The Lost Diamonds of Katanga, Part II (picture heavy)

Here is second part of The Lost Diamonds of Katanga.  The first part, for those who are interested is only available on my Flickr Profile because I felt some of the dialogue, though very funny might violate group policies and might be misinterpreted.  This second part however I think is completely safe to post here so here goes. You do not really need to go through part one to understand what goes on in part two.  As with my two previous shoots, it took place at my favorite outdoor location; the artificial waterfall at Alexis Nihon Park, a couple of miles from where I live. It was a trying shoot, as outdoor shoots usually are, with the lighting constantly changing under a sky of mixed sun and clouds, and I got caught in the rain walking out of the park after finishing the shoot.  It attracted the attention of curious onlookers and I took advantage of this to introduce the hobby to a couple with a camera and allowed them to shoot a few photos of Kamiko, which was their favorite figure.  

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Valley of Strange Occurances_20A by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Nice shoot and story. It's interesting how your southwestern wastelands took a Lost World turn. Loved the mini-croc.

GubernatorFan wrote:Nice shoot and story. It's interesting how your southwestern wastelands took a Lost World turn. Loved the mini-croc.

The croc and the Utahraptor are toys I picked up in an art supply chain here in Canada calle DeSerres. It's made by a company called Scheich. The croc is the nicer looking of the two by far.

Cool story. Those Scheich figures can be found down here in the states at Michaels stores, maybe even Hobby Lobby. Did any of the observer’s photos make it into your story? Or were they using their own cameras?

By the way I like the name Stryker Blue.

Stryker2011 wrote:Cool story. Those Scheich figures can be found down here in the states at Michaels stores, maybe even Hobby Lobby. Did any of the observer’s photos make it into your story? Or were they using their own cameras?

By the way I like the name Stryker Blue.

The photos are all mine. "Striker Blue Squadron" is a variation on "Striker Blue Company" and "Striker Blue Force" from the film "Dark of the Sun," with Rod Taylor, Jim Brown and Yvette Mimieux. It also has an evil ex-Nazi captain played by Peter Carsten.

I just watched that movie a few days ago. (I read the book by Wilbur Smith a long time ago. He lived most of his life in Africa, and wrote dozens of books about the continent. He loved it, but he wasn’t averse to showing the darker aspects of what goes on there.)

Stryker2011 wrote:I just watched that movie a few days ago. (I read the book by Wilbur Smith a long time ago. He lived most of his life in Africa, and wrote dozens of books about the continent. He loved it, but he wasn’t averse to showing the darker aspects of what goes on there.)

The history of the Congo, post independence is a dizzying tale of coups, rebellions, assassinations and foreign meddling.  I big part of my interest is that my ancestors are Belgian-- I'm the first in my family to be born in Canada--and boy, did the Belgians ever screw the Congolese, both before and after independence.  You really needed a scorecard to know who was in charge on any given day.

Independence, 1960.  Less than twelve Congolese university graduates in the entire country. Joseph Kasa-Vubu is elected president, and Patrice Lumumba from a different party prime minister.

Katanga province under Moise Tshombe immediately secedes, supported by Belgium and Belgian officers and mercenaries.  UN steps in to maintain the peace but refuses to intervene in conflict so Lumumba seeks help from Russia and China.  Kasa-Vubu and Lumumba try to dismiss one another. US freaks out, Belgium freaks out. Colonel Joseph Mobutu, once Lumumba's secretary stages a coup.  Kasa-Vubu is allowed to remain in power but Lumumba flees to Stanleyville where he is arrested, transferred to Katanga where he is tortured and finally executed by a firing squad commanded by Belgian officers.  End of Act one.

Dag Hammerskjold's plane crashes (possibly shot down by a Belgian mercenary pilot)  New Secretary General U Thant agrees to use UN Forces to quell Katanga revolt. By 1963, it's over and Moise Tshombe flees to Rhodesia. He comes back a year later to be Kasa-Vubu's PM in a coalition government then immediately hires foreign mercenaries to put down the Baluba and Simba revolts. Belgian parachute commandos jumping from USAF C130's drop on Stanleyville to rescue European hostages. Kasa-Vubu fires Tshombe in October '65 before being toppled by a second time in November by General Joseph Mobutu, this time for good.  End of Act 2.

Tshombe flees into exile in Spain while Mobutu has him sentenced to death in absentia. Tshombe's plane is hijacked by French SDECE agents in 1967 and flown to Algeria where the Algerians hold him for the French until he dies in 1969, his body then sent to Belgium and buried in Etterbeek cemetery in Brussels. Mobutu eventually renames the country Zaire, renames himself Mobutu Sese Seko and embezzles the country until overthrown by Laurent Kabila in 1997. End of Act 3

It goes on..

Very interesting.

Have you seen the other Wilbur Smith books turned into movies:

Shout at the Devil (Lee Marvin & Roger Moore). Very dark, like Dark of the Sun.
Gold (Roger Moore) (I haven’t seen this one in decades, and haven’t found it on DVD, yet).

Wilbur wrote a handful of stand-alone books, but the largest chunks of his novels are about generations of families living in Africa.

Stryker2011 wrote:Very interesting.

Have you seen the other Wilbur Smith books turned into movies:

Shout at the Devil (Lee Marvin & Roger Moore). Very dark, like Dark of the Sun.
Gold (Roger Moore) (I haven’t seen this one in decades, and haven’t found it on DVD, yet).

Wilbur wrote a handful of stand-alone books, but the largest chunks of his novels are about generations of families living in Africa.

I haven't seen either of those films that I can recall, though another Roger Moore film, (The Wild Geese) is connected to the next installment of my story.

What a wonderfully weird and pulpy turn!  So much fun, and all the more so as characters come together.  Can't wait to see where this goes.

ReverendSpooky wrote:What a wonderfully weird and pulpy turn!  So much fun, and all the more so as characters come together.  Can't wait to see where this goes.

Thanks.  I'm glad you enjoyed it.  It's a lot of work.  Part 1 of the story can be seen on my Flickr profile

Lost diamonds by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

I did not post it here, other than a few images owing to sexual innuendo and other references.