Customer Reviews

Mokele-Mbembe: Mystery Beast of the Congo Basin

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Reports of living prehistoric animals from Africa and elsewhere comprise a significant portion of cryptozoological study. Efforts to unravel these intriguing mysteries continue, though first-person accounts of field work have been rare since Dr. Roy Mackal published "A Living Dinosaur?" in 1987. Today, it seems the only researchers still working in the field are "young Earth" biblical creationists, of whom Bill Gibbons is perhaps the best-known representative. This survey of living dino lore from Africa includes a minimal amount of religion--Gibbons can't resist describing his conversion in the Congo, and why should he?--but even readers who eschew proselytization should find the book palatable and intriguing. Aside from Gibbons's personal observations, anecdotal evidence ranging from ancient times through 2009 is collected here, illustrated with 20 B&W photos, six maps, and 15 contributions by renowned crypto-artist William Rebsamen. Overall, a valuable addition to any amateur cryptozoologist's library.

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.

While Williams Gibbons has written a very excellent book about possible living "sauropod" dinosaurs in Central Africa- he has unfortunately by chapter 12 of his book[where he discusses other "types" of living dinosaurs] he has apparently caved into the "political correctness" found even in the world of cryptozoology! Chapter 12 of his book describes the sightings of possible ceratopsian dinosaurs[centrosaurus,triceratops,styracosaurus] in Central Africa-He has them written off as prehistoric "rhinoceros" type mammals by the end of the chapter! Even though the known fossil record shows that none of these large horned mammals had 1. Neck frills 2 .forward facing brow horns 3.a beaked mouth! I would have given this book a "5 star rating" if the last few chapters of the had not given the FALSE impression that "Mokele-Mbembe" was the "Last" and only type of "Living Dinosaur" left in the world!

The subject of living dinosaurs has always been dear to the creationist heart, yet it is one which has been too-rarely served by modern authors. Here, however, is a rich remedy. The author, Dr Bill Gibbons, has spent almost thirty years now taking expeditions into the very heart of the Congo Basin, a truly forbidding part of the world (no armchair explorer he). The aim of the expeditions has been to gather information from local tribes people about an animal which they have consistently reported over many years, and which bears every resemblance to a type of dinosaur known to us as a sauropod. There are, in fact, several other types of animal which the locals describe, and they are all large reptilian creatures whose features are readily recognisable from the fossil record. And what is more, they are alive, and the locals fear them greatly. Ultimately, of course, it is hoped, after several near misses, to film a live specimen or two, or maybe bring back some fresh remains.

The book opens on page 8 with a photo of the front page of the New York Herald. The headline reads, 'Is A Brontosaurus Roaming Africa's Wilds?' The article appeared in the February 13th 1910 edition of the paper, and it sets the tone for all that follows in the book. (The poor old Brontosaurus underwent something of a name-change in recent decades when it was found that the wrong head had been placed on the wrong neck, so for 'Brontosaurus' read Sauropod). Evidently, this creature, known to us under its native name of Mokele Mbembe, has been the subject of scrutiny for at least the past 100 years, and the first four chapters of Gibbons' book are devoted to a detailed and well illustrated history of early expeditions to find the monster.

From chapter 5 there appears the author's account of his own expeditions, and very exciting reading it is too. The whole is well illustrated with photos as well as paintings by the renowned creationist artist Bill Rebsamen, and the book offers not just a detailed and informative account of the creature which is its subject, but the cogent and powerful hope that soon Bill Gibbons' efforts will bear fruit in the shape of video and audio evidences, if not some physical remains. It is hoped that one his colleagues will visit the area again this year, but a major expedition is definitely planned for 2011, and I for one shall follow this expedition with great and prayerful interest.

The subject of this book, living dinosaurs, is of immense importance to the creation/evolution controversy. Should just the physical remains of one of these creatures be brought home, it would present an unanswerable challenge to those who, in their thousands, have spent their lives convincing an unwary public that dinosaurs died out millions and millions of years ago. It would seriously challenge the wholly unproven and ludicrous - yet untiringly persistent - claim that mankind `evolved' from some kind of primitive ape. In short, it would upend the entire and godless Darwinian philosophy upon which the western world is now built. It is my fervent prayer that many more such expeditions are to come, and that they will at last bear fruit.
NB: Hearing of Bill's work in this field, The History Channel filmed one of his expeditions, issued under the title, MonsterQuest: The Last Dinosaur, and it is riveting viewing. You can watch it in five parts on YouTube, link: [...]

Gibbons details a history of sightings of some unusual dinosaur-like creatures seen in Africa over the last century or so including what are likely apatosauruses, diplodocuses, and styracosauruses. The bulk of the book is about his (and his friends) search for the sauropod-like creatures in the Congo and Cameroon areas. Unfortunately, these creatures are only found in the most uncivilized, swampiest areas of Africa and only during the wet season. This made it exceptionally difficult to locate these dangerous beasts. However, they did locate some of their lairs and cast some footprints. They also interviewed many natives (speaking a variety of languages) by use of translators from different regions about sightings of these various animals over many years. There is sufficient consistency and detailed descriptiveness of these animals to be able to conclude that a number of these creatures really do exist in Africa. Further, a number of westerners have also seen these animals. However, no known photographs have ever been acquired of these animals for reasons explained in the book. Of course, this dispels the secular view that dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago, so the evolutionists are scrambling for alternative explanations. The author correctly notes that the findings are in perfect harmony with a Biblical, creationist worldview. Unfortunately, the media mostly quashes these stories, so the general public has very little knowledge of these creatures existence.

Gibbons' book started out pretty well but after his conversion in The Congo his attitude towards science, the Congolese people and fellow crypto zoologists becomes slanted in a manner that I found off-putting. The book is not terribly well-written but I normally could let that slide if the overall tone had been better.