- Duration: 15 Days (approx.)
- Location: Kindu
- Product code: DRCJungle3
DR Congo Deep Jungle Expedition | Tour C | Lomako Yokokala Nature Reserve Wilderness Zone
Lomami Democratic Republic of the Congo Wilderness Expedition - Zone 3 Jungle
Staging Point - Basankusu on the River
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 ranger local from
- 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 |
From Mbandaka, to reach the Lomako, navigation is done on 4 rivers. From Mbandaka to Basankusu we navigate first on the Congo River and then we take the Lolonga River. Leaving Basankusu we fall directly on the Maringa River and finally we navigate on the Lomako River, which takes us to the final destination. Note that, navigation on these rivers we have a magnificent view on the rainforest.
Means of access to sites
The city is practically inaccessible by road especially as torrential rains are frequent in the area making access hardly practicable. The only way to easily reach Mbandaka remains by air. Located in 570 Kilometers from Kinshasa, Mbandaka can be reached by a scheduled flight in 50 minutes. The city is mainly served by the African airline company 'CAA' that provides is flights 1time per week every Saturday.
From Mbandaka, to reach Ndele and/or Iyema there is a possibility to directly take a motorized canoe with a stopover in Basankusu before reaching Lingunda, with a beautiful scenery of the river and the forest vegetation. From Lingunda to Iyema, we navigate for about two hours before reaching the land in Bosolomua and finally we hike for 11km before reaching Iyema.
Day 1-3 - Basankusu base camp and stocking and arrivals from Mbandaka or from airlift.
Day 4 - Motorised canoe from Basankusu to Lingunda then trek 11km to Lyema. Base camp setup
Day 5 - Try and see Bonobos - most likely we will see the Bonobos but very early morning.
Day 6 - Try and see Bonobos. There are other animals to see later
Day 7 - Deeper into the forest
Day 8 - Deeper still and big radial canopies, insects and birds
Day 9 - Head back to rejoin to Lulonga river and eventually in the Mbandaka direction (towards the main Congo River.)
Day 10 - Unrushed cruise across remote river villages to Basankusu and capstone party locally
*Evacuation and Extraction Points*R307 or R309, Lulonga River, Ligunda Ranger Station Post. Roads encircle the entire reserve and Lisala on the main Congo River is several days' hike due north.
| Field Notes and Scout Briefings Roundup |
Animals - elephants, primates, parrots, crocodiles, snakes, butterflies
Possible new species - plants and fungi, insects
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, bonobo videos, audio-through-AI
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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.
“Hi Seen,We very much enjoyed our tours with your team. They did an excellent job taking care of us at every venue and in every way, not to mention how well they responded to our requests for changes in the itinerary as we went along. The entire week was a fascinating experience, especially between destinations, when we were able to get out into the streets, markets and communities and see “real life”. Our guide Erneste did a superb job during every one of those “detours” and made us feel quite comfortable no matter where we were.The major highlights of the week for us were exploring the amazing little ecosystem that has evolved under the spray and mist on the cliffs facing the Zongo Falls, visiting the arboretum and botanical gardens at Kisantu (we skipped the caves at Mbanza Ngungu that day and spent all our time there instead!), and walking through some of the small villages to meet the people and learn how mbika and cassava are made.You were actually recommended to me by an acquaintance at the US Embassy in Kinshasa, and I would happily recommend your tours to my friends, as well. I felt that there was an amazing level of personal service throughout the entire process, from your quick response to my questions during the booking process right through “goodbyes” with our team on the last day. We could not have asked for a better experience."
- CB & Erica Stevens, USA, DRC Custom Tour Multi-day
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