One of Kinshasa’s sobriquets is
“Kin Malebo”, named for its location on the “Pool Malebo” widening of the Congo
River, but which in turn takes its name from the Lingala word for the Borassus, or Sugar Palm, which line the
banks of the river. Another
remarkable tree that impressed early European visitors to the area was the
baobab (Adansonia digitata). These huge trees, which looked as
though they had been upended with roots sticking up in the air, were a notable
fixture in the Congolese settlements the explorers visited. Antoine Lumenganeso
Kiobe, former Director of the Congolese National Archives, describes the
remaining baobabs and other ancient trees in Kinshasa as witness to an era
before the disruption and displacement of colonialism.
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| Baobabs in a Bateke village |
Along what is now the Port of
Kinshasa was a series of Bateke villages set in groves of baobabs that
impressed visitors. Capt. Henry Bailey, named Henry Stanley’s second Chef de
Poste at Kinshasa in 1886, was entranced, “Kinshassa
– what a beautiful place it looked in contrast to all the other stations I had
seen on the Congo! It is situated
close to the water on sloping ground, in the midst of gigantic baobab trees,
which suggest the idea of a park.” Early Belgian administrators named the
original street along the bluff, Avenue des Baobabs (now Ave. Wagenias).
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| Capt. Henry Bailey's depiction of his new assignment |
Later colonials were not so
charitable. In July 1891,
Lt. Richard of the Force Publique dynamited a number of baobabs to create a
military camp along what is now Avenue des Aviateurs, between Ave. du Port and
Place de La Poste (See Mar. 13, 2011). Still, in the early years, baobabs were ubiquitous in
the rapidly developing commercial center that was Kinshasa.
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| The first Post Office in Kinshasa |
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| The beach at Port Citas in 1906, which later became part of Onatra (now SCTP) |
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| A public place in Kinshasa |
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| The Hotel ABC under construction in 1913 |
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| The Compagnie du Kasai headquarters in the 1920s (photo is mis-labeled) |
Over time, as Kinshasa developed,
the baobabs began to disappear.
Redevelopment of the Port in 1925 resulted in many being eliminated,
except for one at the entrance to the port that remained until 1956. When the Brasserie du Bas-Congo brewery
was built in 1948, a baobab having a diameter of 5 meters was removed (See June 12, 2015). During a heavy rainstorm in 1986, a
baobab between the Hotel de Ville and African Lux toppled onto a parked car.
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| The baobab between the Hotel de Ville and Rodina (later African Lux) in the 1950s |
A few baobabs can still be found
in Kinshasa. One on Ave. de
l’Avenir near CBCO in Commune de Ngaliema, attests to the original village of
Chief Ngaliema who negotiated with Stanley and other arrivals in 1881 (See Jan. 9, 2011). The spirit lives on in named restaurants such as Le Grand
Baobab on Ave. Wagenia at the entrance to the Brazzaville ferry.
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| Baobab behind Hotel Estoril on Ave. Kabasele Tshiamala |
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| Baobab at the tomb of Mfumu Mvula in Kingabwa |
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| Baobab at the American School of Kinshasa |
Sources:
- Bula N’zau (Henry Bailey), 1894. Travel
and Adventures in the Congo Free State, London: Chapman and Hall.
- Lumenganeso Kiobe, Antoine.
1995. Kinshasa: Genèse
et sites historiques, Kinshasa, Arnaza-Bief.
