DRC has been more or less off the map for travellers since the mid-1990s, but in slightly happier times the lakeside town of Goma was a busy hub for mountain gorilla tracking trips into the volcanic jungle of the Virunga National Park on the Rwandan border. Hardy travellers could recreate the era of adventure and exploration by taking a Congo barge from Kinshasa to Kisangani, or hiking through virgin wilderness and swimming under waterfalls. If lasting peace returns, DRC could become one of Africa’s most exciting adventure destinations once again. . .
The spectacular, densely forested Parc National de Virunga is home to chimps, lowland gorillas and around eighty mountain gorillas. Places on treks, run by the park rangers, tend to be easier and cheaper to secure than their equivalent in Rwanda and Uganda, since so few tourists are prepared to venture into DRC. You’ll struggle through rugged, humid jungle for anything up to five hours. . .
(continued on p. 264)
Links we like
DRC National Tourism Office (Montreal) W Official site with basic info in English and further details in French.
Virunga National Park General info and fund-raising intiatives relating to the park and its gorillas.
This page last edited 9 June 2011 © Richard Trillo and Emma Gregg
First-Time Africa: know before you go 