Congo Travel Directory
THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
INTRODUCTION
Commonly known as DRC and formerly Zaire is located on the Equator
in the center of the African continent on an area of 2267.05 thousand
square kilometers. It lies 5 degrees North with Longitude of 15
degrees East. It is bordered by Angola and Zambia to the south.
It shares its eastern border with Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, and
Uganda. Its northern border is shared with Sudan, Central African
Republic, and Republic. Kinshasa is the capital city of DRC.
CLIMATE
D.R. Congo has a tropical climate with constantly excessive temperatures
and humidity, predominantly astride the Equator. The rainy season
is from October to May with the month of December being fairly
dry. The dry season starts from June to October. The northern
part of the country has equatorial rainforest with an average
annual rainfall of 1100 mm. Temperatures average between 21°C
and 27°C and they vary with altitude.
POPULATION
The Population Density, 21 people per square kilometre. According
to the statistics of 1997, DRC has a Population of 55,225,478
people. And they have a life expectancy of 54 year where by men
live up to 54years and women live up to 52 year.
ECONOMY
GNP per Capita: 120 US$ in 1995
Children in Labour Force: 30 % of children aged 10-14 work
VISAS & IMMIGRATION
Each visitor coming to Congo must have a Visa apart from those
from France. Visas can be attained from your home countries to
avoid high expenses.
MONEY
The Bureaucrat Currency of D.R.C CFA (Central African Franc) and
it is equivalent to 100 centimes. Extremely few places accept
credit cards.
For Domestic Flights-Congo Airlines have ordinary
services available from Brazzaville to Pointe-Noire, stopping
in Loubomo and Ouesso.
Water: From Brazzaville there are
several steamers by the River and barges running up the Congo
and Ubangi Rivers - this can be an exciting experience and a fun
way to get around if you've time.
Train: The major line runs from
Brazzaville to Point-Noire via Loubomo, and from Loubomo north
to Mbinda. The service runs three times a day.
TRAVEL INSURANCE
If you need medical care whilst in the Congo, you will have to
pay in full cash and after your treatment and file a claim with
your insurance company for compensation. Therefore you should
have access to cash, either from a credit card, hard currency
or by wire transfer. For more assistance contact the country's
local embassy or representative.
Note should be taken that to be compensated, you
must be treated by licensed medical personnel and provide your
insurance company with proper documentation and receipts.
It is advisable to always ensure you have a comprehensive
travel insurance policy which covers you for repatriation to your
home country.
TOURISM IN CONGO
Wilderness; Congo has a wide variety of wild animals which range
from lions, buffaloes, kobs, elephants, giraffes and mountains
gorillas. The main tourist activity is gorilla tracking. In 2006
the population of mountains gorillas is deemed to have increased.
There are six habituated gorillas families which is possible to
visit, previous booking of the “gorilla permit”. The
activity is starting from the Ugandan border in Kisoro.
