thePiperSHIHTZU

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Tuesday, 23 October 2012

THE CONGO RIVER

Posted on 06:39 by Unknown
Last week when I wrote about that old photo from the Congo that Mom bought, I saw a bunch of pictures online of the Congo River, and I was shocked to see how humongous this river really is.  Then I got to thinking about my distant basenji ancestors and cousins that live in the Congo area, and I figured that some of them might have even seen this river in person.  Which led me to come up with the theory that the whole reason why basenjis hate swimming so much is because our ancestors knew it would be very dangerous to swim in the Congo River, and that knowledge got  passed down in our genes for thousands of years.   I was very proud of myself for coming up with this excellent theory, and I am surprised that no one else seems to have thought it up before.


Sunrise near Mossaka
Photo by Bsm15

Okay, well, now I am going to tell you a little bit about the Congo River, but I can't tell you everything there is to know because it is a very deep subject.  Hahahaha!   The reason why that is such a good joke is because the Congo River is the deepest river in the whole world!  There are places where it is more than 720 ft (220 m) deep.  This is almost two and a half football fields, except that it's kind of hard to imagine football fields standing on end instead of lying down flat.




If you measure the amount of water that comes out at its mouth, the Congo is the 3rd largest river in the world, after the Amazon and the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna complex.  The length of the Congo is 2,920 miles (4,700 km), which makes it the 9th longest river.  In ancient times, there were some people called the Kingdom of Kongo who lived near the mouth of the river, and this is how the Congo got its name.  The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo are two countries that both got their names from the river.

The Congo River has always been an important way to travel through the country.

The first European to discover the mouth of the Congo River was a Portuguese explorer named Diego Cão, in 1482.  He claimed the land for Portugal.  In 1484, Cão and his men sailed up the river, looking for the King of the Congo, but they never came back home again, and no one ever knew what happened to them.


NASA photo of Malebo Pool (formerly called Stanley Pool)

Soon after that, Portuguese soldiers and priests started showing up in the Congo.  Within 50 years, lots of Congolese people were being captured and sold as slaves by European countries who were all competing with each other to get the best stuff they could from the Congo region.


Mbandaka Market
Photo by Oxfam East Africa

The rainforest that grows in the Congo River basin is the 2nd largest one in the world, after the Amazon rainforest.  There are almost 400 types of mammals living there, 1,000 kinds of birds, and 10,000 types of plants.  Also there are reptiles such as lizards, snakes and crocodiles.  Sometimes dolphins, whales, and manatees come in for a visit from the Pacific Ocean.  And hippos like to hang out in the shallow water near the river.


National Geographic photo


There are lots of really scary-looking fish in the river, too, such as the Goliath Tiger Fish.  I think one of these fish could eat a small dog in two bites, which is why it is wise for basenjis to stay far away from the water.

Goliath Tiger Fish!

I have to admit that I have no desire to go visit the land where my basenji cousins live because it seems pretty scary to me.  Mom is scared to go there, too, mostly because there is always some kind of fighting going on.  So we have agreed we will just stay home and look at the pictures.



Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • AN OLD, ABANDONED SCHOOL
    Not too long ago, Mom went to a part of town called Blue Summit, and she had never been there before, so she drove around some, just to see ...
  • "The Meet at Blagdon"
    It's time for me to write about another one of those placemats that Mom bought at an estate sale.  You know the ones I mean:  the placem...
  • SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL'S CATS
    You've probably heard of Sir Winston Churchill because he was a famous British person who was the Prime Minister during World War II.  W...
  • THE DOGUE DE BORDEAUX
    I think these dogs look very sad and grumpy all the time, but I guess they can't help how they look.  They also drool and snore, but the...
  • BOA CONSTRICTORS
    There are a lot of snakes called "boas," and what they all have in common is they wrap themselves around their prey and squish it ...
  • AN ARTIST NAMED CHARLES BURTON BARBER
    A long time ago, back in June, when Aunt Cheryl was visiting us, Mom bought a framed print at a thrift store for $15.  This print is one of ...
  • PICASSO'S DOG
    Pablo Picasso was an artist who painted really weird pictures, but we can forgive him for that because he also really loved dogs.  In fact, ...
  • ELIZABETH TAYLOR'S DOGS
    Elizabeth Taylor was a beautiful and famous actress who loved dogs and horses and also other animals, such as cats.  Last week Ms. Taylor di...
  • HOW MANY CATS DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A CLOWDER?
    Well, first of all, I would like to thank everybody who said they liked my "Ode to Summer" poem that I posted yesterday.  I don...
  • THE SHAPES OF DOGGY EARS
    If you have looked at very many dogs, which I hope you have, you may have noticed that their ears come in lots of different shapes and sizes...

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (92)
    • ►  August (5)
    • ►  July (11)
    • ►  June (10)
    • ►  May (12)
    • ►  April (14)
    • ►  March (14)
    • ►  February (14)
    • ►  January (12)
  • ▼  2012 (177)
    • ►  December (13)
    • ►  November (12)
    • ▼  October (14)
      • VAMPIRE BATS!
      • REALLY WEIRD NAMES FOR PETS
      • MOM BUYS SOME ROCKS
      • THE CONGO RIVER
      • AN UPDATE ON OUR FOSTER KITTIES
      • INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE, by Nicky the greyhound
      • FUNNY STUFF PEOPLE SAY AND WRITE
      • AN OLD PHOTO OF THE CONGO
      • MORE HYDE PARK STUFF
      • THE HYDE PARK HOMES TOUR, part 2
      • THE HYDE PARK HOMES TOUR, part 1
      • ADVENTURES WHILE WALKING, by Mel the Dog
      • KOMODO DRAGONS
      • A FEW MORE INTERESTING WORDS
    • ►  September (13)
    • ►  August (12)
    • ►  July (14)
    • ►  June (14)
    • ►  May (17)
    • ►  April (16)
    • ►  March (17)
    • ►  February (17)
    • ►  January (18)
  • ►  2011 (231)
    • ►  December (19)
    • ►  November (19)
    • ►  October (21)
    • ►  September (20)
    • ►  August (20)
    • ►  July (22)
    • ►  June (20)
    • ►  May (22)
    • ►  April (21)
    • ►  March (22)
    • ►  February (20)
    • ►  January (5)
Powered by Blogger.