JUNGLE DEPTHS AND ATLANTIC HORIZONS
AUGUST 14 ⇾ AUGUST 22
In addition to our regular group departures to Congo, we also offer tailored services for private travel parties and lone wolves alike. Get in touch for more info on our customised Congo Tours!
THE ROUTE
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DAY 1 • POINTE NOIRE
Meet-and-greet at Pointe Noire International Airport, transfer to our accommodation in Pointe Noire, and introductory briefing about the region, the route and the set of rules to observe while travelling around the Congo.
Time permitting, the rest of the day will be devoted to a slow-paced first encounter with Pointe Noire, a thriving Atlantic metropolis and one of the most important cultural and economic centres of Central Africa.
Overnight in Pointe Noire.
DAY 2 • POTASSIUM GLACIERS
Early in the morning we’ll leave Pointe Noire and head for Makola to visit a surreal salt glacier that serves as an eerily impressive memento of the once-thriving and now-defunct Congo Potassium Company.
On our way to Makola, we’ll also stop in the traditional town of Hinda to tour the colourful local market attracting hundreds of traders and buyers from the surrounding villages.
Afternoon transfer back to Pointe Noire for a lively night out on the town in the company of your Congolese guides.
Overnight in Pointe Noire.
DAY 3 • LOANGO BAY
Morning at your own leisure in Pointe Noire and afternoon transfer to the scenic Loango Bay, once home to a notorious slavery harbour and now popular retreat for Pointe Noire’s upper crust.
We will spend the rest of the day touring Diosso, the main town in the bay, once capital of the Loango Kingdom and now home to its rulers' mausoleum.
In the vicinity of Diosso we will then admire a soil-erosion-generated gorge known as the Grand Canyon of the Congo with distinctive ridges and red rock cliffs, which can reach up to 50m in height.
At sunset we will move to one of the many seaside restaurants scattered along the Loango coast to feast on freshly caught Atlantic lobsters and giant prawns.
Overnight in Pointe Noire.
DAY 4 • WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
Today we’ll embark on an epic trip up to the Kouilou-Niari, the a large and calm river flowing from the depths of the jungle towards the equatorial beaches of the Congolese Atlantic Coast.
In the morning we’ll pay a visit to the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Sanctuary, part of the Jane Goodall Institute and the largest chimpanzee sanctuary on the African continent.
The unhurried journey along the Kouilou-Niari will then take us through a primeval landscape dotted with traditional fishing hamlets and end-of-the-world human outposts: perfect spots to enjoy a drink, a chat and some roasted fish together with the proud and gentle dwellers of the Congolese jungle.
Our final destination for the day will eventually be the remote village of Loaka, where we’ll spend the night in tents before continuing our eastward journey by road.
Overnight in Loaka.
DAY 5 • MINING DREAMS
We’ll set out from Loaka at dawn, travelling down the N6 route, then connecting to the N1 national road and eventually heading south towards the Dimonika UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, a lowland Guineo-Congolese rainforest covering the central Mayombe mountain range and harbouring a stunningly rich and wide variety of fauna including elephants, antelope, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos.
We’ll devote the rest of the day to the reserve and visit a former mining hamlet lost in the jungle and a few decrepitly picturesque heirlooms from the heydays of the Congolese gold rush.
Overnight in Dimonika.
DAY 6 • MARKETS AND MODERNISM
From the jungle of Dimonika we will travel further east towards Dolisie and Madingou, large towns founded as transit stations on the Congo-Ocean Railway.
Dolisie and Madingou won’t probably be included in your must-see-places-before-you-die checklist, but their colourful food markets and modernist architectural shapes make these sleepy provincial centres interesting stops on the long overland journey towards Brazzaville.
Overnight in Madingou.
DAY 7 • PRIESTS AND NINJAS
Early in the morning we’ll leave Madingou to cover the last leg of our long cross-country drive towards Brazzaville, the groovy capital of the Republic of Congo.
En route to Brazzaville, we will traverse the notorious Pool Department, formerly a no-go zone due to the violent insurgency led by Pasteur Ntumi, a clergyman who commanded a loosely organised group of armed Christian fanatics called the Ninjas.
Overnight in Brazzaville.
DAY 8 • BRAZZAVILLE
Full day devoted to the many cultural, anthropological and architectural hues of Brazzaville, a bustling megalopolis full of life, colours, and chaos.
The list of highlights of our sojourn in Congo’s capital includes (but is not limited to): the modernist Sacre-Cœur Cathedral, the rationalist Hotel de Ville, the 1001-night-in-the-jungle Grand Mosque, the vertigo-inducing Nabemba Tower, the glorious Congolese Statue of Liberty, the stunning Fresque de la Révolution and a vast plethora of monumental remnants from a time when the country used to be a Soviet-aligned Cold-War pawn called République Populaire du Congo.
During our time in Brazzaville we will also have the unique chance to meet with the famed Congolese sapeurs, the eccentric members of a distinctive Central African subculture that embodies the elegance in style and manners of colonial dandies.
Overnight in Brazzaville.
DAY 9 • FORAY INTO THE DRC OR Odzala-KOKOUA EXTENSION
After having shared a last Congolese meal together, we'll take care of your transfer to Brazzaville International Airport.
For those wishing to prolong their sojourn in the heart of Africa, we will arrange a post-tour extension to either the legendary Odzala-Kokoua National Park – a vast natural reserve in the north of the country harbouring more than one hundred mammalian species and one of the continent's most diverse primate populations – or the neighbouring DRC, the notorious Democratic Republic of the Congo, the true Heart of Darkness.
Contact us to learn more about our bespoke tours to both the Odzala-Kokoua National Park and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
End of the tour.
3450 €
INCLUSIONS
Double/twin room accommodation (breakfast included), private transport in Congo, entrance fees for the attractions listed in the itinerary, English-speaking guiding, 24/7 in situ and remote assistance.
EXCLUSIONS
Single supplement, international flights, meals, drinks and tips, visas if required, entrance to attractions not listed in the itinerary, insurance.
