Congo Tours
2-Day Gorilla Trekking
Day1: Arrive in Gisenyi, Rwanda, and transfer to Goma, DRC. Go on a city tour and check in to your hotel.
Day2: Have an early breakfast and transfer to Rumangabo park station in Virunga National Park. After a briefing with park rangers, go on a mountain gorilla trek. Transfer back to hotel.
4-Day Gorilla Trekking and Nyiragongo Volcano Hike
Day 1 and 2: Same as 2-Day Gorilla Trekking.
Day 3: After an early breakfast, transfer to Nyiragongo Volcano trail head in Virunga National Park. Staring at 8:00 am, hike for approximately 6 hrs making to the crater rim. Have the whole evening to enjoy the view from the crater and watch the lava inside. Overnight in tents at the rim of the giant crater high above the active lava lake.
Day 4: Eat breakfast and begin descent by 7 or 8 am. Arrive at the trail head before lunch and transfer back to hotel for relaxing afternoon.
7-Day Gorilla Trekking, Nyiragongo Volcano Hike, and Lowland Gorilla Tour
Days 1 to 4: Same as 4-Day Gorilla Trekking and Nyiragongo Volcano Hike.
Day 5: Have breakfast and transfer to the shores of Lake Kivu. Take a (however many hours)-hour boat ride to Bukavu. Check in to hotel.
Day 6: Transfer to Kahuzi- Biega National Park. After park ranger briefing, trek to see lowland gorillas. Transfer back to hotel after trek.
Day 7: Check out of hotel and transfer to shore of Lake Kivu. Take boat back to Goma.
Climbing Nyiragongo in the Congo
Day 1 – Enjoy a beautiful drive through
the land of a thousand hills to reach Gisenyi the largest port on Lake Kivu.
After lunch clear customs at the boarder crossing and enter the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Overnight Goma.
Day 2 – Today is the real adventure when you spend a day hiking
the live volcano Nyiragongo. The 4-5 hour hike through lush rainforest
takes you to the spot where the volcano erupted in 2002. Overnight Goma.
Day 3 - The city tour today gives you an insight in to
the impact of the 2002 eruption that left Goma resembling a modern day Pompeii
with cars and houses trapped in the lava flow. Return to Rwanda in the afternoon
where the tour ends. Overnight Gisenyi.
Essential equipment:
Walking boots and poles, waterproof clothing, backpack.
A visa is required and can be obtained at the border for a fee of $35.
Congo Geography
Congo is situated in Africa, bordered to the north by Cameroon and the Central African Republic, to the south and east by the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the southwest by the Atlantic, and to the west by Gabon. The Cabinda Enclave, belonging to Angola, lies to the southwest, on the Atlantic coast. Vast areas are swamps, grassland or thick forests with rivers being virtually the only means of internal travel. The vast River Congo and its major tributaries form most of the country’s border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, drawing much of its water from the swamplands in the north of the country. The narrow sandy coastal plain is broken by lagoons, behind which rise the Mayombe Mountains. Most of the population lives in the south of the country.