it don't worry We're packed like sardines up here. Well, that's your place. You knew that before we started We could die for all you care The driver has to do is take us to our destination Eugene promised it would take only four days Anyway, let's hope we get there in one piece on this truck that's crawling We're treated as badly as the assistants Business to doing buchamma, everyone should do their work properly To give everyone a break Eugene makes a stop for supplies Drinking water and a chance to make sure none of the nuts and bolts on the Warthog have come loose The truck has been sorely tried. So to have the passengers who are now days behind schedule Show me that Some seem to have been thinking ahead Fufu is the local staple bread made from corn flour. I got meat to Momma Mozilla's restaurant is famous throughout the bush. The track is vital for her and the local economy. I Depend on this road for business and it's what keeps the village going If the road gets any worse and people can't use it that means I won't be able to send my kids to school Right now I can save up for their studies if they could only surface the road properly then that would be great for all of us here in the village and there'd be no more chance of The travelers getting stuck in the mud that way the vehicles would be passing through the whole time, which is what we dream of Domingo signals it's time to go but mama Missoula chases after him he and his three assistants haven't paid for their meal Hey, you you need to pay me you told me to wait but now you have to pay Are you don't exert you're not gonna give me any money You lied to me Eugene you're leaving without paying and if you leave without paying Domingo, I'll be broken Six days behind schedule Domingo and the others have already spent all their petty cash and the driver suggests that eugene forks out for the meals Eugene your driver owes this woman money pay for him and the matters closed The other table you didn't see what had happened Sorry, it's got nothing to do with me Responsible speak to them at least Just pay the woman, okay Who's gonna pay me back? Well your driver the security guys will I? Told them to eat now. They'll find a way to pay with the money. I've already given them the driver left with over two thousand francs Next time he passes through no no. No you're leaving and then what you think I'll see him again tomorrow or something It's nothing to do with me In the end Eugene convinces her to wait for her money until the next time they pass by After 300 kilometres of potholes and dozens of hours of being shaken. There's an unwelcome surprise The warthog loses a key component of its suspension which breaks off This is the part that's broken take a look over there there may be the wrench that's real work. You're never around are you? Domingo is upset now they'll be delayed even more Come on guys hurry up What your tie just from changing a tire it'd be easier if the passengers got off Where's the bloody wrench then it's right next to your way through The spotters fill in as mechanics and can repair just about anything They're paid $50 a month a basic salary for intensive labor that elephant finds acceptable Since it allows him to both feed 12 members of his family and hope his dream will come true Me I want to become a driver After six years of security work and spotting and I've learnt about mechanics how to do maintenance and I know all about trucks I'm happy I make a good living And one day I hope to become a good driver just like Domingo then I can provide for my parents and my family Everyone settles down for a long wait Almost midnight and the crew have been trying to fix the problem for more than five hours We're working we're working we're here trying to find a solution So we can fix it and get on the road again, we need to improvise make things up just Find a way out of here and repair the breakdown Moving on would be good, but that's Africa for you. It's the Congolese way It could take days Without spares, we'll need to try to figure out everything by ourselves on how to fix this Then we should be off again Eugene who had expected the journey to take four days now has to face up to the fact that they've been on the road for 12 days and they're still only halfway there a Few kilometers from the stricken warthog is the mining region of col y z each parcel of land each Hill belongs to foreign companies Chinese Indian American are all here for the copper and the cobalt Cobalt is a highly prized mineral these days as it's used in cellphone batteries A broken-down truck blocking the transportation of the mineral on the only road in the region is unacceptable To solve the problem the mining companies are pulling out all the stops 20 Oh Some are losing patience sir, a four-wheel drive vehicle tries. It's luck from the lower side of the track Wow well done the foreigners they don't know how to do anything. I Told them not to go that way now they brought it on themselves. They were stupid. I Showed them the way they just weren't interested fine. Leave them. I'll spend the night stuck out here then They're used to motorways they can't handle conditions like these Then I'm gonna driving in the country The whole of Congo is a building site roads are completely dilapidated We ask the government the foreigners to help finance development it has roads are the first step in any real growth It takes two hours to get the vehicle out of the mud Among the foreign companies highly mechanized Pitts is an old cobalt mine, which the government has recently given to the Congolese people Four thousand miners flocked to the site to chance their luck with rudimentary equipment at best a crowbar but usually with their bare hands Many are willing to risk their lives to strike it rich The Bible says in order to eat you have to work whoever does not work will not eat That's why we're working here it's like big in the army we just make do with what we have Asma Bhutto used to say whatever will be will be If it does collapse, I'm a goner if it doesn't collapse, I'll make a bit of money and then I'm out of here Twenty people work 25 meters below ground in a gallery dug out by hand. The heat is unbearable People died down here in the past But God is keeping an eye on us now everyone gets on with their work so far it's safe We'll all get out again alive and get together in the village Day they remove a ton of ore from deep below ground in 50 kilo sacks He stole age 27 and his brother kiri goal aged 22 have been here for just three weeks They have already dug down 10 meters God will protect us today Come on here we go. Let's dig for our share to get out Who am I gonna complain to goes the song you fooled me? Can I do You left my love. Mama. Kmb You betrayed me My father wanted me to be a Christian go to school I saw what money could do. I said learning French is all well and good, but it wouldn't put food on my plate Hawaii in 1996. I went off to work in Angola digging for diamonds red sand quartz and emeralds and for what they call blue sky Blue sky, come on a pale blue sky Our life is just about hitting we're great hitters really brave And we're patient They buy this office cheap telling there's little cobalt we won't sell this for Chinese I don't like they rip us off While some half killed themselves trying to make a living others have taken an easier way out Jean-claude is a missionary spreading the word of God in several African nations to Boost the missions coffers, he's hired three miners whom he watches closely God I used to trade diamonds when I was Then I heard the voice of God telling me to stop I did and came here to the Congo to work as a missionary Friend suggested I come to the mines their problems here God's business has many problems Faith, so the pastors have become adventurers, which is why we need to have our own resources By by doing a little bit of this a little bit of that we dig and we have people that dig for us Then we sell off the minerals to the large companies that I own so see if they would've left It's in Kalama a short distance away that the miners sell the cobalt war The buyers are largely Chinese or Indians who paid two dollars apiece for the 50 kilo sacks What the miners don't realize is that the same or will be resold in the markets at Shanghai or New Delhi for 200 times as much I Phiston member my younger brother kiri goal being exploited We sell our product here because we have no other choice. We work 12 hours a day. The worker has to eat all the same We can't afford to rest We might get only 1000 francs a bag and if you have a family and kids, well, that's nothing Here a beer cost 1,500 francs If you can sell three sacks, you might be doing okay And you need to sweat blood to fill three sacks, but you have to think of your kids it's hard it's very hard Don't say trade if you see you say trade officials in Three months earlier the village of Kalama on the road that leads to buchamma only had 650 Inhabitants today because of the mines the population has increased tenfold and makes do with what shelter it can find When fist on and Kira Gaul first arrived and while they were waiting to find a concession and start earning some money The pastor put them up in the town's old church Nothing just my blanket and this prayer Muhammad Abdul Allah Allah Allah if the 42nd Chris sat on don't have money been doing the tunnel can collapse We must pray to the good Lord because it's the Lord that will protect us which is why we say Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Then we give thanks to garden and then we smoke we smoke so as not to be afraid Don't contain that bomb Madam your idiom you smoke that your fears will vanish Despite all the millions of people that will die if they say your neighbor has died You'll still be alive without shame without fear without pity even that's why we do it Come and see the great master the great smoker feast on my himba my aim Each hard-earned penny as soon spent on drugs to make their lives more bearable We do it this way so it goes straight to the brain The life spent hammering away at the rocks in the hope of striking it rich one day Eugene and his companions pass through the village where few stone and Kirikou live without stopping There's no time to waste. They lost some other three days repairing the truck They've now been on the road for two weeks and are still barely halfway to their destination The voyage has turned into a nightmare The truck moves along at a snail's pace the odyssey becomes surreal In the middle of the bush the traffic jam a dozen or so trucks and single-file waiting to move on You bring me any presents. Hang on. We'll see You see what's in front? The vehicles got stuck fast to get through. You'll have to go this way The trucks been stuck for three days the driver has unloaded all its cargo in a desperate effort to extricate his vehicle When you see colleagues in trouble like this We stop and try and help each other the best way that we can but you still have to look after number one And that's the case now as Domingo tries, whatever means he can to bypass the obstruction Any feelings of solidarity with a trapped driver put aside that he risks getting bogged down himself Eugene can't get over it. He may be a mean businessman, but he's full of admiration for his driver He's a trooper the real Road fighter What skill Everyone admires him of all the crews none can even begin to compare with us You mean Domingo? Of course, you think he's here just for the fun of it He's got the heart of a lion I tell you Is great Galvanized by Domingo success the other drivers chance their luck They claim victory too soon has just a few kilometers further down the road There are another dozen trucks and all of them have become trapped in the mire The drivers are going for broke The blue truck has to be moved out in the bush it's all a matter of being resourceful You know, it's the vehicle itself that's the problem here it's in a dreadful state it's overloaded and its engine just can't hack it warning made We need to pool our resources and get everyone to work for the common good Interior corner, the only way we're gonna get true everyone without exception that's what has to be done Everyone has their own solution. However, bizarre you need to empty that water that's over the head this way See put it from that hole into this one Eventually a plan is agreed on Watching the spectacle unfold Eugene is concerned some of the passengers haven't any food Some trucks have been stuck here for 11 days We're afraid of hunger not having food we still need to eat in order to work This Uganda we know the challenges of the road We knew we had to do it even though it's not the easiest way to transport people or goods Then transfer Despite their best efforts Eugene Domingo and the rest of the drivers will remain stuck in the mud for another two weeks The journey that should have taken four days will eventually take the Warthog a month a Month to cover the 650 kilometres to buchamma We'll need a really strong chain and attach it here. Have you got one No, I haven't got one. Nope, okay Domingo, how long do you think it'll take to get to boo? Karma? Oh, I think about four days should do it He wrote and translated into several languages: Joachim Moczko He wrote and translated into several languages: Joachim Moczko
