Lomami National Park is a national park in Congo on the west of Kindu. Its name is derived from the Lomami River which flows on the east side of the park. Lomami has been declared a national park only in 2016 and is now one of the nine national parks of Congo-Kinshasa.
Lomami National Park is a little under 9.000 sq km and consists of mainly rainforest with some patches of savanna in the south and some hills in the west. The park is home to several endemic species such as the bonobo, Congo peacock, okapi and a newly discovered primate: lesula and the dryad monkey (inoko). There are also large groups of forest elephants in the north. The park is still largely unexplored and expeditions are mostly on the Lomami River and on foot. The outskirts of the park are unfortunately poached, but there are still areas deep in the park without too much poaching, but the threat is real.
The Cercopithecus Lomamiensis (Lesula) is a newly discovered monkey species endemic to the area. On the east of the Lomami we can find bonobos. In the north we find forest elephants and okapis. In the south of Lomami we find the mountain monkey. There are also large groups of African grey parrots and Congo peacock.
The following primates are present in the park: Bonobos, Black-handed red colobus, Lomami’s red colobus, Sclater’s Angolan colobus, Northern Mangabey, Katanga ascanian monkey, Whiteside’s Ascanius Cercopithecus, Cercopithecus de Brazza, Lomami’s blue monkey, Wolf’s monkey, Lomami’s Wolf’s Cercopithecus, Lesula, Avens monkey.
Expedition to Lomami National Park:
Going to the Lomami Park is a true adventure as there are no decent roads from Kindu to go there and there is also no accommodation or any infrastructure in the park. There are also no agencies organizing any tours to the park at all. As we have excellent relations with the ministry of tourism and the ICCN as well as the local authorities, we can set up your expedition to Lomami. For our trip to Lomami National Park we’ll have to take the plane from Kinshasa to Kindu, note that planes can sometimes be delayed up to two – three days, so we’ll have to calculate over two weeks for this trip. There is only one plane a week between Kinshasa and Kindu. After spending the night in Kindu we’ll have to do some formalities with the ICCN and pick up some provisions on the next day. We’ll then go to the park in combination of 4×4 and motorbike. It’s important to pack light. We’ll enter the park from the south through the Lomami River. We’ll go with a team of porters, locals and armed rangers who will go with us to camp in the park for several days. There are barely any trails in the park, so we’ll mostly set up camp near the river banks and do small hikes into the park from there.
Note that a trip like this takes weeks to months of preparing, getting permits and negotiations with the locals. We ask you to book your travel well in time and to pay at least 50 percent deposit over two months before the trip and the rest maximum two months before departure, as we’ll have to prepay everything.
Price:
– It takes at least 30.000 to 40.000 usd to set up this travel to Lomami National Park, ranging from 1 to preferably 4 people. So, please, serious inquiries only.
