Rumble in the Jungle

The Rumble in the Jungle was a historic boxing event that took place on October 30, 1974, in the 20th May Stadium, now the Tata Raphael Stadium, in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). It pitted the undefeated world Heavyweight champion George Foreman against former world champion and challenger Muhammad Ali. Ali won by knocking out Foreman in the eighth round. It has been called "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century". Tata in the stadium name doesn’t have anything to do with the Tata group, it is just an endearment of the term – Father. That match happened about 40 years ago and I went to Congo for the 1st time in May 2012.

Congo is not your normal travel destination. Of all the countries of Africa, Congo is closest to "Tarzan's Africa”. You can very easily imagine him swinging on a vine right in front of you as you travel through this country, visited more by adventurers than tourists.

No one goes there to rest and sit in a chair for a couple of days. Congo is an experience and asks for people who - with all respect for nature and local culture - like to learn, observe and have no objection against social contact. If you are one who loves to taste local fruit and food, likes to walk in the mud and accept to travel in a country without cold beer or cola; this is the place for you. If you really need five-star hotels, whiskey on the rocks and a 50-channel television, please go somewhere else.

Though travel in Congo is not without the associated risks – The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of UK advises against all travel to eastern parts of the country due to various armed conflicts happening in that part of the country.

In the DRC, you can trek to see both mountain and lowland gorillas in wild, meet pygmies still practicing their traditional way of life in the forests, spot bonobos, Congo Peacock, Bongo and okapi —some of the rare animal species not found anywhere else on earth, and climb to the summits of active volcanoes and see a boiling lava lake in the crater of the Nyiragongo.

It has been said that the Democratic Republic of Congo is the country around which all other African countries revolve. Two-thirds the size of Europe with only 450 km of paved road – an area of vast jungles and dark corners, scattered outposts and tribal strongholds, equatorial rainforests and active volcanoes - truly one of the most untamed countries on the surface of the earth.

As the country of Democratic Republic of Congo is intersected by the Equator, the seasons are reversed in the north and south. During the past 15 years, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, former Za?re, hasn't been accessible for tourists. Two subsequent wars made travel practically impossible. Now that the political situation has stabilized, tourists are able to visit this magnificent country again.

The country has vast mineral wealth and all of our cell phones won’t work if it wasn’t for Congo. For it is from Congo that one of the essential minerals for manufacturing of the cell phone comes from called as Coltan which is an ore for Tantalum.

The other major source of major wealth for the country is in Mining. Congo is the 2nd largest producer of Copper after Chile and even though there is so much production, not much of this is coming back to Congo as all the mining is controlled by companies which are based outside Congo, most of which are #of European origin.

Congo has one national dish: moambe. It's made of eight ingredients moambe is the Lingala word for eight: palm nuts, chicken, fish, peanuts, rice, cassava leaves, bananas and hot pepper sauce. Travelling satisfies all demands of a good hobby – it is absorbing education and refreshment to the mind, body, and soul. So do try to have a trip down to Congo if you get a chance.