Breaking the silence

There are a number of reasons why it's been so long since I've posted an update. A lot has been going on with me, not all of it pleasant. But I'll skip over the drama and get to the interesting part.

I'm going to the field on Monday, and this time it's For Real. I will be spending two months in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in a town called Goma in the war-torn east near the border with Rwanda. Goma is famous for all the wrong reasons. It's the place where nearly a million Rwandan refugees, fleeing genocide, gathered in camps -- whereupon thousands of them died of cholera. It's also where the genocidaires themselves fled, leading to attacks on the refugees by the Rwandans and their Ugandan allies. It's the main town near the Virunga mountains, where Dian Fossey met her brutal end following years of working with mountain gorillas. It's where the Nyiragongo volcano erupted in 2002, engulfing much of the town in lava. It's where a plane crashed last week, killing about 70 people. And perhaps most importantly, it's been at the epicentre of every major modern conflict in the DRC -- including the current one.

It's the eye of the storm, the bellybutton of the world, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. It's one of the least explored rainforests on the planet. It's a mecca for aid workers, war correspondents, arms dealers, and disaster junkies. It's the real deal.

I'm nervous as hell.

But I'll keep you all posted... it's gonna be a helluva ride.