Central Africa Museum

Up early on a train from Antwerp to Brussels. A short walk to our hotel from the Gare du Nord. Time:10 am. Rooms not available until 3. Metro ride and tram ride through leafy suburbs to Leopold II's Central Africa Museum. Located in a suburban palace set in formal gardens, it is strangely similar to the Field Museum (even has bronzes of African figures done in the 30s), but limited to Africa. In 1870 (or so) Leopold met with his royal cousins to divide up Africa. Remember, that's when Victoria gave Mt. Kilamanjaro to her son in law Wilhelm as a birthday present. Leopold pointed to the place on the map where the Congo drained into the Atlantic and said he would take it- plus the Congo basin. Of course the Congo basin is all of the center of Africa, which is immense. He ruled it as his personal fiefdom until Belgium turned it into the Central African Republic in the early 20th century.
It became independent in 1960. I remember seeing the pictures of Patrice Lumumba in Life Magazine
The museum had lots of artifacts and stuffed animals. It also had an exhibit on the Omo area of Ethiopia where we visited. It had TJ's pillow-stool.
There was an exhibit on Henry Stanley, who explored the Congo, and on the history of Belgium in the Congo. Fascinating.
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