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DR Congo
Central & West Africa · Afrinkong

DR Congo

Virunga, Nyiragongo, and the okapi.

An active lava lake you can camp beside on Nyiragongo, the only mountain gorillas outside Rwanda and Uganda, the okapi that lives nowhere else, and five World Heritage sites — a country of superlatives and of serious constraints on reaching them.

Build a journey → What you can do here →

Where it is

Africa · Central & West Africa · DR Congo

The land in brief

Spans
2,110 km E–W, 2,090 km N–S
Latitude
5°N to 13°S — the equator crosses it
Borders
9 countries
Sea
Has a coast
Best time
The dry seasons. Take current advice extremely seriously; the east is not uniformly accessible.

Also in Central & West Africa

CameroonAfrica in miniatureCentral African RepublicDzanga Bai, and the forest elephantsChadZakouma, and the lakes of OuniangaCongoOdzala, and the western lowland gorillaEquatorial GuineaA volcanic island, and turtles on the black sand
Compare DR Congo with another countryAll fifty-four, worked through the same twenty-seven categories.
DR Congo and the countries it borders, with its rivers and lakes and a scale in kilometres.DR Congo borders Central African Republic to the north, South Sudan and Uganda to the north-east, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania to the east, Zambia to the south, Angola to the south-west and Congo to the west. It spans 2,110 km E–W, 2,090 km N–S. It lies 5°N to 13°S — the equator crosses it. It reaches the sea. Rivers and lakes are drawn where they cross the frame, with a scale bar in kilometres.AngolaBotswanaBurundiCentral African RepublicChadCongoEquatorial GuineaEritreaEthiopiaGabonKenyaMalawiMaliMozambiqueNigerNigeriaRwandaSao Tome and PrincipeSouth SudanSudanTanzaniaZambiaZimbabweANGOLATANZANIANIGERIAZAMBIASOUTH SUDANCENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
DR Congo and the countries it borders

When to come

The dry seasons. Take current advice extremely seriously; the east is not uniformly accessible.

01Highlights

What DR Congo is known for.

Six of the twenty-seven, and the ones most people come for. The rest are below — and none of them is filler.

Montana, DR Congo Nature & Landscapes

The Albertine Rift

Glaciers on the Rwenzori, volcanoes in the Virungas, and the deepest forest in Africa between them.

Hillside view with dense urban housing, DR Congo Wildlife

Mountain Gorillas and Okapi

Virunga's gorillas in the east, and the okapi in the Ituri forest, which lives nowhere else.

Shrubs in valley in sunlight, DR Congo Mountains

The Rwenzori

5,109 metres at Margherita, glaciated, on the equator, and the Mountains of the Moon.

Coastal cityscape with modern building and waterfront, DR Congo Beaches & Coast

Muanda, and the Lakes

Forty kilometres of Atlantic at the river mouth, and beaches on Kivu and Tanganyika.

Green trees growing against blue sky, DR Congo Forests & Rainforest

The Ituri and the Salonga

Salonga is the largest tropical rainforest reserve in Africa, and mostly unentered.

Traffic jam on a street, DR Congo Culture

Two Hundred and Fifty Peoples

Four national languages, and a music that has set the terms for the whole continent.

02Experiences

25 ways to spend the time.

Every country we cover works through the same twenty-seven categories, so you can hold two of them side by side and compare like with like rather than one brochure against another. Compare DR Congo with another → The two not listed here are the hero picture and the case for going, which has a section of its own below.

Landscapes
  • The Albertine RiftGlaciers on the Rwenzori, volcanoes in the Virungas, and the deepest forest in Africa between them.
  • The Rwenzori5,109 metres at Margherita, glaciated, on the equator, and the Mountains of the Moon.
  • Boyoma and LofoiThe seven cataracts at Kisangani, and Lofoi with a single drop of 340 metres.
  • The Congo RiverFour and a half thousand kilometres, and the deepest river in the world at 220 metres.
  • Muanda, and the LakesForty kilometres of Atlantic at the river mouth, and beaches on Kivu and Tanganyika.
  • The Ituri and the SalongaSalonga is the largest tropical rainforest reserve in Africa, and mostly unentered.
Wildlife
  • Mountain Gorillas and OkapiVirunga's gorillas in the east, and the okapi in the Ituri forest, which lives nowhere else.
  • Garamba and UpembaNorthern savanna with elephant and Kordofan giraffe, being brought back after decades of loss.
  • Virunga's RangersOver two hundred rangers have died protecting this park. It is the oldest in Africa.
  • Volcano and GorillaNyiragongo, then gorillas in Virunga's lowlands, from the same base at Goma.
People and culture
  • Two Hundred and Fifty PeoplesFour national languages, and a music that has set the terms for the whole continent.
  • The MbutiForest hunter-gatherers of the Ituri, with a relationship to that forest going back millennia.
  • Rumba and NdomboloFranco, Papa Wemba, Koffi Olomide — Kinshasa has exported dance music for seventy years.
  • Masks, Raffia and CopperKuba raffia cloth, Pende and Songye masks, and Katangese copper crosses.
  • Fufu, Pondu and LibokeCassava fufu, pondu cassava leaf, and fish steamed in leaves over a fire.
  • Not for FamiliesThe east requires current advice and the distances are enormous. This is careful travel.
  • SAPEThe Society of Ambianceurs and Elegant People — dressing as a discipline and an argument.
Places
  • Kinshasa and LubumbashiOne of the largest cities in Africa, facing Brazzaville, and the mining capital in the south.
  • Belgian Colonial and CiteArt deco Kinshasa from the 1930s, and the cite quarters that grew around it.
  • Kisangani and the River StationsStanley's route up the river, and the Wagenia fishing structures that predate all of it.
  • Five World Heritage SitesVirunga, Garamba, Kahuzi-Biega, Salonga and the Okapi Reserve — all five on the danger list.
Ways to travel
  • Nyiragongo OvernightSix hours up, a night in a hut on the rim, and the lava lake below you all of it.
  • Virunga's LodgesMikeno and Tchegera, run by the park itself, and the money goes back into it.
  • Lava at NightThe Nyiragongo crater after dark, when the lake is the only light there is.
  • Lake KivuVolcanic islands, terraced hills and calm water, between Goma and Bukavu.
03Why go

The case for DR Congo.

Why Visit This Country

Why DR Congo

A lava lake, mountain gorillas, glaciers on the equator, and the okapi.

Hidden Gems

Lake Kivu

Volcanic islands, terraced hills and calm water, between Goma and Bukavu.

Eco Tourism

Virunga's Rangers

Over two hundred rangers have died protecting this park. It is the oldest in Africa.

Heritage

Five World Heritage Sites

Virunga, Garamba, Kahuzi-Biega, Salonga and the Okapi Reserve — all five on the danger list.

04Go deeper

All of DR Congo, four ways in.

Who would take youAfrinkong

The ground is ours right across Africa: your vehicle, your driver for the whole journey, and the days shaped around what you came for.

In Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia you travel with companies of our own as well.

Plan your journey →
Begin

Your DR Congo starts here.

Tell us the month, or simply the thing you want to see, and a guide who works there will answer.

Build a journey → See all 27 experiences →