Drums Along the Congo: On the Trail of Mokele-Mbembe, the Last Living Dinosur

by Rory Nugent

In the heart of the Congo is rumored to live a dinosaur called Mokele-Mbembe, or the god-beast. A handful of scientific expeditions have searched for it over the years with little success, but Nugent relied less on science than a desire to document the obscure. He made his way by dugout canoe and foot to Lake Tele, reputed home of the brontosaurus-like creature. It’s an environment little changed since the age of dinosaurs and he spent weeks paddling and trekking the area. He finally spotted a periscope-shaped object moving through the water. But when he tried to get closer, his guides threatened to shoot him, explaining that the “the god can approach man, but man never approaches the god.” Nugent’s photographs have been reprinted hundreds of times by those who believe in the god-beast. Drums Along the Congo merited inclusion on “Best 50 Books of the Year” list compiled by every major US newspaper.

Genres: Africa, Travel, Nonfiction, Cryptozoology, History, Adventure, Mythology

257 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 28, 1993

Reviews

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Rory Nugent started in search of Mokele-Mbembe, he was pretty sure he was searching for a real animal that either existed or had in recent times existed, a dinosaur still living in the rain forest of Africa. By the time he reached his goal, Lake Tele in the Congo, he was not quite as certain...perhaps it was a story, a vision, a legend, a spirit or a god...or maybe it was a real animal that rose briefly from those placid waters to reveal itself in an infuriatingly Nessie-like fashion. Since there is no dinosaur living at the National Zoo, no photos in the Natural History Museum of New York, or stuffed carcass at the Smithsonian, I am not revealing any spoilers in writing that Nugent was not as successful as he would have wished in his quest. And, yet, despite its nebulous and debatable conclusion, he was not at all unsuccessful, nor do I think I wasted my time in accompanying him on his adventure, and adventure it was, funny and scary, quixotic and gritty, noble and base. As every hero making a quest eventually discovers, it is not attaining the goal that changes you, but the journey, the people you meet along the trail, the places you see, the perils and obstacles you overcome. The Rory Nugent we meet at the beginning of the quest, before he sets off on his transformational quest, it not the same man we see at the end. He did not, perhaps, find the dinosaur he sought, but he did find something worth finding -- himself.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This entertaining cryptozoological travelogue about the attempting to find within Lake Tele of the Congo the Apatosaurus-god, Mokele-Mbembe, had some superb examples of how animism works as a religious system (with or without Roman Catholicism attached to it) and thus is included on my Professional Development Reading List as animism is absolutely examined in Anthropology. It also includes some amazing vignettes of blessings from witch-doctors and encounters with bow-and-arrow-armed Pygmies.

[Rob Crilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was an Africa correspondent for five years and because I was based in Nairobi only the north-eastern corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo fell into my patch. I visited twice. And always wanted more. The music and colour of Kinshasa remain a dream and a place I would love to visit. Nevermind Brazzaville and the Republic of Congo.

Rory Nugent does an amazing job of bringing that western corner to life, filled with observations about bugs. butterflies and bongos. He avoids the traps of making it all about himself, but paints instead a vivid picture of the people he meets along the way and a sympathetic portrait of their ways of life. It would have been easy to mock the juju, but the reader comes away feeling as if charms and prayers to jungle gods make the utmost sense. I want more like this please.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my biggest disappointment in reading so far this year. I thought it would have more information on the legend of Mokele-Mbembe than it actually did. The author also frequently wrote about the locals pagan religious beliefs. It picked up towards the end when the author and his party finally went on their expedition, but there are better books on cryptozoology.

[Liz Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully descriptive and fabulously interesting. Every minute of Nugent's trip is described as vividly as if the reader is living and breathing each experience with him.

[Emg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very funny camp scene!

[Sherri Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so boring. It does include information about the Congo but it is just one drunk party to another and your 3/4 into the book before he actually starts looking.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not all dinosaurs are extinct.

[Christopher Roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I'm sure most people commenting on this book point out, there isn't much in it about Mokele-Mbembe at all. In fact, I suspect strongly that Mokele-Mbembe was the "hook" or "angle" that Nugent used to get a publisher's advance so that he could get to the Congo and write the straight travel book he intended to write. And what a travel book it is! A tiny bit too much of the "I was the first white man to ever ..." syndrome, but it could have been a lot worse. Tremendous naturalist observational skills and wonderful ethnographic accounts of drumming traditions among other things. And as for Mokele-Mbembe itself, or themselves, or whatever, I must say that, even though I am not a complete debunker when it comes to matters cryptozoological, this one stretches credulity to the breaking point. I mean, if sasquatch, to take another example, is really a remnant Gigantopithecus, then we have only to accept that that species, which we know survived two ice ages, survived a third one as well. But to accept that there is a living dinosaur in the Congo basin, one would have to accept that all of the geological and climatic changes over hundreds of millions of years left a tiny population of creatures intact into the 20th century. And, I mean, I can see how the existence of sasquatches, if they exist at all, could be kept secret: we're talking about a wily, spry beast that can hide behind a bush. But Mokele-Mbembe? We're talking about a fucking brontosaurus. It seems that I could log onto Google Earth and spend an afternoon surfing around the relevant area to satisfy myself that it's all bullshit. I'm sure someone already has. Nugent is a clever fellow, not gullible enough for this crap. But I'm glad he wrote the travel-book part of it (which is 95% of it).

[Ruthie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really beautifully written book. The author is a talented writer for sure and it was an absolute pleasure to read. It was fascinating reading his account of Lac Tele after having visited the lake earlier this year, some 20+ years later. The lake and landscape as described have changed; there is much less biodiversity, the pygmies are purportedly gone from the lake because they killed a Mokele-Mbembe (or something like that, the Boha guides informed us), those we encountered were much more concerned about money, and the traditions concerning the lake have morphed. But much is the same as well: the lake is quite shallow and dark. We had Boha porters/guides accompany us who are the toughest and strongest men I have ever met. We too had to pass a council's judgments to enter the jungle, and it was very difficult to get to the lake (starting in Brazzaville). We too didn't see the mysterious Mokele-Mbembe (well, he *may* have seen it but I seriously doubt it).

Overall, a great account. I highly recommend reading this if you want a look back into time concerning the Congo and want to know what the mysterious Lac Tele is/was like.

[Hank Olivas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book because, at the time of its publication, I had been obsessed with the Mokele-Mbembe ever since I'd first read about it in OMNI magazine circa 1981. The idea of a living sauropod in an inaccessible African lake struck me as weird and appealing ... and still does though I'm far more skeptical these days. Drums Along The Congo was a good read in that we get to see Mr. Nugent's travails as he navigates the shores of swampy Lake Tele as well as the Congolese government's bureaucracy; plus his interactions with the locals are often amusing. Still, I found myself distinctly disappointed at the lack of an actual Mokele-Mbembe sighting or even clues pointing to it's existence. The one episode where Nugent might actually had seen something in the water was thwarted by his guides, who pointed guns at him warning something to the effect of: "the god may approach you, but you may not approach the god."

[John K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether or not you take seriously the idea that there are dinosaurs still living in the Congo, Nugent has given a fascinating account of life in a part of Africa that is normally overlooked by the world today. Indeed, it seems very little has changed in the 28 years since he made his journey, aside from the political body the country is (somewhat) governed by. His vivid descriptions paint a land that time forgot, where one could easily envision an Apatosaurus lumbering around a bend in the river while it grazes on malombo fruit.

I highly recommend this book. All too often people forego danger and adventure for the safer, tourist-trodden road. Nugent still knows the meaning of the word "intrepid."

[amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.

[Isaac · Rating 2 out of 5]

not as good as it could have been

[Alison Hardtmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could anyone else survive Nugent's adventures? And with such good humour?

[Marsha]

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[Christophe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The hitchhiker's guide to Mokele-Mbembe