DR Congo

Middle Africa

The vast, rainforest-covered heart of Central Africa on the south bank of the Congo River, the only country on earth where wild bonobos live. Its east holds the fabled gorillas and volcanoes of Virunga, largely closed to visitors by conflict, while the riverside capital, Kinshasa, anchors the accessible experiences: the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary and the national museum.

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What you can do in DR Congo

Museums & Galleries

Kinshasayear-roundKinshasa holds the best single introduction to Congolese art and history at the Musee National de la Republique Democratique du Congo, which opened in late 2019 in a purpose-built home on the Boulevard Triomphal. For decades the country's heritage was studied and stored abroad, much of it in Belgium, and this museum is where a large national collection is finally shown at home, with Congolese curators trained for the task. The galleries move through masks, statuary, musical instruments and everyday objects from across the country's many peoples, laid out to explain the cultures they come from rather than just display them. It is a calm, well-lit space in a city better known for its music and its energy, and it rewards a slow couple of hours. Pairing it with a visit to the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary on the city's southern edge makes Kinshasa a genuine two-stop cultural and wildlife base in a country where most other regions are hard or unsafe to reach.

Wildlife Safaris

Lola ya BonoboJun Jul Aug SepLola ya Bonobo is the one place a traveler can reliably meet bonobos, the great ape that lives only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, south of the Congo River. The name means paradise for bonobos in Lingala, and the sanctuary was created in 1994 by Claudine Andre to take in orphans of the bushmeat and pet trades. More than 70 bonobos now live across forest enclosures set around a lake, in family groups that mirror how the species lives in the wild, where females lead and conflict is settled with closeness rather than aggression. A guided visit walks you through the story of each group and the wider fight to protect a species most people never get to see. It sits about 30 kilometres from central Kinshasa, close enough for a half-day trip, which makes it the most accessible real wildlife experience in a country whose famous eastern parks are largely shut by conflict. The sanctuary also runs Ekolo ya Bonobo, a rewilding preserve far upriver where sanctuary-raised bonobos have been released back into the forest, the first returns of their kind.

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Museums
Wildlife Safaris