Ubundu
Ubundu
Commune in Tshopo, DR Congo
Ubundu, formerly known as Ponthierville or Ponthierstad, is a town located in the Tshopo Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the administrative center of the territory of the same name. It is on the Lualaba River, or Upper Congo, just above the Boyoma Falls.
As the river is not navigable from here downstream to Kisangani, a portage railway was built to link the settlement to Kisangani. It was built and operated during the colonial era by the Compagnie du chemin de fer du Congo supérieur aux Grands Lacs africains of CFL (1902-1960) whose rail and river steamer service connected Kisangani with Katanga. Upstream from Ubundu the river is navigable as far as Kasongo.
In 1951, Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and the crew of the film The African Queen arrived in Ubundu by train for filming in the jungle. In those days, the town was described as a "pretty colonial outpost".[1]
The area saw some of the worst fighting during the Second Congo War. Around 2003, the town had no electricity, and very few facilities, and was considered a very dangerous place.[2]
