DR Congo
Congo River Expedition

Arrive in Kinshasa and transfer to the hotel. The rest of the day is left at leisure. Overnight Hotel Invest or similar. No meals nor guided arrangements are included today.

Fly to Mbandaka, capital of the Equator Province, and the starting point of river expedition. We stay  2 nights in the city, ready to leave shortly on our 11-day voyage bound for Lisala. Overnight tented camp or basic hotel in Mbandaka. (BLD)

The first leg of our voyage, upriver from Mbandaka to Lisala is expected to take 9 nights. We will be travelling through a vast area, without roads or airports. The river is a vital-life line for the communities we visit en-route. We will see how they go about their everyday lives, buying and selling produce from small boats that criss-cross the river. The people we meet have little, if any contact with the outside world, and certainly no concept of tourism. It is the genuinely spontaneous encounters which makes the trip so pioneering and a must for intrepid travellers. There are few places left on earth where such encounters are possible. It is a special experience shared by only an elite group of travellers a year. (BLD)

Each night will be spent ashore or close to a village where we can buy fresh produce, prepare dinner and set-up our tented camp for the night. Tents are large and comfortable, 2m in height. Each tent is equipped with self-inflating mattress and cotton mattress covers and pillows. Travellers should bring their sleeping bag or sleeping sheet, as well as a towel and toiletries.

Our transport is aboard a 18m long wooden boat, equipped with two powerful outboard engines. Although a traditional boat it is of course equipped with full safety equipment, toilet facilities, a generator, lighting and freezers for food and drinks. A cook and an English-speaking guide accompany the trip throughout.

We expect to arrive in Lisala today. Lisala is the home town of the former President Mobutu and the half way point between Mbandaka to Kisangani. Some of your fellow travellers will be returning to Kinshasa, taking a plane back to the capital the following day. At the same time other travellers will fly from Kinshasa to Lisala, in order to travel on the second leg of the expedition to Kisangani. Overnight tented camp a few miles on from Lisala. (BLD)

The second leg of our voyage will take us further up river from Lisala, to our final destination, the city of Kisangani. The trip is expected to take 10 nights and as with the first leg, each night will be spent ashore at or close to a village where we can buy fresh produce, prepare dinner and set-up our tented camp for the night. Highlights of the second leg of the expedition include Bumba, where the river is at its widest, some 20 kilometres across and covered with water hyacinths. Closer to Kisangani we will travel through Yangambi, an important Biosphere Reserve which hosts 32,000 tree species. Wildlife in the reserve includes elephant, river hog and monkeys. (BLD)

Founded, as Stanleyville, by journalist and adventurer, Henry Morton Stanley in 1877, Kisangani is the farthest navigable point upstream on the Congo River – over 2,000km from its mouth on the Atlantic coast. Within the last fifty years the city has seen more than its fair share of troubles, being seized by Simba rebels during the Congo crisis in the 1960s and witnessing the war that gripped the DRC in the 1990s. Today Kisangani’s half a million inhabitants are edging their way towards recovery. A visit here is not only fascinating but integral to gaining a greater understanding of DRC. After exploring the town, we visit Tshopo River Falls, and the village of Wagenia, whose fishermen maintain a unique system of bamboo fish traps set among the Congo’s rapids. Overnight Hotel Triangle or similar (BLD)

Transfer to Kisangani’s airport for a scheduled flight back to Kinshasa. Overnight Hotel Invest or similar. (B)

After breakfast visit the wonderful Lola Ya Bonobo project outside of Kinshasa. Later in Kinshasa we explore some of the markets and buildings that make this such a fascinating city. Formerly referred to as ‘Kin La Belle’ – meaning ‘Beautiful Kinshasa’, the many years of turmoil has tarnished this image. But slowly, Kinshasa is regaining its splendour. Overnight Hotel Invest or similar. (B)

Tour ends with transfer to airport. (B)

**** PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SCHEDULE MAY CHANGE EN ROUTE DUE TO LOCAL FACTORS ****