Landscape of Ituri

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Ituri is infamous for its ugly war. When Ituri comes to mind, tales of mass rapes, burnt villages, ethnic rife come to mind. That is true. Though the situation in 2006 has nothing to compare with the horrors of 2003-2005. The situation is still tense, and human rights violations and fighting continue, but to a lesser extend.

I leave early morning to Gety, a village of no more than several hundreds of people. Heavy fighting took place for several months ago around Tchei. All people of the area fled and took refuge at Gety. There are now 50,000 people who have settled there.

All those bad news aside, one may forget Ituri is one the most beautiful region of the Congo. As I leave down south, a superb landscape of savannah. Shades of green, yellow and dark blue. I will tell you more in the coming days of my latest trip to Ituri, but let’s start with the scenery.

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