Almost every trip starts and ends in Kinshasa. It is the international gateway, the rumba capital and the only Congolese city with a Wimup Top 10 so far: give it three days for the national museum, the Académie des Beaux-Arts, the bonobos at Lola ya Bonobo and a night that begins far later than you expect. West of the capital, Kongo Central is the one add-on that works by road: the botanical garden at Kisantu, the Zongo falls, the river port of Matadi and the Atlantic at Muanda. South, Lubumbashi and Kolwezi anchor the copper belt and the Katangan plateau. Kisangani sits where the navigable river begins, and the barges downstream from it are a journey in themselves. The east, around Goma and Bukavu, holds the volcanoes and the great apes, and it is also where the armed conflict is: North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri carry the strongest warnings from most foreign ministries, and Virunga has been closed to visitors for long stretches. Read your own government's advice province by province, then read it again the week you fly. June to September is the long dry window.
1 DR Congo city guide
Fun fact
The Congo is the deepest river in the world. Soundings in the lower river, downstream of the Malebo Pool that Kinshasa sits on, have found the bed more than 220 metres below the surface, deep enough that separate fish species have evolved on either side of the same channel.
Stereotypes, sorted out
The realityTwo countries face each other across the river. DR Congo is the vast one, capital Kinshasa; the Republic of the Congo is the smaller neighbour, capital Brazzaville, and the two capitals sit within sight of one another. Booking the wrong one is a real and expensive mistake.
The realityThe Congo basin covers the centre and the north, and it is the second largest tropical forest on earth. Around it sit the Katangan plateau in the south, savanna through the Kasaï, the volcanoes and mountain lakes of the Albertine Rift in the east, and a short Atlantic coast in the far west.
The realityThe fighting is concentrated in the east, in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, and it is serious there. Kinshasa, Kongo Central and the Katangan cities are a different situation, though every foreign ministry still has advice worth reading province by province before you book anything.
The realityIt is not a mass-tourism country, but Kinshasa is one of the largest French-speaking cities in the world and its music, art and fashion travel far beyond it. What is thin is the tourist infrastructure, not the reasons to come.
The realityYou cannot, in any practical sense. There is no continuous road network between the west and the east, and much of what exists turns to mud in the rains. Trips here are planned as separate regions linked by domestic flights, or as a river journey.
The realityCongolese rumba and the soukous that grew out of it set the template for modern African popular music from Dakar to Nairobi. UNESCO inscribed the rumba on its intangible heritage list in 2021, on a joint application from both Congos.
Cultural notes that actually help
- Greet before you ask. Bonjour, a handshake and a question about the family come first, and going straight to the request reads as rude.
- Mbote and merci mingi in Lingala go a long way in Kinshasa. In the east try jambo and asante, which is Swahili country.
- Do not photograph bridges, airports, ports, government buildings or anyone in uniform. It is taken seriously and can cost you your afternoon. Ask people before photographing them.
- Appearance is read closely. La sape is a genuine culture rather than a costume, and dressing carefully is a form of respect rather than vanity.
- Greet the oldest person in the room first, and use the two-handed handshake or a hand at your own forearm when the other person is senior to you.
- Evenings run late. A concert billed for nine will start well after it, and the good bands play until morning.
- Sunday church is a major event, formal and long, and an invitation to one is a compliment worth accepting.
- Carry your yellow fever certificate and a copy of your passport and visa. Document checks are routine and going through them politely and slowly is the fastest way out of them.
Famous Congolese faces
Patrice Lumumba
Franco Luambo Makiadi
Papa Wemba
Denis Mukwege
Dikembe Mutombo
Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum
Chéri Samba
Le Grand Kallé
Tabu Ley Rochereau
M'bilia Bel
Fally Ipupa
Gims
Bismack Biyombo
Chancel Mbemba
Dieumerci Mbokani
Bodys Isek Kingelez
Sammy Baloji
Moke
Baloji
Dieudo Hamadi
V.Y. Mudimbe
In Koli Jean Bofane
Fiston Mwanza Mujila
Simon Kimbangu
Mobutu Sese Seko
Étienne Tshisekedi
Must-try Congolese food
Fufu
Cassava or maize flour worked into a smooth dough, torn by hand and used to lift the sauce.
Poulet à la moambe
Chicken braised in palm nut pulp, the dish claimed as national across the Congo basin.
Liboke
Fish, chicken or meat parcelled in banana leaves and steamed, cooking in its own juices.
Ntaba
Goat grilled over charcoal and cut to order, the default order with a cold beer.
Brochettes
Beef or goat skewers off a roadside grill, with pili-pili served on the side.
Mikate
Yeasted dough balls fried and sold hot by the paper cone, the country's breakfast pastry.
Chikwanga
Fermented cassava steamed in banana leaves into a dense loaf. It keeps for days, which is why it travels.
Loso na madesu
Rice and red beans, the everyday plate from Kinshasa to Lubumbashi.
Makemba
Plantain, fried when ripe and boiled when green, served beside almost everything.
Pondu
Cassava leaves pounded and simmered long, usually with smoked fish or peanut. Also called saka-saka.
Fumbwa
Wild gnetum leaves cooked down with peanut paste and smoked fish, a Kongo Central speciality.
Mbika
Ground squash seeds wrapped in leaves and steamed, savoury and dense, eaten with fufu.
Madesu
Red beans stewed with onion and palm oil. The cheapest good plate in the country.
Capitaine
Nile perch from the river, grilled whole and served with plantain and chilli.
Makayabu
Salt-dried fish soaked, then fried or stewed. Pungent, cheap and everywhere in Kinshasa.
Pili-pili
The chilli sauce on every table. Ask for it separately if you want to judge the heat first.
Mandazi
Lightly spiced fried dough from the Swahili-speaking east, taken with tea.
Primus
The lager everyone orders, in the large bottle, shared rather than drunk alone.
Malafu
Palm wine tapped fresh. Sweet in the morning and considerably sharper by evening.
Tangawisi
Fierce home-made ginger juice, sometimes lightly fermented, sold in reused bottles.
