Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

In Africa

Images Corbis, Getty Images,
Sven Torfinn/Panos

A river runs through it… For many living in the DRC, the Congo River is an integral part of daily life4

Balanced on delicate scaffolding, fishermen tend nets in the Congo River at Boyoma Falls,formerly known as Stanley Falls

In the heart of central Africa’s Ituri forest, boys from the Mbuti, one of several pygmy groups in the area, angle for their lunch. It’s all part of their initiation into manhood

The 4,700km Congo River and its tributaries flow through the world’s second largest area of rainforest

Text Tabitha Lasley

A round-up of exciting travel news from Brussels Airlines’ long-haul destination, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Hotel with a view
Orchids’ Safari Club, Lake Kivu

Where is it? Bukavu, Lake Kivu, orchids-hotel.com, What’s the view? Rooms look out over lush tropical gardens towards Lake Kivu.

What to expect Three grades of room (choose either first or second class for the best lake views) with pale wood floors, crisp blue and white bed linen, mosaic tiling in the bathroom and deep, ovoid sinks.

Why go there? This is gorilla country, with Kahuzi-Biega National Park only an hour away, so the hotel is a good base if you’re hoping to get up close and personal with these elusive creatures. Local guidelines only allow you to spend an hour in their company, so fill the rest of your time visiting the neighbouring tea plantation, rafting on Luhoho River, trekking through Kahuzi-Biega forest and kayaking on Lake Kivu.

What does it cost?

Standard rooms from €65 per night.

The must-do list

Spend a couple of days in Kinshasa, then head up-country from there

■ Trek to see mountain gorillas in the montane forest of the Virunga volcanoes. Permits cost around €325 (cheaper than those in both Uganda and Rwanda).

■ Climb Nyiragongo volcano and peer into its crater to glimpse the lava lake at the bottom.

■ Sail down the Congo River by fishing boat and stop for a picnic on the banks at Mangengenge.

■ Try a spot of wild swimming in the lakes at Chutes de Lukia.

■ Meet the world’s most endangered ape – and our closest relative – at Lola Ya Bonobo, a bonobo sanctuary just outside Kinshasa.

DRC fast facts

50% The proportion of the population under 14 years of age.

66% The percentage of Europe’s land mass that could fit inside DRC’s borders.

40% The percentage of eruptions in Africa that the DRC’s Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira volcanoes
are responsible for.

1.4The average height in metres of a member of the Pygmy tribe, DRC’s oldest inhabitants.

4,700The length in kilometres of the Congo River, making it the second longest river in Africa.

86 million The area in hectares of DRC that is covered by rainforest, the second largest in the world after the Amazon.

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