Crossing the Congo
Over Land and Water in a Hard Place
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In 2013, three friends set off on a journey that they had been told was impossible: the north-south crossing of the Congo River Basin, from Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Juba, in South Sudan.
Traversing 2,500 miles of the toughest terrain on the planet in a twenty-five year-old Land Rover, they faced repeated challenges, from kleptocracy and fire ants to non-existent roads and intense suspicion from local people. Through imagination and teamwork – including building rafts and bridges, conducting makeshift surgery in the jungle and playing tribal politics – they got through. But the Congo is raw, and the journey took an unexpected psychological toll on them all.
"Crossing the Congo" is an offbeat travelogue, a story of friendship and what it takes to complete a great journey against tremendous odds, and an intimate look into one of the world's least-developed and most fragile states, told with humour and sensitivity.
About the Author
Mike Martin is a visiting research fellow at the Department of War Studies, King's College London, having previously studied biology at Oxford. Between these experiences, he served as a British Army officer in Afghanistan. His previous books include "An Intimate War: An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict" and "Crossing the Congo: Over Land and Water in a Hard Place", the latter of which was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Adventure Travel Writing Award in 2016.
Chloe Baker is an anaesthetist working in critical care and emergency medicine. She has previously published research conducted in Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Togo, and recently received the Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa.
Charlie Hatch-Barnwell is a photojournalist. He was UN Winner of the prestigious 2014 Moscow Photo Awards (Portrait Category) and has been shortlisted twice for the Travel Photographer of the Year Award.
Reviews
"Their success, as it unfolds in this lively narrative, reflects a unique combination of skills – an Army veteran of Afghanistan to deal with logistics, a doctor to look after medical issues and a photojournalist to set it down for the record in a splendid set of illustrations" – Geographical Magazine
"'Crossing the Congo' gives you a deeply, brutally honest view of what it is like to complete a great journey. At times they were lucky to survive.' – Robin Hanbury-Tenison, OBE, DL, Dsc, Dhc, MA, FLS, FRGS. President, Survival International.
"A remarkable story of psychological and physical endurance, and a compelling account of what pushes people to embark on impossible journeys" – Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE
