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Democratic Republic of the Congo - anyone been there?

I was there in 1990, when it was called Zaire, and run with an iron fist by Mobuto.

It was a big adventure. We travelled from the east to Kisangani by trucks on really bad roads.
Then bought a dugout canoe and went west along the Congo for about a week until the big floating barges caught up.
Then took a plane from Kinshasa to Lumumbashi - the fare was based on our weight / kilo of coffee

It was an amazing trip that kicked my arse. I was 19/20 at the time.
 
pbsmooth said:
surely you've rather over simplified such a huge country? Parts of the countryside look incredible
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Yes and I haven’t even been there

I’m sure there are excellent vista, amazing geology, fantastic cuisine and fascinating cultures in the DRC

But my experience of working in the surrounding countries (albeit geographically distant) has been challenging in the urban conurbations and time in the rural/remote areas was mainly focussed on life support (food, water, shelter, avoiding environments hazards)

Not for the feint hearted without some organisational back up
 
Have you been to other parts of sub saharan Africa before? I would say its an extremely bad idea unless youre quite experienced. There are so many problems and things to go wrong, I dont think it would be unfair to dismiss DRC as a country basically not to go to for solo travel. For work or with a charity would be different.

Fly to South Africa and go backpacking in Mozambique or Botswana if you want a safer but less travelled adventure.
 
It's also huge. Look at the Gov advice - there are areas to avoid but it's not the whole country. But certainly the DRC has a long page so maybe not the best time to visit...!
 
Riklet said:
Have you been to other parts of sub saharan Africa before? I would say its an extremely bad idea unless youre quite experienced. There are so many problems and things to go wrong,
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I don’t know if you’re talking to me really and I also don’t know whether you’re suggesting that most of that continent is “an extremely bad idea’ or just the DRC. I’m not an inexperienced or naive traveller, I have probably been lucky though.
 
Which party of the country would work take you to?

Going down the Congo river was the most interesting trip I've ever done. I was blown away that, ten kilometres from Kisangani, we met people who'd never seen the green beans we had just bought in the market. But there were a couple of Michael Jackson t-shirts on show.

We camped in a village and had to put up our tent right next to the chief's hut. And every time I wanted to smoke a cigarette, it cost me a pack, as I had to share them among the menfolk. While the woman were working hard: washing, cooking, cleaning, the men did an awful lot of sitting around.
 
t0bytoo said:
Which part of the country would work take you to?
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The nearest city is called Bukavu, which looks kind of ok, its on the lake, it has a load of art deco era buildings. I imagine it would probably be sleep there in the city somewhere and then travel (not alone) to the various villages / rural areas nearby where the project is working, which means being with local staff the whole time there. Its near to a big national park as well, which is the stronghold of the critically endangered eastern lowland gorilla.

The man I'm chatting to about this he said yesterday "in general, DRC is not a country one can really travel in as a tourist, on his/her own. It's possible, technically, but there are so many unpredictable things that can happen, mostly related to unpaid government officials, plus insecurity in certain areas that it simply isn't worth the effort" which sounds right obvs, so its one of those places where i'd almost certainly never get to see unless it was an invite like this, I think that's why it feels like a good opportunity.
 
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bimble said:
I don’t know if you’re talking to me really and I also don’t know whether you’re suggesting that most of that continent is “an extremely bad idea’ or just the DRC. I’m not an inexperienced or naive traveller, I have probably been lucky though.
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Yes I was talking to you but also in general I guess. No I didnt mean that Youre probably more experienced a traveller in Africa than me then by far. But holidaying in DRC in 2022 is a bad idea.

From Wikitravel main page:

"Due to the increased rate of civil unrest, we strongly recommend you to avoid any type of traveling to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Armed groups in North and South Kivu, Orientale provinces, northern and central regions of the Katanga province, and the eastern section of Maniema, have been known to pillage, steal cars, take hostages, sexually assault, murder, and carry out violent operations in which civilians are indiscriminately targeted."

Then there's a list of numerous countries that advise against any travel there.

Theres loads of less risky but still amazing and unusual countries you could go to. Why bother.
 
From what I remember Bukavu was alright but it would only have had a fraction of the current population. The scenery around Lake Kivu is good. If you can be sure of your safety it's worth going but I've no idea what the security situation would be like.
 
Riklet said:
Yes I was talking to you but also in general I guess. No I didnt mean that Youre probably more experienced a traveller in Africa than me then by far. But holidaying in DRC in 2022 is a bad idea.

From Wikitravel main page:

"Due to the increased rate of civil unrest, we strongly recommend you to avoid any type of traveling to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Armed groups in North and South Kivu, Orientale provinces, northern and central regions of the Katanga province, and the eastern section of Maniema, have been known to pillage, steal cars, take hostages, sexually assault, murder, and carry out violent operations in which civilians are indiscriminately targeted."

Then there's a list of numerous countries that advise against any travel there.

Theres loads of less risky but still amazing and unusual countries you could go to. Why bother.
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Yep. I do have to look at my motivation (as in, am i being stupid) and also figure out a bit more about the people who are inviting me. As said its just an idea but its true that some of the attraction is that its well off the track, and that's ok obvs, to find that sort of thing exciting, but this might cross the line into just idiotic.
 
Have you been to either Rwanda or Uganda?

Or Agola/Cameroon if youre set on central Africa. Both would be amazing and are much safer I think.
 
bimble said:
Not a place people go on holidays much i think but has come up as a potential place i could go next year and am very curious.
Richest country in the world for natural resources & one of the poorest for most humans living there thats about all i know.
Would not be for long & i wouldn't be alone much, work thing.
Anybody been to DRC and any thoughts?
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Interesting but griefy.
 
I've got a mate who worked in the UN peacekeeping mission there - MONUSCO - until this summer. Lots of violence - including towards the UN.

It's probably safer than Afghanistan.

My view would be nuanced - I think that an experienced, switched on person travelling with an experienced, switched on NGO would probably be fine (go big on that insurance though....), however, kind of by definition, any NGO looking to take people who don't need to be there, probably falls outside the definition of experienced and switched on...

I'd be interested to see their motivation and risk assessment.
 
hash tag said:
I seem to remember reading a book (or part of) about the DRC and wouldn't touch it with a barge pope, but I'm not exactly a seasoned traveller.
Mrs tag has just described this as being the best travelogue she has ever read
www.goodreads.com

Blood River: A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart

A compulsively readable account of a journey to the Con…
www.goodreads.com www.goodreads.com
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Yes indeed, I recommend the book near the beginning of the thread :thumbs:
 
A friend is currently there working for a large, well run and well resourced/funded NGO in eastern DRC. Twice in the last few months they've had to evacuate to avoid marauding armed rebels (once overland to Rwanda, the last time at a few hours notice by UN flight to Kinshasa). Kidnapping threat and unexploded ordnance are issues. Previously they were working in Venezuela and Haiti, but DRC makes those two sound like a walk in the park.
 
planetgeli said:
Angola is an absolute shithole with sky-high prices to match.
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All of it? that's sad to here. I know Luanda is mega expensive but its a lot safer than it was and I imagined it as an interesting country to travel. Mozambique appeals more though for me personally.

Its just so expensive going to a lot of Africa. Cant really afford it tbh. I need a job that wants to send me places.. mine wont even send us to Belgium for a few days the tightos.
 
2hats said:
A friend is currently there working for a large, well run and well resourced/funded NGO in eastern DRC. Twice in the last few months they've had to evacuate to avoid marauding armed rebels (once overland to Rwanda, the last time at a few hours notice by UN flight to Kinshasa). Kidnapping threat and unexploded ordnance are issues. Previously they were working in Venezuela and Haiti, but DRC makes those two sound like a walk in the park.
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A friend's brother was working for an NGO there and was evacuated by UN troops a bit ago at pretty much no notice. (He's now somewhere random in Ethiopia which doesn't sound massively safe either tbh.) So yeah, have to say going there seems not a great plan right now.
 
Riklet said:
All of it? that's sad to here. I know Luanda is mega expensive but its a lot safer than it was and I imagined it as an interesting country to travel. Mozambique appeals more though for me personally.

Its just so expensive going to a lot of Africa. Cant really afford it tbh. I need a job that wants to send me places.. mine wont even send us to Belgium for a few days the tightos.
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Almost went to Mozambique a few years back, but getting the visa whilst in Zimbabwe was too much of a pain.
 
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chilango said:
Almost went to Mozambique a few years back, but getting the visa whilst in Zimbabwe was too much of a pain.
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Crossed the river illegally and slept on the bank in Zambia one night. Apparently the paths at the top of the cliffs were all still mined so you couldn't get further into the country (or presumably, into Zimbabwe by the same routes) so not sure if I can count it as a country I've been to.

Also, I may or may not have been in Mozambique. That border was a fair bit safer and in pre-GPS days my map reading was a bit a bit shit...
 
chilango said:
Almost went to Mozambique a few years back, but getting the visa whilst in Zimbabwe was too much of a pain.
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I worked in Palma in the north of Mozambique for a few months in 2014 and it was mostly so boring it actually made me join U75 on Boxing Day 2014 for the company!

Luckily it was before this Battle of Palma - Wikipedia although even in 2014 it wasn't that safe, and the most dangerous thing was usually the locals driving.

You could look one way down the beach and it would look like paradise...

20141223_051902.jpg

And then the other way and it look like hell...

IMG-20141226-WA0010.jpg
 
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