William J. Gibbons' story of Mokele-Mbembe absolutely held my attention with his expeditions to Africa in search of strange creatures. Mr. Gibbons takes the reader alongside the explorers with his descriptive interpretation of his journeys.
Mokele-Mbembe: Mystery Beast of the Congo Basin begins with a history of recorded accounts from ancient texts to books throughout modern history with descriptions of huge water creatures.
The author's own expeditions occurred from 1979-1992. His thorough descriptions of the locals, (especially the Pygmy people), the surroundings, and the dangers were especially interesting as they explored the areas in the jungles, swamps and hidden areas of Africa. He explains the many trials they experienced with travel problems, wild animals, illnesses, and corrupt politicians demanding bribes just to explore the area.
This is not a scientific study, but an exploration of the area with eye witness accounts. He freely points out which sightings he believed were not credible, but many, if not most, are quite credible. There is one interesting method they used with the eye witnesses. They presented a book with animals from the area and the locals identified them. He then gave them pictures of animals not known to be in Africa and the witnesses could not identify any of them. He then gave them a book of dinosaurs. Mokele-Mbembe gives a fascinating account of the responses they received from the third book.
As if the exciting tale of exploration was not interesting enough, it was an added treat to read about William Gibbons' conversion in Africa from occult practice to Christianity. He gives his beautiful testimony in the book and talks about other missionaries in the area.
No matter what you believe, Mokele-Mbembe: Mystery Beast of the Congo Basin is a fascinating story.
GRandles
Posted February 21, 2010
It is good to see Gibbons finally publish a book devoted to his research on Mokele-mbembe, the alleged living dinosaur of the Congo. No armchair explorer he, Gibbons has conducted more research into this and other mystery animals of Equatorial Africa than anyone else alive. He is a worthy successor to Roy P. Mackal, the now-retired University of Chicago professor of biology, who launched the modern-day search for Mokele-mbembe, and who has publicly commended Gibbons as his natural successor. Although he does not hide his creationist beliefs, one has to read between the lines with Gibbons. Few people know that he is a licensed private investigator and employs some interesting methods, particularly comparative analysis techniques, including a structured and methodical approach to interviewing alleged eye-witnesses. These techniques are often only employed by police detectives when interviewing criminal suspects, and it is clear that even if Gibbons was not a police officer in the past, he has certainly received similar training in investigation and interviewing methodologies.
Although the book lists a useful and absorbing history of Mokele-mbembe sightings and encounters, of particular interest is the final three chapters that deal with Mokele-mbembe, N'goubou, the horned killer of elephants (Gibbons identifys two different kinds), and the Yoli, and alleged "snake dragon" with legs. Here Gibbons reveals the scope of his research by focusing in some detail on the different ethnic, tribal and cultural groups that are familiar with Mokele-mbembe, including the different names given to the animal of which there are at least 17. His analytical comparisons to other (known) reptiles, including their breeding habits, hybernation, food supply, habitat and behavioural patterns gives the reader considerable insight into the seriousness that Gibbons treats this enduring cryptozoological mystery.
Overall, I found this book to be well researched, absorbing and a very enjoyable read. It is certainly a good successor to Dr. Mackal's seminal work, Mokele-mbembe - A Living Dinosaur? (Brill, 1987). Gibbons certainly knows his stuff, and this book should have a place on the bookshelf of every cryptozoologist.
Overview
In Mokele-Mbembe: Mystery Beast of the Congo Basin, Gibbons provides a fascinating insight into several expeditions that have ventured forth in search of suspected living dinosaurs, include several of ...