A while back I wrote about the progress being made on the bonobo research and conservation center in our Congo Heartland. I’m joining a 15 person expedition organized by Jef Dupain, director of the Heartland, to visit the site, check on construction as it nears completion, install a VSAT internet connection, and prepare some media buzz for its opening.

Arrival in Kinshasa

Arrival in Kinshasa.

I spent two days in Kinshasa, the capital of DR Congo, and had the chance to visit Lola ya Bonobo, a sanctuary for orphaned bonobos - and one of AWF’s partners here. Founded by Claudine Andre in 1994, Lola is home to almost 60 bonobos who live in 75 acres of primary forest.

Beyond rehabilitating orphanted bonobos (usually confiscated from the black market pet trade), Lola has a strong outreach and education program for schools. “Education is the first step to conservation,” Claudine told me at the sanctuary. “Congolese kids are proud of their country’s biodiversity. We are helping to spread that pride.” Each year 19,000 school kids come and get to see bonobos up close.

A young bonobo.

A young bonobo at the Lola sanctuary.

AWF has been lending technical support (mapping, vegetation analysis, etc.) to the program, which aims to reintroduce bonobos back into the wild in 2009.

“Jef is amazing in working with communities [in the Congo Heartland] to know and appreciate bonobos,” Claudine said. “I went to the forest with him and it was easy to see signs of conservation.”

Tomorrow we take two pirogues (giant wooden canoes made from single tree trunks) 300 kilometers up the Maringa and Lopori rivers to get to the site of the bonobo center. I can’t wait to see Claudine’s praise in action, and hopefully to catch a glimpse of these incredible apes in the wild.

I'll be in one of these canoes for 25 hours as we go 300 km upriver. Don't rock the boat!

I'll be in one of these canoes for 25 hours as we go 300km upriver. Don't rock the boat!

P.S. - It might not sound like the best time to visit the DR Congo. But I’m about 850km from the fighting in the east. I’m safe, I think.