- Duration: 30 Days (approx.)
- Location: Kindu
- Product code: DRCJungle2
DR Congo Deep Jungle Expedition | Tour B | Lomami National Park Wilderness Zone
Lomami Democratic Republic of the Congo Wilderness Expedition - Zone 2 Jungle
Staging Point - Kindu (KND) and Lomami River (Opala as alternate angle)
Bill of Materials
- Starlink Mini
- Powerbanks
- Solar Fold Out banks
- Iridium Phone
- Garmin InReach
- Shower tent
- Dine tent
- Sleep tents
- Sleep bags
- Medical kit & Malarials
- Security "kit"
- 2 Smartphones per person in otter case
- Hat and net and quickdry towel
- Water purification 3 redundant
- 100% deet repellant
- freeze dried food and calorie dense bars
- drinking water dedicated multi porters
- sanitary wet wipes and alcohol wipes
- coffee cutting edge tech & instant classic powder
- electrolyte and vitamin hyperconcentrate
- Light and lanterns and torches and fire starters
- raingear and packing drybags and waterproof walkie talkies for perimeter and scouts
- redundant backup items and celebratory capstone items for expedition
- camera and videography items if permit and papers allowed and along
- waterproof laminate binder file folder of trip documents permits paper maps & insurance
- canister fast inflate balloon and canister inflate lifejackts and quick boil soup packs tech
Team Manifest
- ANR/Security
- Ground Lead
- Porters 4+ per group size
- Core medic
- Forest naturalist bush tent tech
- zoologist and entemologist
- local fixer 2
- local advance and rear scout (2)
- comms officer and SAR point (assigns a backup #2)
| Touchdown and Insertion Point and Trajectory and Extraction |
Day 4/5/6- Overlanding in Landcruiser and pickups to Karushe early morning, embark the river and move northeast and into the deep of the Lomami past Lutakala into the deep forest after pickup of the additional porter force and meet advance scout, and into the forest. Insertion point 150km northeast of Karushe and 100km west of the Lualaba river.
Day 7-13- Forest. Moving 5-10km a day , base camp every night set from 3 or 4. Primary forest and avoiding waterside in day. Core expedition guests in the nucleus of the moving party. 2 to 3 nights in camp at a time before moving ideally. Recharging solar in canopy or clearing LoS, with starlink or internet as much as possible or every 2 or 3 days.
Day 14-15- Rejoining the Lomami River and extraction by speedboat cotinuing north up to Opala, drive to Kisangani. Fish dinners at Kisangani and party sponsored in the gold minig town center of the Congo.
Day 16-18 Departure on first available flight from Kisangani, following debrief and demobilization and documentation of any new species, malarial treatment reminders and sleep catchup for all guests and crew. (This can be done in reverse, but the south of the park is the wilder part to do)
*Evacuation and Extraction Points*Lomami is very remote and akin to entering the ancient world where real survival tactics apply. Lualaba Upper Congo fishing and farm villages to the east. Northern reach and southern reach of the Lomami River as well. Rivers in the north near Bamini but 100km away that extract to Ubundu. Here the slightest wound or scratch can produce a rush of attacking jungle bacteria and microbiome complications.
| Field Notes and Scout Briefings Roundup |
Animals - elephants, primates, parrots, crocodiles, snakes, butterflies, (Lesula and Dryas monkeys as well.)
Possible new species - primates, mushrooms, floor hugging plants, butterflies, beetles, birds, small mammals, frogs
Possible other sitings - Bonobos are around despite their previous belief to all lie south of the Congo river and having no photos of them since 4G phone penetration is still light. Okapi are very shy but are here sparesely.
Conditions - Primary Forest preferred - Secondary jungle is hard to move through - primary huge hardwoods are easy to move through. Managony ebony teak etc and have matted comfy leave beds. Swamp areas are to be avoided and hard packed earth gives greater mobility and less venomous creatures often.
Lab Loopback - microbiome and fungal, plant samples, water, cameratraps, audio-through-AI, slime molds, tree bisection, bird flight visual patterns.
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NOTES: CONGOLESE WILDLIFE HAS FLED FAR INTO THE FOREST AWAY FROM HUMANS AND POACHERS AND NOISE, AND THE BEST CONCENTRATION OF NEW AND KNOWN WILD SPECIES AND RARE SITINGS IS ONLY POSSIBLE IN THE ABYSSAL WILDERNESS.
“Tele Expedition - What a corker!I'd seen lac Tele on the map and decided it was something worth walking to. It's in the middle of no where, lac Tele national park is famous for having the highest density of gorillas in the Congo basin and the swampy terrain necessary to get to the lake sounded like a true challenge.I later found Congo Travel and Tours were running trips to Lac Tele and got in touch. Chris, the director, immediately got back to me with all transport and logistic details I needed. I was in Brazzaville at the time and he set me up with his lead guide, Omar Badji.Having travelled from the U.K. to Congo-Brazza by motorbike I had some understanding of organisational difficulties in Africa, however I couldn't have done Lac Tele without Chris and Badjie. They know all the major players in the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and, importantly, Boha village. Boha, with its central chieftain, melee of influential families and seeming autonomy was one of the highlights of my trip. However gaining permission to visit the Lac from the chieftain ("The Notable") and appeasing the different families is not a joke. Chris and Badjie ensured that I had everything I needed to ensure things ran smoothly. My WCS guide (Sylvester Ebethas, a native from Boha) also acted as an effective mediator.The trek is every rainforest explorers dream - there is a 50km 'piste' from Boha to the Lac. It takes you through ancient untouched forests and a bugger of a swamp. WIldlife seems to gravitate to the lac, so if you've spent the entire trek staring at the ground to avoid the roots or searching for the lead porter, you're in for a treat when you arrive. Crocs, chimpanzees, gorillas, (and supposedly bonobo's) all live by the lac's banks which you can explore by foot or canoe.So a big thanks to Congo Travel and Tours who were accomodating to my needs and made thhe expedition possible! Cheers"
- Alex P, UK, Motorcycle Trip across the entirety of Africa and Lake Tele Abyssal Zone Wilderness Expedition
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