Congo River Tours

Congo River Tours. The majestic Congo River, which used to be called the Zaire River, is the most powerful river in Africa. It is also the second-largest river in the world, the fifth-longest river (over 4,700 km) and by far the deepest river in Africa and the world. It has many other amazing features. The Congo River flows through the world’s second-largest tropical rain forest. The dark jungles along the Congo River Path also gave Joseph Conrad ideas for his 1899 book Heart of Darkness. Conrad got the idea for the book by looking at the world map and seeing all the empty places.

Arrange to go on a tour of the Congo River on a native pirogue or a local boat. Along the Congo River, you will find many villages that are cut off from the rest of the world and not visited by tourists. Get ready for an interesting culture experience along the Congo River.

While there are many ways to start a tour of the Congo River, we recommend that you go from Lisala to Kisangani. This will be the most exciting way to see the river. Our tours along the Congo River take you to remote villages, some of the country’s most important historical places, and rain forests. They also give you a chance to meet and talk with locals in a very real way. To get a feel for the different sounds and sights that make up real Africa, we promise a trip through areas that not many tourists have yet seen.

Ten interesting facts about the Congo River

The Congo River was named for Kongo, an old country.

The Portuguese ended the Kongo country in 1857. It had ruled over what is now Northern Angola and was in West Central Africa. The people who live in this country speak Kikongo. This group includes the Bantu people and the Ndundu people.

The Congo River has the second most water flowing through it in the world.

Every year, the Congo River lets out about 41,200m3/s (1,454,964.27 cubic ft/s) of water. By the amount of water it flows, it is the world’s second-biggest river, after the Amazon. This river is also the deepest in the world. At its widest point, the river is about 220 meters (720 feet) wide.

There are 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites along the banks of the Congo River. This makes it a very important natural heritage place in the world.

A big river called the Congo flows between the capital towns of the DR Congo and the Republic of Congo. There are three parts to the Congo river: the Upper, the Middle, and the Lower.

The mountains of the East African Rift are where the Upper Congo River began (Stanley Falls). Most of the Middle Congo is to the northwest from Kisangani. The central Congo River finishes at Pool Malebo. From there, the river slowly curves southwest and turns into Stanley Pool, which looks more like a lake. The capital towns of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo are on opposite sides of the Malebo Pool. Their names are Kinshasa and Brazzaville.

Because it has so much power, the Congo River could provide all of sub-Saharan Africa’s energy needs.

Two times, the river goes through the equator. Beginning in the southern hemisphere, the Congo River flows up and then northeastward. This part of its trip takes it across the Equator and into the Northern Hemisphere. So, it’s the only river that goes through two equatorial zones.
It is thought that there are 700 different kinds of fish in the Congo River. The amount is probably a lot more than that. Some of these fish can only be found in the Congo River.

Mountain ranges and peaks in the East African Rift, as well as Lakes Tanganyika and Mweru, are where the rivers get their water.

The Congo River has about 4,000 islands. More than fifty of them are at least ten miles long and have small towns on them.
In 1482, Diego Cao was the first European known to have seen and crossed the Congo River. He did this while on a journey to what was then called the Dark African Kongo Kingdom.