1 00:00:10,900 --> 00:00:15,540 Speaker 1: Lost worlds have always tugged firmly on the human imagination. 2 00:00:16,620 --> 00:00:20,910 Speaker 1: For millennia, we've shared tales of forgotten places where time 3 00:00:20,989 --> 00:00:24,729 Speaker 1: has not kept pace with history, where the clutter and 4 00:00:24,770 --> 00:00:30,409 Speaker 1: conformity of the contemporary world do not hold sway. The 5 00:00:30,450 --> 00:00:34,510 Speaker 1: most famous of all lost worlds is the mythical Atlantis. 6 00:00:35,229 --> 00:00:40,910 Speaker 1: First introduced in Plato's dialogues to Maus and Critias around 7 00:00:40,909 --> 00:00:46,560 Speaker 1: 360 BCE, Atlantis is described as a utopian island nation, 8 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:53,379 Speaker 1: home to an advanced seafaring society. After the Atlanteans supposedly 9 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,910 Speaker 1: went to war with Athens, the gods punished them with 10 00:00:57,050 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: fire and flood. sinking their proud home into the depths 11 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:06,380 Speaker 1: of the Atlantic Ocean. For some, Atlantis is an allegory 12 00:01:06,660 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: for the inevitable downfall that follows greed and hubris. For others, 13 00:01:12,410 --> 00:01:16,790 Speaker 1: it is a very real civilisation, lost to antiquity, but 14 00:01:16,890 --> 00:01:22,230 Speaker 1: shining still in the imagination. There are other similar stories 15 00:01:22,370 --> 00:01:27,810 Speaker 1: of sunken lands around the globe. Lemuria, a nation submerged 16 00:01:27,890 --> 00:01:33,479 Speaker 1: beneath the Indian Ocean, Mu, a fabled continent swallowed down 17 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:37,479 Speaker 1: by the Pacific, then there is the El Dorado, the 18 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:43,059 Speaker 1: legendary South American city of gold, or Shambhala, a mystical 19 00:01:43,140 --> 00:01:49,420 Speaker 1: paradise of enlightenment hidden somewhere in the Himalayas. Taken together, 20 00:01:49,980 --> 00:01:54,530 Speaker 1: these stories point to a deep-rooted, and universal desire to 21 00:01:54,570 --> 00:01:59,090 Speaker 1: maintain some mystery in the world. A mystery under constant 22 00:01:59,150 --> 00:02:04,420 Speaker 1: erosion by the unceasing march of technological development and the 23 00:02:04,500 --> 00:02:07,780 Speaker 1: human urge to explore, to fill in the map of 24 00:02:07,820 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: the world with fact, distances and details. But if the 25 00:02:13,260 --> 00:02:17,459 Speaker 1: romance was squeezed out of our cartography, it snuck back 26 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:23,690 Speaker 1: in through our fiction. In 1885, H. Ryder Haggard wrote 27 00:02:23,830 --> 00:02:27,860 Speaker 1: King Solomon's Mines, often regarded as the origin of the 28 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:32,139 Speaker 1: modern Lost World genre, in the Western tradition at least. 29 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:37,780 Speaker 1: In it, Haggard's explorers, led by the undauntable Alan Quatermain, 30 00:02:38,340 --> 00:02:42,470 Speaker 1: mount an arduous trek through an unmapped region of Central 31 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:48,770 Speaker 1: Africa in search of the fabled mines, confronting ancient, unknown cultures. 32 00:02:50,110 --> 00:02:54,740 Speaker 1: Three decades later, Arthur Conan Doyle published The Lost World, 33 00:02:55,300 --> 00:02:58,660 Speaker 1: in which another group of adventurers discover a bubble of 34 00:02:58,820 --> 00:03:04,810 Speaker 1: prehistory lingering atop an Amazonian plateau, a microcosm of the 35 00:03:04,870 --> 00:03:10,590 Speaker 1: past full of ancient monsters and rugged cave people. But 36 00:03:10,610 --> 00:03:13,830 Speaker 1: there are other hidden parts of the world and stories 37 00:03:13,910 --> 00:03:24,990 Speaker 1: about them that reveal a darker truth. In Joseph Conrad's 38 00:03:25,050 --> 00:03:30,150 Speaker 1: seminal novel, The Heart of Darkness, sailor Charles Marlowe speaks 39 00:03:30,230 --> 00:03:34,230 Speaker 1: of his boyhood lust for adventure. Now, when I was 40 00:03:34,270 --> 00:03:37,310 Speaker 1: a little chap, there were many blank spaces on the earth, 41 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 1: and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on 42 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,580 Speaker 1: a map, I would put my finger on it and say, 43 00:03:44,020 --> 00:03:47,180 Speaker 1: when I grow up, I will go there. But there 44 00:03:47,220 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: was one yet, the biggest, the most blank, so to speak, 45 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:55,570 Speaker 1: that I had a hankering after. That blank space on 46 00:03:55,650 --> 00:04:01,060 Speaker 1: Marlow's map was the Congo Basin, an area of 1.1 47 00:04:01,060 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 1: million square miles deep in central Africa, home to the 48 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:10,500 Speaker 1: world's second largest rainforest, deepest river, and a huge range 49 00:04:10,580 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: of flora and fauna. It is a place that perhaps 50 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: most represents the stereotypical mystery and untamed wildness long attached 51 00:04:20,420 --> 00:04:25,210 Speaker 1: to Africa in the white European mind, The story is 52 00:04:25,290 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 1: essentially an account of Marlow's steamship journey up the Congo 53 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:35,659 Speaker 1: River in search of the enigmatic Kurtz, a sinister European 54 00:04:35,860 --> 00:04:40,260 Speaker 1: ivory trader. But as is so often the case, what 55 00:04:40,380 --> 00:04:44,669 Speaker 1: Marlow had once viewed as an unknown space was rather 56 00:04:45,170 --> 00:04:50,850 Speaker 1: simply unknown to him. In reality, it was already populated 57 00:04:50,990 --> 00:04:54,660 Speaker 1: by hundreds of thousands of people. and the only strange 58 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: and monstrous things he discovered there were the brutal acts 59 00:04:59,339 --> 00:05:04,380 Speaker 1: being perpetrated on them. For Marlow, the Congo ceased to 60 00:05:04,420 --> 00:05:08,850 Speaker 1: be a blank space of delightful mystery, and instead had 61 00:05:08,910 --> 00:05:13,410 Speaker 1: become a place of darkness. But there is a parallel 62 00:05:13,470 --> 00:05:17,210 Speaker 1: story to this sphere of dense forest and deep water, 63 00:05:18,290 --> 00:05:23,050 Speaker 1: one told over centuries by local Congolese and explorers alike 64 00:05:24,300 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 1: a story that calls into question what we truly know 65 00:05:27,900 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: about our world and what may lurk still in the 66 00:05:31,820 --> 00:05:34,700 Speaker 1: parts of the map that have yet to be fully 67 00:05:34,980 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: filled in. You're listening to Unexplained, and I'm Richard McLean-Smith. 68 00:05:49,270 --> 00:05:55,370 Speaker 1: In the 1760s, Abbé Levan Bonaventure-Proyat a French writer and cleric, 69 00:05:55,630 --> 00:05:59,810 Speaker 1: worked as a missionary in the Congo Basin. Years later, 70 00:06:00,070 --> 00:06:03,590 Speaker 1: after returning to France, he wrote a book detailing his 71 00:06:03,670 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: experience of the region and compiling his fellow missionaries' knowledge 72 00:06:08,460 --> 00:06:13,560 Speaker 1: of its natural wonders. No doubt, this book, titled A 73 00:06:13,620 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: History of Luango, Kokongo and Other Kingdoms of Africa, would 74 00:06:18,580 --> 00:06:22,270 Speaker 1: have slipped into total obscurity were it not for one 75 00:06:22,510 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: enigmatic passage. Missionaries, Proyar writes, have observed passing along a forest, 76 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,669 Speaker 1: the trail of an animal they have never seen, but 77 00:06:33,730 --> 00:06:38,490 Speaker 1: which must be monstrous. The marks of its claws were 78 00:06:38,529 --> 00:06:42,410 Speaker 1: noted upon the earth, and these composed a footprint of 79 00:06:42,490 --> 00:06:47,750 Speaker 1: about three feet in circumference. By observing the disposition of 80 00:06:47,790 --> 00:06:51,419 Speaker 1: his footsteps, it was recognized that he was not running, 81 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: and he carried his legs at the distance and of 82 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:00,580 Speaker 1: seven to eight feet apart. Proya does not elaborate further. 83 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:05,620 Speaker 1: He gives no additional details on what this unnamed creature is, 84 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:11,310 Speaker 1: or what it supposedly looks like. This is nonetheless considered 85 00:07:11,350 --> 00:07:16,650 Speaker 1: the first written reference to a creature known as Mokele Mbembe, 86 00:07:17,370 --> 00:07:24,470 Speaker 1: Africa's most infamous undiscovered animal, or in modern terminology, cryptid 87 00:07:25,810 --> 00:07:29,270 Speaker 1: In the oral traditions of the local Bantu people, the 88 00:07:29,290 --> 00:07:35,670 Speaker 1: Mokele Mbembe is alternatively spirit, allegory or flesh and blood creature. 89 00:07:36,870 --> 00:07:41,100 Speaker 1: One tale goes that during a bloody bout of tribal warfare, 90 00:07:41,650 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: a band of Congolese pygmies were fleeing through the rainforest 91 00:07:45,780 --> 00:07:49,540 Speaker 1: when they reached a river too wide and dangerous to cross. 92 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: With pursuers on their trail, they were caught until a 93 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:59,570 Speaker 1: broad back breached the river's surface, a living bridge that 94 00:07:59,590 --> 00:08:04,550 Speaker 1: the pygmies scrambled across to safety. Other accounts present the 95 00:08:04,570 --> 00:08:08,490 Speaker 1: Mokele and Bembe as a very real and much less 96 00:08:08,570 --> 00:08:13,860 Speaker 1: benign entity, but in either case, reference is always made 97 00:08:13,980 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: to its grand size. In the Lingala language, Mokele and 98 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:23,260 Speaker 1: Bembe means one who stops the flow of rivers and 99 00:08:24,940 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: In 1913, a German explorer visited what is now modern-day Cameroon. 100 00:08:31,780 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: The man, Ludwig Freiherr von Stein zu Lausnitz, was on 101 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 1: a government-funded mission to survey the German colonies. While trekking 102 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:46,699 Speaker 1: the bush, Ludwig heard recurrent tales of a mysterious animal, 103 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:52,100 Speaker 1: feared by natives of the neighbouring Congo. He was particularly 104 00:08:52,179 --> 00:08:57,270 Speaker 1: astounded that these accounts came from such experienced guides, who, 105 00:08:57,730 --> 00:09:02,089 Speaker 1: despite coming from different tribes, separated by many miles of 106 00:09:02,210 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: dense rainforest, all relayed similar details. The creature was said 107 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 1: to inhabit shallow waters and the exposed banks of sharp riverbends. 108 00:09:13,660 --> 00:09:18,069 Speaker 1: According to cautionary tales, if anyone was unwary or unlucky 109 00:09:18,110 --> 00:09:21,790 Speaker 1: enough to paddle close to the creature's lair, the Mokele 110 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:26,180 Speaker 1: Mbembe would rush forth and destroy the canoes and the 111 00:09:26,220 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: people inside them with a heavy swipe of its tail. 112 00:09:30,460 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: It never ate the bodies, though. They were left undisturbed, 113 00:09:34,860 --> 00:09:40,310 Speaker 1: the floating detritus of the apparent beast's extreme territorialism. And 114 00:09:40,350 --> 00:09:45,030 Speaker 1: while local tribespeople spoke of the Mokele Mbembe as capable 115 00:09:45,090 --> 00:09:48,309 Speaker 1: of hunting and killing an elephant, they were never known 116 00:09:48,450 --> 00:09:53,640 Speaker 1: to devour the carcass Indeed, the Mokele Mbembe was said 117 00:09:53,700 --> 00:09:59,710 Speaker 1: to enjoy an exclusively herbivorous diet, climbing laboriously up the 118 00:09:59,770 --> 00:10:02,850 Speaker 1: bank of the river to feast on the local foliage. 119 00:10:03,770 --> 00:10:06,550 Speaker 1: In particular, it is said to have a taste for 120 00:10:06,590 --> 00:10:10,709 Speaker 1: the Malumbo, an apple-like fruit common to the banks of 121 00:10:10,830 --> 00:10:24,500 Speaker 1: rivers and lakes. To the people of the Congo, the 122 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:29,170 Speaker 1: Mokele and Bembe simply was an oversized part of their 123 00:10:29,250 --> 00:10:33,429 Speaker 1: ecosystem like an elephant or a hippo, and they described 124 00:10:33,510 --> 00:10:38,690 Speaker 1: it with the same level of consistency. Supposedly, the animal 125 00:10:38,750 --> 00:10:42,110 Speaker 1: was very large, with a body a little bigger than 126 00:10:42,170 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 1: an adult elephant, covered in smooth, scaleless skin. A small 127 00:10:47,740 --> 00:10:50,780 Speaker 1: head sat at the end of a long, sinuous neck. 128 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:57,130 Speaker 1: and it wielded an alligator-like tail, thick with muscle. To 129 00:10:57,170 --> 00:11:02,830 Speaker 1: Western explorers, however, physical descriptions of the apparent monster, coupled 130 00:11:02,890 --> 00:11:07,770 Speaker 1: with its eating habits, hinted at an alluring, alarming question. 131 00:11:08,850 --> 00:11:13,210 Speaker 1: Does a dinosaur live on the so-called Lost World of 132 00:11:13,250 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 1: the Congo Basin? One man attempted to find out. Professor 133 00:11:20,260 --> 00:11:23,620 Speaker 1: Roy Mackle arrived in the Congo for the first time 134 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:29,780 Speaker 1: in January 1980. A respected biologist, recently retired from the 135 00:11:29,900 --> 00:11:33,900 Speaker 1: University of Chicago, he was also vice president of the 136 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: International Society of Cryptozoology and a world authority on the 137 00:11:39,540 --> 00:11:44,020 Speaker 1: topic of the Loch Ness Monster. Having grown tired of 138 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 1: the endless, unrewarded search for Nessie, Mackle turned his attention 139 00:11:49,230 --> 00:11:54,660 Speaker 1: to Africa. after his friend, the herpetologist James Powell, relayed 140 00:11:54,700 --> 00:11:57,960 Speaker 1: a story he once heard from a Bantu folk healer. 141 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: The healer had told Powell of a great jungle beast, 142 00:12:03,059 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: a source of terror and awe for the Bantu people. 143 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:11,250 Speaker 1: Keen to identify the creature, Powell presented the healer with 144 00:12:11,309 --> 00:12:15,170 Speaker 1: a picture book of animals. The healer looked on passively 145 00:12:15,530 --> 00:12:18,670 Speaker 1: as Powell turned the page on one animal after another. 146 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:23,950 Speaker 1: when finally he told Powell to stop, energetically pointing to 147 00:12:24,110 --> 00:12:28,290 Speaker 1: one particular image on a page. It was a picture 148 00:12:28,650 --> 00:12:34,650 Speaker 1: of a Diplodocus, a sauropod dinosaur, measuring on average 27 149 00:12:34,650 --> 00:12:41,329 Speaker 1: metres long and 4.5 metres tall, that went extinct 145 150 00:12:41,330 --> 00:12:47,350 Speaker 1: million years ago. And so, intrigued and buoyed by the implications, 151 00:12:47,870 --> 00:12:51,670 Speaker 1: McCall and Powell made their way together to the Republic 152 00:12:51,730 --> 00:12:56,830 Speaker 1: of Congo. Starting from the city of Impfondo in the northeast, 153 00:12:57,250 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 1: the two friends began a month-long trek through the Likawala Swamp, 154 00:13:02,460 --> 00:13:08,300 Speaker 1: a vast expanse of over 55,000 maze-like square miles of rivers, 155 00:13:08,900 --> 00:13:14,100 Speaker 1: shallow lakes and low-lying islands, as impenetrable to western tourists 156 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:19,079 Speaker 1: as it is perfect for a semi-aquatic lizard. Their guide 157 00:13:19,140 --> 00:13:24,370 Speaker 1: was Maria Nicole, a local pygmy, whose help would prove essential. 158 00:13:25,950 --> 00:13:30,270 Speaker 1: As Mokele and Bembe believers have argued, the Likawala Swamp 159 00:13:30,370 --> 00:13:35,110 Speaker 1: region is highly suitable for a large prehistoric species to 160 00:13:35,150 --> 00:13:40,090 Speaker 1: survive and breed in small populations. Not only is it 161 00:13:40,170 --> 00:13:45,630 Speaker 1: supremely isolated, it has remained almost unchanged since the Cretaceous period, 162 00:13:46,370 --> 00:13:51,569 Speaker 1: with a stable climate, minimal tectonic disruption, and virtually no 163 00:13:51,670 --> 00:13:56,890 Speaker 1: movement from its proximity to the equator. Here, McCall argued, 164 00:13:57,450 --> 00:14:01,830 Speaker 1: a herd of dinosaurs could potentially go as unnoticed as 165 00:14:01,890 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: a swarm of insects. But it hadn't gone unnoticed. As 166 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:17,500 Speaker 1: McCall and Powell quickly discovered while they trekked from town 167 00:14:17,540 --> 00:14:21,979 Speaker 1: to town, Stories of Makele and Bembe encounters were not 168 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:27,740 Speaker 1: hard to come by. One Bantu man, Furman Mossamele, told 169 00:14:27,780 --> 00:14:30,970 Speaker 1: them how as a young boy he disturbed the animal 170 00:14:31,270 --> 00:14:35,590 Speaker 1: paddling near the town of Apina. Before he fled in terror, 171 00:14:36,050 --> 00:14:40,090 Speaker 1: Furman saw a small head rise from the river, followed 172 00:14:40,190 --> 00:14:45,250 Speaker 1: by a serpentine neck and broad ruddy back. Just like 173 00:14:45,370 --> 00:14:49,130 Speaker 1: Pau's healer, Furman also pointed to a depiction of a 174 00:14:49,210 --> 00:14:53,610 Speaker 1: sauropod dinosaur in a book as the nearest comparison to 175 00:14:53,670 --> 00:14:58,430 Speaker 1: what he saw. Another first-hand account from a hunter named 176 00:14:58,620 --> 00:15:03,859 Speaker 1: Nicholas Mondongo described a ruddy red river monster standing in 177 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: water only a few feet deep. He told the fascinated 178 00:15:08,500 --> 00:15:12,680 Speaker 1: researchers that the creature was at least 10 metres from 179 00:15:12,740 --> 00:15:16,500 Speaker 1: its head to the tip of its thick tail. and 180 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: he too recognized the Mokele and Bembe in the drawings 181 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: of the Diplodocus and other sauropods. McCall had begun his 182 00:15:25,860 --> 00:15:32,820 Speaker 1: expedition with skepticism about the idea of a surviving modern-day dinosaur. However, 183 00:15:33,380 --> 00:15:38,020 Speaker 1: after contemplating the scale of the unexplored rainforest and hearing 184 00:15:38,100 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: from more witnesses, who each pointed eagerly to pictures of sauropods, 185 00:15:43,780 --> 00:15:48,970 Speaker 1: he flew home with a firm conviction Something unknown was 186 00:15:49,050 --> 00:15:55,590 Speaker 1: roaming the interior of the Congo Basin. In October 1981, 187 00:15:55,590 --> 00:16:01,740 Speaker 1: Macau returned to Africa, determined to find definitive proof. This time, 188 00:16:02,060 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 1: he headed up a larger team, which included his International 189 00:16:05,780 --> 00:16:12,500 Speaker 1: Society of Cryptozoology colleague, Richard Greenwell, a Congolese biologist, Dr. 190 00:16:12,540 --> 00:16:18,550 Speaker 1: Marcelin Ananya, and Pastor Eugene Thomas. an American missionary who'd 191 00:16:18,570 --> 00:16:21,850 Speaker 1: lived in the country since the late 50s and who 192 00:16:21,910 --> 00:16:25,930 Speaker 1: claimed to have heard over 50 first-hand reports of the 193 00:16:25,990 --> 00:16:32,260 Speaker 1: apparent creature. German electrical engineer and avid proponent of the 194 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:37,260 Speaker 1: Michele and Bembe theory, Hermann Regusters, was also supposed to 195 00:16:37,340 --> 00:16:41,970 Speaker 1: join the party, providing vital expertise and the ability to 196 00:16:42,030 --> 00:16:47,780 Speaker 1: employ satellite tracking. Sadly, however, For reasons unknown, he and 197 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:51,420 Speaker 1: Macau fell out, and he neglected to join the team 198 00:16:51,500 --> 00:16:57,900 Speaker 1: on their quest. Undeterred, Macau moved forward. This time, he 199 00:16:57,940 --> 00:17:01,490 Speaker 1: decided to refine the search area, choosing to focus on 200 00:17:01,530 --> 00:17:06,230 Speaker 1: the waterways and swampland itself. As their trip began at 201 00:17:06,270 --> 00:17:09,290 Speaker 1: the end of the rainy season, water levels were high 202 00:17:09,330 --> 00:17:13,170 Speaker 1: enough to allow the group to travel by river, faster 203 00:17:13,210 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: than the previous year's overland journey. and closer to the 204 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:22,120 Speaker 1: habitat that the creature would ostensibly call home. The team 205 00:17:22,220 --> 00:17:27,250 Speaker 1: travelled in pirogues, long, narrow canoes carved from a single 206 00:17:27,330 --> 00:17:31,550 Speaker 1: tree trunk. Pirogues sit very low in the water, with 207 00:17:31,630 --> 00:17:35,050 Speaker 1: only an inch or two of draft, but their stability 208 00:17:35,130 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 1: and manoeuvrability makes them the vessel of choice for Bantu 209 00:17:39,300 --> 00:17:44,260 Speaker 1: and Pygmy River communities. The group's initial aim was to 210 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:48,310 Speaker 1: reach Lake Tele a remote lake thought to be a 211 00:17:48,350 --> 00:17:52,929 Speaker 1: particular haunt of the Makele and Bembe. As rumour had it, 212 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 1: it was there in 1960 that a group of begombe 213 00:17:57,340 --> 00:18:02,500 Speaker 1: pygmies felled one of the creatures using long spears. Only, 214 00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:06,760 Speaker 1: no sooner had they begun feasting on the carcass, one 215 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: by one, the group are said to have collapsed and 216 00:18:10,060 --> 00:18:14,510 Speaker 1: died due to a deadly poison said to saturate the 217 00:18:14,570 --> 00:18:25,730 Speaker 1: creature's flesh. Even without the threat of poison, the Bogombe 218 00:18:25,830 --> 00:18:29,369 Speaker 1: pygmy story is the only account of the enigmatic beast 219 00:18:29,710 --> 00:18:33,830 Speaker 1: being brought down by humans, and without spears or hunting 220 00:18:33,890 --> 00:18:37,810 Speaker 1: expertise of their own, there's no doubt the Makul party 221 00:18:38,210 --> 00:18:41,820 Speaker 1: set out with no little trepidation as they headed back 222 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:47,199 Speaker 1: into the swamp. Embarking from Pastor Thomas' mission, Makal's team 223 00:18:47,619 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: first canoed southwest down the Tanga River and then south, 224 00:18:52,390 --> 00:18:58,410 Speaker 1: on the larger Likawala-Ozerb River. At some point, Macau heard 225 00:18:58,450 --> 00:19:02,250 Speaker 1: a loud splash from near the bank. He turned quickly 226 00:19:02,609 --> 00:19:06,730 Speaker 1: to see a sizable rogue wave come cresting across from 227 00:19:06,770 --> 00:19:13,440 Speaker 1: the shadowy, vine-encrusted overhang. The river water washed across their pirogues, 228 00:19:13,980 --> 00:19:18,340 Speaker 1: prompting the guides to scream out in terror, Mokele Mbembe! 229 00:19:18,700 --> 00:19:24,369 Speaker 1: Mokele Mbembe! With great persistence, Macau just about managed to 230 00:19:24,420 --> 00:19:29,030 Speaker 1: convince them not to flee. After a half-hour search, the 231 00:19:29,070 --> 00:19:33,230 Speaker 1: team found no evidence or tracks with which to identify 232 00:19:33,710 --> 00:19:38,890 Speaker 1: whatever had created the wave. Either way, the nervous guide 233 00:19:39,010 --> 00:19:42,669 Speaker 1: Ecole assured the team that of all the creatures it 234 00:19:42,750 --> 00:19:46,550 Speaker 1: might have been, crocodiles do not create waves when they 235 00:19:46,609 --> 00:19:51,730 Speaker 1: enter the water, elephants do not fully survive, themselves, and 236 00:19:51,790 --> 00:19:55,350 Speaker 1: no hippos were known to inhabit that section of the 237 00:19:55,410 --> 00:19:59,949 Speaker 1: Lee Koala. When Macall asked how the guide knew there 238 00:19:59,990 --> 00:20:03,630 Speaker 1: were no hippos in the area, his response was swift 239 00:20:03,690 --> 00:20:08,399 Speaker 1: and matter-of-fact. The Mokele and Bembe had chased them all away, 240 00:20:08,619 --> 00:20:13,409 Speaker 1: he said, Some time later, the expedition reached the confluence 241 00:20:13,730 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 1: of the Likawala Ozerb and the uncharted River Bai. Here 242 00:20:19,140 --> 00:20:23,680 Speaker 1: they established a base and visited several local villages, gathering 243 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:29,629 Speaker 1: more eyewitness testimony. In total, they collected more than 30 244 00:20:29,630 --> 00:20:35,790 Speaker 1: independent reports of apparent encounters with the Mekele Mbembe. One 245 00:20:35,850 --> 00:20:39,909 Speaker 1: hunter escorted Macau to a stretch of riverbank where he'd 246 00:20:39,950 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: discovered a large trail that he couldn't identify. Some large 247 00:20:44,980 --> 00:20:48,439 Speaker 1: animal had clearly dredged itself from the river and headed 248 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:54,830 Speaker 1: into the surrounding jungle, leaving foot-wide, clawed prints. The size 249 00:20:54,869 --> 00:20:58,149 Speaker 1: of the path it created was roughly the same as 250 00:20:58,230 --> 00:21:02,730 Speaker 1: that made by an elephant, but elephants do not have claws, 251 00:21:03,650 --> 00:21:07,169 Speaker 1: and the hunter emphasised that neither did they devastate the 252 00:21:07,210 --> 00:21:11,580 Speaker 1: plant life, in quite the way this creature had. Feeling 253 00:21:11,660 --> 00:21:15,380 Speaker 1: confident they were on the cusp of a discovery, Macall 254 00:21:15,420 --> 00:21:20,310 Speaker 1: and his team aimed to push on to Lake Tellay. Unfortunately, 255 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,830 Speaker 1: to their great disappointment, they learned how fallible the maps 256 00:21:24,890 --> 00:21:29,429 Speaker 1: of the local region had up till then been. As 257 00:21:29,510 --> 00:21:32,650 Speaker 1: it turned out, the river they were on was not 258 00:21:32,670 --> 00:21:35,469 Speaker 1: the northern reach of the Baye River as they had 259 00:21:35,550 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: thought before. and to reach Lake Tele from their position 260 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: would require an overland slog through the most inhospitable terrain. 261 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:48,810 Speaker 1: Equipped only for a river journey, they had no choice 262 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:54,050 Speaker 1: but to turn back. Macau's great search for the dinosaur 263 00:21:54,090 --> 00:21:59,030 Speaker 1: of the Congo had reached an anticlimactic end. He flew 264 00:21:59,070 --> 00:22:03,190 Speaker 1: back to the US, no less persuaded of the creature's existence. 265 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: but with the heavy awareness that none of the evidence 266 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:23,250 Speaker 1: he collected would convince the zoological community. Roy Macau's 1987 book, 267 00:22:23,750 --> 00:22:27,790 Speaker 1: A Living Dinosaur, In Search of Mokele and Bembe, which 268 00:22:27,810 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 1: he subsequently wrote, did much to promote the idea of 269 00:22:31,660 --> 00:22:36,520 Speaker 1: prehistoric survival into the present day, though Macau was ultimately 270 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:41,110 Speaker 1: forced to concede that though the mystery beckons, pending new 271 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:48,130 Speaker 1: information from future expeditions, our speculations must rest here. But 272 00:22:48,250 --> 00:22:52,669 Speaker 1: Roy Mackle had not been the only cryptozoologist scouring the 273 00:22:52,730 --> 00:22:57,810 Speaker 1: swamps for monsters. After their falling out, Herman Ragustus said, 274 00:22:58,250 --> 00:23:03,270 Speaker 1: the German satellite specialist had initiated his own expedition, which 275 00:23:03,390 --> 00:23:08,310 Speaker 1: also took place in the autumn of 1981. In fact, 276 00:23:08,910 --> 00:23:14,370 Speaker 1: Ehrman had started a full month before. Like Mackel, Ehrman 277 00:23:14,550 --> 00:23:18,880 Speaker 1: also centred his attention on the elusive Lake Tele, but 278 00:23:18,930 --> 00:23:24,060 Speaker 1: he was successful in reaching it. His team, which included 279 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:27,340 Speaker 1: his wife Kea in the role as Chief Medical Officer, 280 00:23:27,820 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 1: arrived there on October 28th, when Mackle was still days 281 00:23:32,460 --> 00:23:37,410 Speaker 1: from setting out on the river. Seen from above, Lake 282 00:23:37,490 --> 00:23:41,810 Speaker 1: Telly is a great shining disk, two miles wide and 283 00:23:41,890 --> 00:23:45,870 Speaker 1: enclosed on all sides by a limitless blanket of trees. 284 00:23:46,670 --> 00:23:50,439 Speaker 1: To some, it looks like a vast eye, staring up 285 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:54,639 Speaker 1: from a dark green face, the inlets and rivers running 286 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:59,180 Speaker 1: to and from it like scarves, It is here that 287 00:23:59,220 --> 00:24:04,300 Speaker 1: the Mokele Mbembe is thought to make its home. On 288 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:08,460 Speaker 1: the afternoon of their first day, Herman and Kia noticed 289 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:14,909 Speaker 1: sizable waves radiating in the otherwise calm water. However, it 290 00:24:14,950 --> 00:24:18,950 Speaker 1: wasn't possible to see the source of the disturbance that day, 291 00:24:19,910 --> 00:24:23,310 Speaker 1: but the following morning, one of the party believed they 292 00:24:23,390 --> 00:24:28,030 Speaker 1: spotted a long, neck-like protuberance stretching out from the lake 293 00:24:29,100 --> 00:24:32,480 Speaker 1: It stayed in view for a full five minutes before 294 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:37,040 Speaker 1: sinking out of sight. It was a week later when 295 00:24:37,100 --> 00:24:41,199 Speaker 1: Herman and Keir heard a frightening noise emanating from the 296 00:24:41,260 --> 00:24:46,740 Speaker 1: jungle around their shoreside camp. It began as a low 297 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:51,379 Speaker 1: roar which increased in volume and violence to a deep-throated 298 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:56,770 Speaker 1: trumpeting growl as they described it. The couple sat in 299 00:24:56,810 --> 00:25:01,580 Speaker 1: their canoe rooted with fascination and fear, as whatever made 300 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,690 Speaker 1: the noise could be heard ploughing through the trees, growling 301 00:25:06,070 --> 00:25:12,050 Speaker 1: and battering vegetation as it went. On November 27th, after 302 00:25:12,109 --> 00:25:15,030 Speaker 1: a full month on the lake, Kia claimed to have 303 00:25:15,070 --> 00:25:20,159 Speaker 1: glimpsed a long, sinuous appendage rising from the water, topped 304 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:24,820 Speaker 1: with a large, snake-like head. She estimated it to be 305 00:25:24,940 --> 00:25:28,710 Speaker 1: over six and a half feet in length, It apparently 306 00:25:28,810 --> 00:25:32,909 Speaker 1: swayed in full view, as if waving to the awestruck woman, 307 00:25:33,410 --> 00:25:39,520 Speaker 1: before sinking as ever beneath the surface. Sadly, for all 308 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:45,680 Speaker 1: these sightings, the Raguster's expedition gathered no photographic or physical evidence. 309 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 1: Herman blamed human error and humidity, and though he returned 310 00:25:51,100 --> 00:25:55,530 Speaker 1: home convinced of the existence of a relict dinosaur, His 311 00:25:55,609 --> 00:26:06,889 Speaker 1: anecdotal reports caused barely a stir. Two years after the 312 00:26:06,930 --> 00:26:11,500 Speaker 1: Macau and Ragusta expeditions, another team battled their way to 313 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:16,500 Speaker 1: the shores of Lake Tele. But this time, people paid attention. 314 00:26:17,740 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: Marcelin Ananya was the Congolese zoologist who was part of 315 00:26:22,140 --> 00:26:26,659 Speaker 1: Macau's second expedition. He also had a government role in 316 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,729 Speaker 1: the Ministry of Water and Forests. As such, he was 317 00:26:30,830 --> 00:26:35,390 Speaker 1: well placed and well provisioned to pursue his determined search 318 00:26:35,510 --> 00:26:40,470 Speaker 1: for the Mokele and Bembe. In April 1983, he put 319 00:26:40,510 --> 00:26:46,270 Speaker 1: together a seven-person, Congolese-only team, whose every member was familiar 320 00:26:46,330 --> 00:26:50,710 Speaker 1: with the ecosystem they were set to explore. Once again, 321 00:26:51,390 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: the hunters were drawn towards Lake Tele, like blood towards 322 00:26:55,859 --> 00:27:01,080 Speaker 1: the heart. After days of canoeing and trekking through dense jungle, 323 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:06,159 Speaker 1: they finally arrived and promptly set up camp. On the 324 00:27:06,230 --> 00:27:09,830 Speaker 1: second day of their stakeout, the group observed a huge 325 00:27:09,970 --> 00:27:14,949 Speaker 1: turtle near to their bank. By Ananya's reckoning, it was 326 00:27:15,070 --> 00:27:18,810 Speaker 1: over six feet long, easily double the size of the 327 00:27:18,850 --> 00:27:24,820 Speaker 1: commonly recognized African soft-shell turtle. Though some have wondered If 328 00:27:24,859 --> 00:27:27,270 Speaker 1: this might in fact be the root of the whole 329 00:27:27,369 --> 00:27:32,810 Speaker 1: Mokele and Bembe story, nothing but an oversized turtle transformed 330 00:27:32,890 --> 00:27:37,370 Speaker 1: through the prism of frightened imaginations into something even grander. 331 00:27:38,300 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 1: The truth is, the giant turtle already has its own 332 00:27:42,140 --> 00:27:47,420 Speaker 1: name and folklore attached. The Endendeki they call it, a 333 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:51,310 Speaker 1: creature in many ways just as fabled as the Mokele 334 00:27:51,369 --> 00:27:56,439 Speaker 1: and Bembe. And so it would seem Even without offering 335 00:27:56,540 --> 00:28:00,899 Speaker 1: up a surviving dinosaur, Lake Tele was already living up 336 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 1: to its reputation as a lost world of the Arthur 337 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:10,430 Speaker 1: Conan Doyle variety. Then, on the third day, May 1st, 338 00:28:11,109 --> 00:28:14,770 Speaker 1: the dinosaur is said to have made its presence known, 339 00:28:15,810 --> 00:28:18,830 Speaker 1: and Nanya was filming a troop of monkeys on the 340 00:28:18,869 --> 00:28:22,530 Speaker 1: lake shore when he heard one of his party crying 341 00:28:22,670 --> 00:28:26,659 Speaker 1: out in excitement. Dashing to the water's edge, he was 342 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:31,490 Speaker 1: stunned to see, just under 300 metres offshore, the rising 343 00:28:31,550 --> 00:28:36,590 Speaker 1: neck and back of a huge animal. Ananya strode into 344 00:28:36,630 --> 00:28:40,310 Speaker 1: the water and toward the creature, feeling a jolt of 345 00:28:40,370 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 1: adrenaline when he saw its head turn at the sound 346 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:48,900 Speaker 1: of his approach. Sixty metres in, Ananya stopped and raised 347 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:53,730 Speaker 1: his camera. Through the magnified lens, he later said, he 348 00:28:53,770 --> 00:28:57,370 Speaker 1: took in all the details that he'd heard locals repeat 349 00:28:57,710 --> 00:29:03,140 Speaker 1: again and again. A six-foot-long neck, topped with an undersized, 350 00:29:03,420 --> 00:29:09,620 Speaker 1: snake-like head, with crocodilian eyes, its skin shaded from its 351 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:14,239 Speaker 1: ruddy head down a brown neck, turning black across its 352 00:29:14,340 --> 00:29:18,470 Speaker 1: hump and the ten feet of its back. In total, 353 00:29:19,010 --> 00:29:22,920 Speaker 1: the creature, he claimed, was over five meters in length. 354 00:29:23,980 --> 00:29:27,390 Speaker 1: It sank for a moment beneath the water, he later said, 355 00:29:28,070 --> 00:29:32,210 Speaker 1: only for its neck to soon re-emerge and stay visible 356 00:29:32,450 --> 00:29:37,310 Speaker 1: for a full 20 minutes. In this time, the zoologist 357 00:29:37,350 --> 00:29:41,560 Speaker 1: determined that he was looking at something different. reptilian rather 358 00:29:41,620 --> 00:29:45,890 Speaker 1: than mammalian and felt compelled to conclude that it did 359 00:29:45,970 --> 00:29:59,340 Speaker 1: indeed look very much like a sauropod dinosaur. When Marcelin Ananya's, 360 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:04,220 Speaker 1: Mokele and Bembe finally submerged fully into the water, his 361 00:30:04,330 --> 00:30:08,290 Speaker 1: team apparently rushed to its last location in their pirogue, 362 00:30:08,710 --> 00:30:12,930 Speaker 1: but saw nothing beneath the dense vegetable matter that gathered 363 00:30:12,970 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: at the surface of the lake. It was when they 364 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:19,580 Speaker 1: arrived back at the shore that Ananya claimed to make 365 00:30:19,700 --> 00:30:24,300 Speaker 1: the crushing discovery that he'd accidentally filmed the whole encounter, 366 00:30:24,790 --> 00:30:29,740 Speaker 1: with an entirely inappropriate focus setting, having neglected to change 367 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: it after filming the monkeys. When he eventually apparently watched 368 00:30:35,420 --> 00:30:40,180 Speaker 1: the footage back, it displayed only an impenetrable, blurry image. 369 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:46,690 Speaker 1: He did take several photos with a small 35mm camera. However, 370 00:30:47,190 --> 00:30:51,510 Speaker 1: his grainy images of something dark breaking the surface of 371 00:30:51,550 --> 00:30:57,890 Speaker 1: the lake have garnered both support and condemnation over the years. There, 372 00:30:58,450 --> 00:31:02,410 Speaker 1: the search for Central Africa's living dinosaur could have rested 373 00:31:03,090 --> 00:31:08,670 Speaker 1: in the uncertain ground between anecdote, myth, and compromised evidence. 374 00:31:09,770 --> 00:31:13,260 Speaker 1: But there is just something about those empty places on 375 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:19,480 Speaker 1: the map human beings cannot keep away. Other expeditions have 376 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:24,340 Speaker 1: followed over the last 40 years, plenty of them Most 377 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:28,480 Speaker 1: failed valiantly to gain any greater evidence than Roy Mackle, 378 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:35,850 Speaker 1: Herman Ragustas or Marcelin Ananya. In 1992, a Japanese film 379 00:31:35,890 --> 00:31:41,030 Speaker 1: crew recorded 15 seconds of video showing something long and 380 00:31:41,090 --> 00:31:47,970 Speaker 1: distinctly serpentine swimming across Lake Tele's glassy surface. It remains 381 00:31:48,020 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 1: the most compelling sign that something unknown still calls the 382 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:56,790 Speaker 1: lake its home but it is worth noting that Mokele 383 00:31:56,890 --> 00:32:01,790 Speaker 1: Mbembe is not the only prehistoric relic reported from the Congo. 384 00:32:03,050 --> 00:32:07,650 Speaker 1: Other tales tell of the Kassai Rex, a ferocious carnivore 385 00:32:08,130 --> 00:32:12,900 Speaker 1: able to kill rhinos, and the Amela Entuka, a horned 386 00:32:12,980 --> 00:32:16,980 Speaker 1: reptile as large as a bush elephant with a striking 387 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:22,600 Speaker 1: resemblance to the Triceratops. And then there is the Kangamoto, 388 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:28,910 Speaker 1: a huge bird with a seven-foot wingspan, scaled rather than feathered. 389 00:32:29,850 --> 00:32:32,830 Speaker 1: It is said to attack the boats of those that 390 00:32:32,910 --> 00:32:37,810 Speaker 1: venture too far into the rivers and trees. When European 391 00:32:37,890 --> 00:32:43,730 Speaker 1: explorers showed them images of prehistoric pterosaurs, the local people 392 00:32:44,070 --> 00:32:47,650 Speaker 1: didn't react with awe as others had to the Mokele 393 00:32:47,730 --> 00:32:55,650 Speaker 1: and Bembe. Instead, they seemed terrified. Lost world, then, is 394 00:32:55,710 --> 00:33:00,400 Speaker 1: perhaps the wrong term. To be lost, something must first 395 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:04,800 Speaker 1: be found and known. We can be lost, and we 396 00:33:04,860 --> 00:33:08,000 Speaker 1: may well be, should we tread too far into the 397 00:33:08,060 --> 00:33:12,660 Speaker 1: interior of the central African rainforest. But the things that 398 00:33:12,700 --> 00:33:23,390 Speaker 1: we may meet there have always called it home. This 399 00:33:23,450 --> 00:33:27,140 Speaker 1: episode was written by Neil McRobert and produced by me, 400 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:32,020 Speaker 1: Richard McLean-Smith. Neil is the creator and host of his 401 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:36,900 Speaker 1: own brilliant podcast called Talking Scared, in which he discusses 402 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:41,030 Speaker 1: the craft of horror writing with everyone from Tananarive Do 403 00:33:41,470 --> 00:33:45,310 Speaker 1: to the god of horror himself, Stephen King. I can't 404 00:33:45,330 --> 00:33:49,130 Speaker 1: recommend it highly enough. Thank you as ever for listening 405 00:33:49,170 --> 00:33:51,850 Speaker 1: to the show. Please subscribe and rate it if you 406 00:33:51,870 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 1: haven't already done so Unexplained will be coming to YouTube 407 00:33:55,720 --> 00:33:58,900 Speaker 1: very shortly in video form, so please watch out for 408 00:33:58,940 --> 00:34:02,120 Speaker 1: future developments there. You can subscribe to the channel at 409 00:34:02,220 --> 00:34:07,150 Speaker 1: youtube.com forward slash at unexplainedpod. You can also now find 410 00:34:07,190 --> 00:34:13,870 Speaker 1: us on TikTok at tiktok.com forward slash at unexplainedpodcast. Unexplained 411 00:34:13,930 --> 00:34:18,280 Speaker 1: is an AV Club Productions podcast created by Richard McLean-Smith. 412 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,330 Speaker 1: All other elements of the podcast, including the music, are 413 00:34:22,370 --> 00:34:27,710 Speaker 1: also produced by me, Richard McLean-Smith. Unexplained, the book and audiobook, 414 00:34:28,150 --> 00:34:32,200 Speaker 1: is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon, 415 00:34:32,530 --> 00:34:37,399 Speaker 1: Barnes & Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores. Please subscribe to 416 00:34:37,500 --> 00:34:40,640 Speaker 1: and rate the show wherever you get your podcasts and 417 00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:42,920 Speaker 1: feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or 418 00:34:43,020 --> 00:34:46,760 Speaker 1: ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps 419 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:49,209 Speaker 1: you have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. 420 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:53,969 Speaker 1: You can find out more at unexplainedpodcast.com and reach us 421 00:34:54,030 --> 00:35:00,010 Speaker 1: online through Twitter at UnexplainedPod and Facebook at facebook.com forward 422 00:35:00,030 --> 00:35:23,300 Speaker 1: slash unexplainedpodcast. Thank you.