I thought this last storyI posted was the most intense I had ever read, but... I was wrong. Ben Stookesbury and Chris Korbulic have to be the bravest paddlers I've ever met. Going into an area like this would make me pee down my leg like a little baby. They go anyway. I can't wait for the film to come out next spring. Another amazing, unbelievable expedition!! I am humbled.

http://outside-blog.away.com/blog/2010/11/kayaking-africa-the-great-lakes-of-the-congo.html

Unbelievable, thanks for the link. I liked the bit about using paddling signals to communicate with the crowd -very cool.

I have always had a real hard time understanding how recreating in third world countries has been equated to some kind of humanitarian effort. I can see a potential argument in that it will evenutally bring tourists and business to the area, but in this case that is highly unlikely.

In the new age of sponsored kayak expeditions, the Congo trip is a first. The modern eco-kayaking expedition that uses the mask of kayak tricks to bring attention to ecological issues, such as the currents project, or some of the stuff that Trip Jennings is doing is a step forward in kayaking being more than just kayaking for the sake of hucking ones proverbial meat. But this Congo expedition is the first that I can think of that is drawing attention to Political and humanitarian issues. Now that may not have been Stookesbury's intention to draw the public eye toward the political situation in the Congo, but at least it draws the eye.

The African continent has been under imperial and colonial oppression since the 1600's, and what is happening in the Congo may not be congolese nationalists fighting the British, or French, or some other Modernized culture, but their conflict is a direct result of the turmoil that has been created in the region via Imperialism and Colonialism.

So, if stookesbury's resume building expedition helps at least one young meat hucking, sh*t running, brown clawing, broham to consider the absolute atrocities that have been and continue to happen in the African continent in the name of the modern worlds economic intrests, I think it's at least a step.

Maybe what stookesbury is doing will motivate a young filmaker to focus on political issues rather than just "running the brown" or setting world records. The African continent is a long way from regaining it's sovereignty, and it's unlikely that anyone in the niche market of whitewater kayaking will create change in the corporate dealings in Africa, but maybe it'll do something.

If anyone wants to learn more about the economic ways that Africa has been Imperialised I recommend Looting Africa: The Economics of Exploitation by Patrick Bond, it's a tough read but is the most in depth look at African Imperialization.

Agreed, in the modern world of globalization, sovereignty is a constantly changing term, and potentially unattainable. For my use it means the ability for African countries to tell foreign corporations or governments to F-off, or even choose to nationalize their natural resources so those resources are not funneled out of the continent. This conversation is so multi faceted that there are week long conferences dedicated to this topic, but in terms of Whitewater kayaking in the International "developing world" I still think it's a step forward for the whitewater industry in diversifying the reasons and motives for paddling rivers.