DR Congo – Congo Kinshasa Tour

Itinerary

Wednesday 29 November – Kinshasa 

• Arrival in Kinshasa.
• Airport pick-up and drop off at the hotel.
• Pre-tour meeting at the hotel before we head for dinner.
• Overnight stay in Kinshasa.

Thursday 30 November – Kinshasa 

• 9:00 AM – Start of the city tour, including: 
• Independence Square
• Mausoleum of the Late President Kabila, including his statue design by North Koreans (see how it looks like Kim Il Sung’s statue)
• Rumble in the Jungle 20^th of May Stadium (Tata-Raphael Stadium)
• Statue of Patrice Lumumba, designed by North Koreans 
• Palace of the People
• Highlight: Parc Ngaliema, including the old statues of King Leopold and Stanley
• Marble Palace, the old residency of Mobutu 
• Overnight in Kinshasa

Friday 1 December – Kinshasa 

• Today we’ll experience two unique Congolese cultural phenomenons; the sapeurs and the fetish wrestling. 
• Highlight: In the morning we’ll hang out with the sapeurs, today’s version of the well-known dandy’s. We’ll meet them, take time to learn about their culture, take photo’s and learn about their dances, songs and matching colorful dress.
• Highlight: In the afternoon we’ll go for another unique experience. We’ll have an introduction in Congo Voodoo / Fetish Wrestling. We will visit their temple and supernatural shrine before we head for a game of wrestling. The event itself is not just a wrestling game, the wrestlers paint themselves with voodoo powders and dress dramatically.
• Overnight stay in Kinshasa. 

Saturday 2 December – Kinshasa – Zonga Falls 

• Highlight: In the morning we’ll leave Kinshasa and head for the Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary. Here they keep bonobos that were rescued from local markets, doomed to be sold for bush meat. We’ll learn more about the bonobos and see how the locals try to give the bonobos their life back. 
• In the afternoon we’ll start our drive to the Zonga Falls. 
• Experience the Zonga Falls, the falls have a drop of around 60m and flow down from the Inkisi River before the water joins the mighty Congo River.
• Overnight stay at the Zonga Falls. 

Sunday 3 December – Zonga Falls – Matadi 

• Today we’ll make our way further south towards the city of Matadi, located at the border with Angola.
• We’ll make various stops along the way for photos, while we make our way through the mountains and jungle of Bas Congo. 
• Highlight: Upon arrival in Matadi we’ll start exploring the city. Matadi is a mountainous, historic and humid city and serves as the capitol of the Bas Congo province. Moreover, it serves as a big port city for ships going to Kinshasa or the Atlantic. 
• During our tour through the city we’ll visit the big electrical dam, Point Belvedere, OEBK bridge, the colonial port and the local market. 
• Overnight stay in Matadi. 

Monday 4 December – Matadi – Boma – Muanda 

• Highlight: After breakfast, we’ll board our boat on the Congo River. The river borders Angola and we’ll be able to experience life next to one of the most important rivers in the world. We’ll see plenty of fishermen looking for the famous tigerfish but also big ships heading towards Kinshasa.
• Halfway on our way to Muanda we’ll stop at Boma, a town was the former capital of the Belgium colony and also the place where Belgium handed over the country to the Congolese in 1959. 
• In Boma we’ll the historical city with its preserved colonial architecture, including the first (metal) church, the cathedral and the first cars (what’s left of it) that arrived in Congo in 1905.
• See the famous Baobab Tree, here it is said that Henry Stanley spend his first night after having traveled through Congo. 
• We take a sunset boat trip (while passing by various Shipwrecks) for our last stretch to the Atlantic, towards the city of Muanda. 
• Overnight stay in Muanda. 

Tuesday 5 December – Muanda 

• We leave Muanda and visit the Mangrove National Park.
• Highlight: In the park, we take a boat trip to remote fishermen’s villages and experience local life remote from any other place. 
• See how the fishermen go for oyster fishing.  
• In the afternoon we return to Moanda, a colonial seaside town and the biggest city of DR Congo on its small Atlantic Ocean coastline.
• We visit the local market and take a walk along the old colonial buildings before we head to the village of Banana.
• Banana (yes, it’s the real name) was the first colonial outpost in Congo and was occupied by the Dutch and Portuguese before Belgium took over. Today it is famous for its beautiful beach and the ancient buildings (including canons) that remain from bygone times.    
• We check out Zero Point, here meets the Congo River and the Atlantic Ocean. 
• Overnight stay in Muanda. 

Wednesday 6 December – Muanda – Kisantu 

• We jump back into the car to make our way towards Kinshasa. Instead of the boat we take now a car, so we get to see a different side of the province. Along the way we’ll make various stops for photos and relaxation (which is necessary with the bumpy roads). 
• We drive towards Kisantu, a typical Congolese village. 
• Highlight: Upon arrival we’ll explore the town and find ourselves a nice place for a cold drink. 
• Overnight stay in Kisantu. 

Thursday 7 December – Kisantu – Kinshasa  

• Relaxed morning in Kisantu before we continue the last stretch to Kinshasa.
• Slowly on we’ll see the immense city of Kinshasa again, estimates are that around 17 million people live here. 
• We’ll go for some last-minute shopping before we head to a great restaurant with a view of the Congo river for our goodbye dinner. 
• Overnight stay in Kinshasa. 

Friday 8 December – Kinshasha

• Airport drooff, end of the tour. 
• Or continue with our Congo Brazzaville Tour by boat.