View Shopping Cart
The Destination Guide Map
Get Connected
Subscribe to Our Articles, Sell Your Items, Publish Your Work, Advertise Your Business, Share Your Ideas!
Pyrodes is proud to take you, with help from our friends at Luggage.com, to Africa for the first time on this site. And, as is appropriate, we aren’t starting with any run of the mill African nation. No, Pyrodes thinks it fitting to go right to one of the most abused, yet most rewarding and richest nations on the continent: the DRC. From Coltan mines and guerrillas to vast parks and gorillas, this land is full of some of Africa’s best and worst. But, first, let’s get the basics…
The Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa’s third largest country at 2.3 million square kilometers and much of that land is carpeted with lush tropical rainforests, imposing volcanoes, majestic rivers, and stately plains. It is also considered one of the most resource rich countries in the world, with the world’s largest supplies of cobalt ore along with vast reserves of copper and diamonds among other materials.
Congo’s forests and teeming wildlife would seem to suggest that is ripe for eco-tourism the way that Costa Rica is today while its resources would trigger economic growth and development, but sadly this has not been the case due to its long, tragic history. From its brutal colonization by King Leopold and the Belgians came a violent and disjointed independence process that led eventually to a repressive dictatorship under Mobutu Sese Seko, and eventually led us to today’s civil wars and famine, the history of Congo is the tragedy of the country to reach its full potential.
However, there is some optimism for the future; the country has stable leadership under democratically elected President Joseph Kabila, and the capture of rebel leader Laurent Nkunda gives some hope that an end to the bloody conflict is in slight. And despite its many problems, Congo still remains safe for travel if you take the right measures. It’s not a country in which a group of people can just fly in with their luggage and briefcases to take a leisurely tour. It requires some serious planning and logistics. But while Congo can be a difficult trek, it is one that ultimately rewards with some of the most spectacular rainforest scenery in the world.
So, let’s go there, after the jump….
The bulk of the planning should be spent on ways getting in and out of the country. For one thing, air travel both to and from is nearly impossible since all Congolese aircrafts fail American and European safety standards, and flights using foreign carriers come in very infrequently so it is best to actually fly into a neighboring country instead. Rwanda is usually the most common destination for this purpose, although it has become somewhat harder to enter through Rwanda since the civil war started up again last year.
The DRC-Uganda Border
In order to enter the DRC, one must have a travel visa and a vaccination certificate for yellow fever. Visas can be obtained through your home government and usually last three months. Additionally, one-week travel visas are available in Rwanda.
Once you’re inside the country travel can be quite difficult. Congo does have several domestic airlines, but their safety standards are spotty at best, and the entire country has only 480 kilometers of paved road, so travelling by vehicle can also be hairy, although it is common for tourist to hitch rides with local trucking companies. The Congolese do boast an extensive rail network; this is usually the fastest and safest way to get around, however the scheduling can be somewhat erratic.
If you have more time to spend in the country, barge travel on the Congo River is the way to go. The river is Congo’s true highway, and travelling it can be a relaxing and scenic way to see the country, and is not the perilous journey that “Heart of Darkness” or The African Queen would lead you to believe. While several waterfalls prevent you from travelling the entire length of the river, the large section between Kinshasa and Kisangani is readily navigable.
The Congo River at Dawn
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital city, Kinshasa, is the African continent’s third largest city and it is mostly comprised of a teeming sprawl of shantytowns and urban decay spread out along the banks of the Congo River. However, the city itself is worth checking out for the fascinating colonial-style architecture of the Old City, the bustling marketplaces, and the kind of vibrant nightlife that you can only find in Africa.
Kinshasa Skyline
But the real reason to travel to Congo is for its nature and wildlife reserves. The country contains four National Parks that have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The most famous among these is the Kahuzi-Biega Park. Situated along the Rwandan border, it is best known for its (now dormant) volcanoes as well as being one of the last refuges of the Mountain Gorilla. However, this park, along with most of the others, lies in the Northeastern regions and are unfortunately are endangered due to civil war, as well as rampant poaching and deforestation. Because of the precarious political situation in these regions, there are currently no guided tours although many are hopeful that some sense of normality will soon return now that Nkunda has been captured.
However there are parks and wildlife in the Southern and Western regions as well that are much safer, although they still for the most part lack the park guides and information centers that exist in many other parks. These parks are home to some of the most diverse wildlife in the world and are also ideal for bird watching as well. Congo is also bordered in the West by three of the African Great Lakes, Lake Edward, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Kivu, although the latter of the three lakes sits in the middle of the conflict zone.
For all of its natural splendor, tourism is not much of a priority of the Congolese government or society at the moment, as it only accounts for 1.5% of the country’s GDP. This is the unfortunate side effect of decades of misrule and civil war. But signs are showing that the government might encourage tourism in the future, so long as the conflict in the Eastern regions can reach some sort of a resolution. In the meantime, travel is still safe in most of the country; you are far more likely to meet up with friendly people and interesting wildlife than guns and machetes. Just make sure to take great care when planning and be prepared to rough it!
Pyrodes wants to thank Luggage.com for help in preparing the content of this article. Please make sure to check out their site for some ideas on your travel needs. Also, for a good and interesting look into the source of much of the DRC’s past and present strife, check out the video below. Stay safe, and Happy travels all!
Click The Link Below To Browse Pyrodes’ Other Great Destination Ideas
1Comment »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Hello there!
It’s nice to see Kinshasa on a travel blog. I run a blog on my personal travel essays around Africa–mainly the Rep of Congo-Brazzaville, the US and France, my two non-African bases. I’ll keep checking back to see what else you post on Africa. Stop on by to see what I covered last time I was in Pointe-Noire, the small city on the Atlantic where my family lives!