Has Congo Safaris Expeditions finally found a viable hunting area in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)? Continuing subscribers know I have been following the efforts of this company closely. In fact, I personally went there this past June and spent nearly two weeks north of Kinshasa, vainly seeking a bongo and/or forest sitatunga. Since then, another hunter, subscriber Allen Stuart, has gone to DRC and spent two weeks seeking game along the northern border of Angola. To date, no animals have been shot in DRC, and patience with the country has been wearing thin.
As this issue went to press, however, Congo Safaris' Angie Stephen- son assured me the company has finally hit pay dirt in the far northern part of the country, in an area called Bili-Uere near the border of Central African Republic. She writes:
"Congo Safari Expeditions is happy to announce that we are finally in a position to offer bongo hunts in DRC, in a new area called Bili-Uere. We plan to start hunting from approximately the end of March/beginning April 2005 onwards to the middle of May. Special rates will be available for this first season.
"The owner of Congo Safaris Expeditions, George Angelides, has just returned for a recce of the new area. It's in the north of the country, bordering Central African Republic to the north and Sudan to the east. It offers all we have been looking for and more. The game available includes bongo, eland, several duikers (including blue, bay and yellow-backed), giant forest hog, bushpig, lion, leopard, elephant, sitatunga and buffalo (both the northwestern variety and the forest variety).
"Bili-Uere covers a total of 24,000 square miles, divided into several blocks. We have been approved to hunt the eastern part of the area, which is comprised of approximately 12,000 square miles (7.8 million........(continued)
