Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Entry posted by korver · July 20, 2020

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The Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly called Zaire, is the 11th largest country in the world. With a population of over 86 million, it's also the world's 16th most populous country and it's largest city (and capital city) of Kinshasa is one of the continent's biggest urban conglomerations. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is home to a wide variety of incredible natural landscapes as well that we'll be taking a look at in this update - from massive rainforests, waterfalls, mountain ranges, volcanoes, and much more. Let's take a closer look at this truly beautiful country.

Our trip begins with a look over DR Congo's impressive capital city of Kinshasa. With a population of over 13 million in it's urban area (shared with the neighboring capital city of Brazzaville in Congo), it's one of the continent's most impressive megacities - its massive urban sprawl can only be seen best from the sky.

A closer look at the streets of central Kinshasa - and the streets here can get pretty crowded, especially during rush hour.

After our stay in Kinshasa, we catch a jeep and head out into the heart of the vast Congo Rainforest. The Congo Basin makes up one of the most important wilderness areas left on Earth - at 500 million acres, it is larger than the state of Alaska and stands as the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest.

The Congo Basin is full of incredible natural wonders. Located on the Congo River's eastern bend near Kisangani, the mighty Boyoma Falls (formerly Stanley Falls) are the world's largest waterfall by volume of annual flow. The falls contain seven large cataracts, each no more than 16 feet high - and can be quite shallow, especially during low tide. When the water levels are at their lowest, the local Wagenya fisherman build a huge system of wooden tripods across the river. These tripods are anchored on the holes naturally carved in the rock by the water current. To these tripods are anchored large baskets, which are lowered in the rapids to "sieve" the waters for fish - and twice a day the adult Wagenya people pull out these baskets to check if there is any fish caught; in which case somebody will dive into the river to fetch it.

After our stay in the vast Congo Rainforest, we head further east - and the landscape quickly becomes much more mountainous and rugged the further we go. The eastern fringes are home to a number of impressive volcanoes, such as Mount Nyiragongo - an active stratovolcano with an elevation of 11,385 feet in the Virunga Mountains. It's home to the world's largest lava lake and has erupted nearly 40 times since the late 1800s - this is one of the world's most violent volcanoes.

Neighboring Mount Nyiragongo is the impressive Virunga National Park - one of the most biologically diverse areas on the planet. Virunga covers an area of over 3,000 sq miles and comprises an outstanding diversity of habitats, ranging from swamps and steppes to the snowfields of Rwenzori at an altitude of over 15,000 ft, and from lava plains to the savannahs on the slopes of volcanoes. Most famously, endangered Mountain gorillas can be found in the park and even birds from Siberia make their way here for the winter.

Our trip concludes today with a plane ride over the impressive Rwenzori Mountains that border the edge of Virunga. These mountains are home to some of the continent's highest peaks and glaciers - such as the twin summits of Mount Stanley on the border of DR Congo and Uganda that majestically rise 16,762 feet above the Congo Rainforest.