Congo Safari Tours Expeditions
In May, 2017, I and my son consulted the Nature Adventure Africa Safaris to plan for our Congo safari tour after hearing about its good services it provides to various tourists who usually visit Africa. Through its friendly and professional consultant Moses, we were communicating to him and all our bookings were passed through him who replied to us eventually as soon as he got our emails.
We accessed the Democratic Republic of Congo through a direct Rwanda Air flight which flew us directly to Kigali international airport in Rwanda where they picked us to Democratic Republic of Congo and our first Eco Tours in Congo took place in Virunga National Park a park most recognized as a habitant to the rare endangered mountain gorillas but full of many interesting and amazing adventurous things plus its exceptional wildlife it inhabits apart from the mountain gorillas. In the Park we enjoyed a hiking of Nyiragongo volcano of which we paid US$ 300 for the hiking permit.
We spent two days for the hiking and though by no doubt the hike was so challenging but we were strong enough and also committed thus making it to the summit where we met the interesting and a surprising bubbling Lava Lake which left us all not believing what we were seeing because we first thought that the thing was maybe photo shopped and was not reality but the guides ensured us and we slowly confessed to it. We were able to capture photos of the Lava Lake but from the day we reached the summit to the day we descended from the summit, we went back to the bottom of the Volcano as we were wondering on how this thing can happen to be real.
However, besides that, we also enjoyed a lot of things from the summit of Nyiragongo and we surely got a great hike and visit to Virunga National Park because in the same Park we viewed the rare mountain gorillas which had not known that they even exist anywhere in this world since we hadn’t visited any Park consisting of these great apes but on reading and searching, we landed on one of the habitant to these endangered primates and we tracked all the eight habituated gorilla families in the Park. In the same Park we tracked Chimpanzees and though we were told that Low-land gorillas also exist in the Park, unfortunately we didn’t spot any. A gorilla permit in Congo costs US$ 400 and Nyiragongo permit for hiking costs US$ 300.
In Democratic Republic of Congo we also visited Garamba National Park in the Orientale province of the country and in the Park we viewed a large number of white rhinos, elephants and some bird species were still seen while in the Park. While in the Park, we stayed in Garamba safari lodge which is situated in the Park overlooking the Dungu River and the at the lodge’s verandah we were sometimes hearing the hippos honking in the River. The lodge offers spectacular views of the surrounding environment and at the verandah is where we relaxed and felt the good weather and fresh air.
We also visited Kahuzi Biega National Park while in Congo which is the best or even the only Park in Congo protecting the eastern Low-land gorillas though some people states that they can still be spotted in Virunga National Park. A gorilla permit there costs US$ 400 and we enjoyed what we were seeing in the Park because the gorillas really have amazing characters but we noticed some difference between these gorillas and the mountain gorilla found in Virunga National Park of which one of them is that mountain gorillas are larger than the low-land gorillas and many others. In the Park we also spotted elephants, buffaloes, aquatic civet, Ruwenzori least otter shrew among others. Therefore a visit to Congo and its two Gorilla protecting Parks helped us to differentiate between mountain gorillas and low-land gorillas thus we enjoyed and equipped a great experience in Congo since it is the only country in the whole world where one can go and explore both the low-land and mountain gorillas at once.
Democratic Republic of Congo is really one of the countries one should not miss to visit because in the same country in Okapi Wildlife Reserve we viewed a very huge and wide number of Okapis and it is noted that the reserve keeps almost 5000 Okapis and on what we viewed, the estimated number might be really true. In the same reserve we viewed a wide number of elephants, a huge number of leopards, hippos and we also tracked the chimpanzees in the reserve.
We were also delighted to visit one of the best birding destination in Africa because in the reserve we viewed Africa’s best bird species and also through the cultural encounters and community walks we interacted with the Mbuti pygmies and the indigenous Bantu farmers who reside within the reserve and we were able to see their dances, dressing codes, songs and poems which were all amazing thus making our tour more enjoyful than we had expected.