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Swamp Monster of the Congo

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  • Pat heads out into the jungle at night to capture footage of the Mokele Mbembe in the dark. Suddenly he hears what sounds like a large animal.
  • Pat gets close to a gorilla at the Dzanga Sangha National Park in Central African Republic. In 2008, a previously unknown population of some 125,000 lowland gorillas was discovered here, to the amazement of primate scientists. Who knows what else is yet to be discovered?
  • Pat examines the actual holotype gorilla skull that Thomas Savage brought back from Africa in 1847. The skull is stored in the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
  • Djelf Aurel takes Pat in his canoe to the very spot on Cameroon's Dja River where he claims to have seen the Mokele Mbembe only 3 months ago.
  • Out of the dense jungle is a huge clearing, called a Bai, where Pat finds a group of wild elephants. The elephants come to this area because it's very rich in minerals and salts.
  • Pat plays around with the thermal imaging camera, technology that captures the heat signatures of anything warmer than the ambient temperature.
  • A Silverback Gorilla spotted by Pat and crew at the Dzanga Sangha National Park in Central African Republic.
  • Since 1990, over 4,000 individual elephants have visited this one Bai, revealing a population far larger than anyone expected.
  • Pat heads into the jungle carrying a Baka hunting spear. Local legend has it that the Baka tribe once hunted and killed a Mokele Mbembe -- every villager who ate the meat died.
  • Pat examines the trees whose fruit was being eaten by the alleged Mokele Mbembe when Djelf Aurel saw it.
  • As an honorary member of the hunting group, Pat Spain is blessed by the village shaman prior to the hunt.
  • Pat talks with Monguimbi, an elder Baka pygmy in the village of Langoue, who says he once saw the Mokele Mbembe on a fishing trip.
  • Pat Spain sits just outside the small Mongolu hut where he is spending the night as a guest of the Baka pygmy tribe in Cameroon.
  • Computer generated image of the alleged Mokele Mbembe.
  • Biologist Pat Spain at the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, Massachusetts
  • The shaman of the Baka Tribe in the Congo Basin performs a ceremony for those about to hunt, applying paint to Pat who will join the hunting group today.
  • Baka pygmies ceremonially prepare for the hunt. The Baka revere the forest and know their fortunes rely on luck, good will, and the blessings of the spirits.
  • Baka villagers captured on Pat's thermal imaging camera at night.
  • Pat Spain explores in an extremely remote part of the Congo Basin, in search of the truth behind the legendary Mokele Mbembe.
  • En route through Cameroon, Pat and his crew spend the night in the town of Yokadouma.
  • Reconstruction footage of a man being attacked in the water by Mokele Mbembe.
  • Pat sets up camera traps all around this area of the Dja River in the hopes of capturing an image of the Mokele Mbembe.
  • The shaman chants and performs blessings in preparation for the hunt. Without a written culture, it's through song and dance that the Baka history is kept alive.
  • Villager Djelf Aurel tells Pat about his run-in with Mokele Mbembe only 3 months ago. The creature rose up from the depths of the Dja River and terrified him and his wife in their canoe.
  • Therese Dadjal, the chief's mother, claims to have recently seen Mokele Mbembe. She recognizes physical traits of a Sauropod dinosaur, especially the spikey spine.

  • Searching in the Night

    Pat heads out into the jungle at night to capture footage of the Mokele Mbembe in the dark. Suddenly he hears what sounds like a large animal.

  • Gorilla Encounter

    Pat gets close to a gorilla at the Dzanga Sangha National Park in Central African Republic. In 2008, a previously unknown population of some 125,000 lowland gorillas was discovered here, to the amazement of primate scientists. Who knows what else is yet to be discovered?

  • Staring at a Skull

    Pat examines the actual holotype gorilla skull that Thomas Savage brought back from Africa in 1847. The skull is stored in the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

  • A Witness' Tale

    Djelf Aurel takes Pat in his canoe to the very spot on Cameroon's Dja River where he claims to have seen the Mokele Mbembe only 3 months ago.

  • Wild Elephants

    Out of the dense jungle is a huge clearing, called a Bai, where Pat finds a group of wild elephants. The elephants come to this area because it's very rich in minerals and salts.

  • A Special Camera

    Pat plays around with the thermal imaging camera, technology that captures the heat signatures of anything warmer than the ambient temperature.

  • Silverback in the Wild

    A Silverback Gorilla spotted by Pat and crew at the Dzanga Sangha National Park in Central African Republic.

  • A Popular Bai

    Since 1990, over 4,000 individual elephants have visited this one Bai, revealing a population far larger than anyone expected.

  • Spear Ready

    Pat heads into the jungle carrying a Baka hunting spear. Local legend has it that the Baka tribe once hunted and killed a Mokele Mbembe -- every villager who ate the meat died.

  • Low Hanging Fruit

    Pat examines the trees whose fruit was being eaten by the alleged Mokele Mbembe when Djelf Aurel saw it.

  • A Village Blessing

    As an honorary member of the hunting group, Pat Spain is blessed by the village shaman prior to the hunt.

  • An Elder's Encounter

    Pat talks with Monguimbi, an elder Baka pygmy in the village of Langoue, who says he once saw the Mokele Mbembe on a fishing trip.

  • The Tribe's Guest

    Pat Spain sits just outside the small Mongolu hut where he is spending the night as a guest of the Baka pygmy tribe in Cameroon.

  • Mokele Mbembe

    Computer generated image of the alleged Mokele Mbembe.

  • Pat Spain

    Biologist Pat Spain at the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, Massachusetts

  • Hunting Ceremony

    The shaman of the Baka Tribe in the Congo Basin performs a ceremony for those about to hunt, applying paint to Pat who will join the hunting group today.

  • A Safety Blessing

    Baka pygmies ceremonially prepare for the hunt. The Baka revere the forest and know their fortunes rely on luck, good will, and the blessings of the spirits.

  • Thermal Images

    Baka villagers captured on Pat's thermal imaging camera at night.

  • Congo Exploration

    Pat Spain explores in an extremely remote part of the Congo Basin, in search of the truth behind the legendary Mokele Mbembe.

  • Layover in Yokadouma

    En route through Cameroon, Pat and his crew spend the night in the town of Yokadouma.

  • A Beast Attack

    Reconstruction footage of a man being attacked in the water by Mokele Mbembe.

  • Hidden Camera

    Pat sets up camera traps all around this area of the Dja River in the hopes of capturing an image of the Mokele Mbembe.

  • A Shaman's Hunting Blessing

    The shaman chants and performs blessings in preparation for the hunt. Without a written culture, it's through song and dance that the Baka history is kept alive.

  • A Terrifying Story

    Villager Djelf Aurel tells Pat about his run-in with Mokele Mbembe only 3 months ago. The creature rose up from the depths of the Dja River and terrified him and his wife in their canoe.

  • What is the Beast?

    Therese Dadjal, the chief's mother, claims to have recently seen Mokele Mbembe. She recognizes physical traits of a Sauropod dinosaur, especially the spikey spine.

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