A Congo River Cruise Extension
Across the Congo · the DRC · Lesio Louna
4 Days / 3 Nights
Two Nights at a Community Bonobo Camp, Before or After Your Cruise
We reply within 24 hours
Bonobos live in one country only: the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the far bank of the river your ship sails. With chimpanzees they are our closest living relatives, sharing 98.7 percent of our DNA. Seeing them means crossing the river, and this extension does it from the cruise.
By 4x4 to Mpouya, then a large pirogue across the Congo to Tshumbiri on the DRC bank, and two hours by road to a camp in the forest of Mbou Mon Tour, a community conservation project supported by WWF. The villages manage the forest and its bonobos, and what visitors pay supports both. Two nights at the camp give you two trackings: the first at 5 am, to be under the nests when the semi-habituated bonobos wake, the second that afternoon or the next morning, depending on where the groups have moved.
The route also passes through Gamboma and the rescued gorillas of Lesio Louna, the visit your cruise already includes, moved by a few days. After an upstream sailing you leave the ship at Oyo and finish in Brazzaville; before a downstream sailing you start in Brazzaville and board at Oyo. Either way it adds three nights to the 8-night cruise.
"A 5 am start in a forest still dark, and a group of bonobos waking in the trees overhead."
Walking starts at 5 am, while the forest is still dark, so you are under the nests when the bonobos wake and set off through the trees. A second tracking follows that afternoon or the next morning, whichever suits the groups, so two nights at the camp give you two chances to spend time with them.
Bonobos live only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, south and east of the great river. With chimpanzees they are our closest living relatives, sharing 98.7 percent of our DNA, and the groups here are semi-habituated: used to a small group of people watching them go about their morning.
The bonobos here are protected by Mbou Mon Tour, a community conservation project supported by WWF that involves the surrounding villages in managing their forest sustainably. Income from visits like yours supports both the conservation work and local development.
From Mpouya on the Republic of Congo bank, a large pirogue carries you across the river to Tshumbiri in the DRC, with the formalities on both banks handled by our team. Then two hours by 4x4 through hill country to the camp, in the west of the DRC and far from any conflict zone.
Two nights at the camp, in a tent or a simple room, with meals cooked there and lunch back at camp between trackings. Comfortable rather than luxurious: the point is to be close enough to reach the bonobos before they wake. The third night is at Residence N'Keni, a hotel in Gamboma.
The route passes the Lesio Louna reserve, where rescued western lowland gorillas live on forested river islands until they can be released, in a programme run with the Aspinall Foundation. You see them by boat with the keepers. It is the visit your cruise already includes, moved by a few days.
Which version you take depends on the direction of your sailing, and we confirm it with your cabin. Both add three nights to the cruise.
4 days, 3 nights, then the cruise's last morning. For sailings that go up the river from Brazzaville to Oyo. Instead of driving back to Brazzaville on the cruise's last full day, you cross into the DRC for the bonobos, then return through Gamboma and Lesio Louna. The cruise's hotel night and Brazzaville morning move to the end.
An early start: you leave Princesse Ngalessa at Oyo and drive three and a half hours by 4x4 to Mpouya on the Congo. After the formalities on the Republic of Congo side, a large pirogue carries you across the river to Tshumbiri on the DRC bank, where the second set of formalities is done, then two more hours by 4x4 to the camp. Dinner and night at the camp, in a tent or a simple room.
Walking starts at 5 am, in the dark, to reach the nests before the semi-habituated bonobos wake, and you stay with them as they move off through the trees. Lunch back at camp, prepared by the camp cook. Depending on where the groups have gone, the second tracking follows this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Dinner and night at the camp.
If the second tracking falls this morning, it comes first. Then by 4x4 back to Tshumbiri, the pirogue across the Congo again, and three hours by road on the Republic of Congo side to Gamboma. Dinner and night at Residence N'Keni.
On the road south, the Lesio Louna reserve, where gorillas rescued from trafficking live on forested islands until they can feed themselves and be released into the park. You go out by boat with the keepers to see them. This is the visit your cruise includes, made a few days later. Brazzaville by late afternoon, and the five-star hotel night that is part of your cruise; dinner is not included.
The last morning of your cruise, moved to the end: the Brazzaville city tour, then the transfer to Maya-Maya for the Air France departure. Guests flying Ethiopian Airlines leave the next morning and need one extra hotel night, which we can add.
4 days, 3 nights, from the cruise's first night. For sailings that come down the river from Oyo to Brazzaville. You start from the Brazzaville hotel night your cruise includes, see the Lesio Louna gorillas on the way north, track the bonobos, and board Princesse Ngalessa at Oyo on the fourth afternoon.
Arrival at Maya-Maya airport in Brazzaville. The night in a five-star hotel is part of your cruise; dinner is not included.
An early start north, three hours by 4x4 to the Lesio Louna reserve, where rescued western lowland gorillas live on forested islands until they can be released. You see them by boat with the keepers; this is the visit from your cruise, made a few days early. Gamboma in the late afternoon. Dinner and night at Residence N'Keni.
Three hours by 4x4 from Gamboma to Mpouya. After the formalities on the Republic of Congo side, a large pirogue carries you across the river to Tshumbiri on the DRC bank; more formalities there, then two hours by 4x4 to the camp. Dinner and night at the camp, in a tent or a simple room.
Walking starts at 5 am, to be under the nests when the semi-habituated bonobos wake, then with them as they move off through the trees. Lunch at camp, prepared by the camp cook, and the second tracking this afternoon, or at dawn tomorrow if the groups are better placed then. Dinner and night at the camp.
An early 4x4 back to Tshumbiri, the pirogue across the Congo, and three and a half hours by road to Oyo, where Princesse Ngalessa is waiting. You board in the afternoon, in time for a sundowner on the observation deck, and the cruise begins.
The river days themselves are on the Congo River Cruise itinerary.
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Extension Price
per person, based on two travelling · 4 days, 3 nights, with the 8-night cruise
Includes the 4x4 transfers and the pirogue crossing of the Congo, two guided bonobo trackings, two nights at the camp with meals, dinner and the night at Residence N'Keni in Gamboma, and the Lesio Louna gorillas, which move from your cruise to fit.
Excludes international flights, the multiple-entry Congo visa, dinner on the Brazzaville night, gratuities and the mandatory evacuation insurance. Other party sizes are quoted on request. Tell us your sailing and we will confirm the version with your cabin.
Add the Bonobos to Your CruiseThe camp is in the west of the DRC, far from the conflict zones in the east of the country, and the crossing between Mpouya and Tshumbiri runs on formalities our team completes with you on both banks. The practical risks are tropical: yellow fever vaccination is mandatory, malaria prophylaxis and DEET repellent are strongly advised, and medical evacuation insurance is a condition of travel, because help is a river crossing and a long road away. Roads, rain and the bonobos themselves can move a day's timings; the guides decide, and the trackings are fitted around the groups.
There is an Ebola outbreak in the DRC, far from the bonobo camp. Because this extension enters the DRC, the CDC's current rule matters if you are flying home to the United States: no one who has been in the DRC within the past 21 days may board a commercial flight there. We keep our own page on where things stand: Ebola and the Congo.
