Catching Crocodiles
in the Heart of Darkness

Scientific journey of a Dutch student in Wildlife Management at the University of Pretoria in South Africa in the quest to discover how many species of crocodiles exist on the African continent, along with the adventures that accompanied the scientific data collection. This book contains data that can be used by future students or scientist as the basis for additional research. It also contains an itinerary and diary of everything that happened during a year of travelling by car from South Africa back to the Netherlands in many African countries, from dangerous rebel encounters to marvellous nighttime expeditions in the central African jungles.

"I was born in 1977 in Haarlem and spent most of my younger years in nature. My BSc Animal Management study took me to Romania working with wolves, bears and lynx and to the USA (Corpus Christi and the Grand Canyon). Since 2003, I have been a student in South Africa. In Holland, I work for the province of Groningen in achieving the European Natura 2000 goals."

The team headed for the direction of Lefini National Park, where gorillas still roamed freely. Without research permits catching crocodiles was out of the question. They kept on driving, passing Oyo, the president’s hometown. Naturally, the good roads ended after they had passed Oyo, although there was an airstrip under construction in Oyo. Personal transport for the president was apparently more important than the rest of the Congo infrastructure. Some hours after passing Oyo, the crew arrived in the little town of Ngo. They still had to eat and stopped at the local police station to ask if they could camp there. In exchange for some beers and cigarettes, part of the equipment especially carried along for influencing situations like these, the police captain agreed. The police sergeant even joined them to help find a good place to eat. He apologised a little later, because not a lot of real restaurants were found. The crocodile catchers suggested the bread and manioc they saw next to the main street with some local vendors. The police sergeant suggested something else, on top of these two local staples. He took them to a small wooden building, where a middle-aged woman soon appeared with pots and pans. Indeed, bread and manioc were being served, but also a little black monkey from the forest, or, more specifically, arms of a little black monkey from the forest. Roland wanted to ask if that monkey was not by any chance a baby gorilla but, understanding how close they were to the president’s hometown (where policemen are wary) and not wanting to offend the chief of police, who had kindly offered to keep them safe in the night to come, he kept his mouth shut, opening it merely when he had to take another bite and continue chewing vigorously on monkey meat.