The various locations where long necked aquatic or semi-aquatic animals are most commonly reported, comprise of the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa), Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Uganda, the Sudan and Zambia. The Congo Basin countries alone are populated (collectively) by over 59,589,631 people, speaking a total of 729 different ethnic and tribal languages. Very few of these groups, particularly those who live in the most remote villages and settlements, have any regular contact with one another. Although the official languages of most modern African states are the mother tongues of their former colonial rulers, such as English, French and Portuguese, the traditional languages are mostly spoken more remote and rural areas. In Cameroon, for example, over 279 tribal languages are still widely spoken. In the Republic of the Congo, 51 different native tongues are spoken, compared to 242 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 40 in Gabon and 34 in Guinea, with at least one hundred more minor ethnic dialects scattered across the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Equatorial Africa is populated by a vast variety of different ethnic and tribal groups, all with their own unique religious beliefs and social structures. If Mokele-mbembe
was a mere religious or cultural phenomenon, it would largely be confined to one particular ethnic group, whether it is the Fang tribe of Gabon, the Mongo tribe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or the Bamileke tribe of Cameroon. The very idea that certain tribes are merely making up stories of fearsome river monsters to keep rival ethnic groups out of their territory, groups whose very language, cultural and religious beliefs differ vastly from one another, is a palpable absurdity. In the Likouala region alone, several Bantu languages are active, including Bomitaba, Bekwil, Bomwali, Bonjo, Diboli, Fang, Gbava, Koko, Mbandja, Monzombo, Mpywmo, Ngundi, Ngabaka, and Pomo. Of these, only three are part of the Damawa-Ubangi language family, while the rest are localized Bantu languages with a few that belong to the Niger-Congo language group.

The pygmies, who are as unique from one another as are the various African (Bantu) tribes, are also split into various tribes and cultural groups. For example, the Mbenga pygmies who inhabit the western region of the Congo Basin, speak Lingala and differ from the Bi-Baya pygmies of southern Cameroon and northern Congo who speak Baka. The Mbuti pygmies of the Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, speak BaBila, which is again different from the Efe tribe who also live in the Ituri, but speak a Central Sudanic language related to Mangbutu, which part of a Nilo-Saharan language group. The Kango pygmies, who inhabit the western Ituri Forest speak Komo, which is distantly related to a Bantu language. The Aka, who inhabit the Central African Republic, speak a similar language to Lingala, but are again quite different from the Twa pygmies who inhabit parts of Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda, and speak the Kirundi and Kinyarwanda languages. Once again, the notion that from time to time, that differing groups of
pygmies from all backgrounds sharing stories about a giant hippo killing, plant eating monster that inhabits the rivers, lakes and swamps over an area stretching 800,000 square miles, and long before the white man arrived on the scene, is highly unlikely in the extreme. Nor do I believe that the eye-witnesses have simply mistaken known African animals for a well known African. Those who hunt, fish and forage in the river system and forests of Equatorial Africa are perfectly familiar with all the animals of these regions, whether or not they are known to the whiteman. They have no reason to lie as we do not pay them for the information they provide. They simply report their encounters or observations to us upon enquiry and couldn’t care less what outsiders think. Sooner or later we WILL make that breakthrough. And so to that end we press on.

Happy New Year everyone. Let’s hope that 2010 will bring us new and exciting discoveries.