Work First, Exploring Second
The DRC was never a holiday destination for me. It was work. A lot of work. These photos come from the 2013 to 2015 stretch, when I kept trying to squeeze in small bits of exploration whenever the schedule allowed it, usually on weekends. It was also before phone cameras got properly good, and in Congo, carrying a camera around was a decent way to attract police attention. In 2014 and 2015 I practically lived in Kinshasa, to the extent that I had a visa d’établissement, which sounds more committed than I ever quite was.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of those countries whose official name does a fair bit of heavy lifting. But whatever one makes of the politics, the country itself was far more pleasant than its reputation would have you expect.
Kinshasa Easily Beats Its Reputation
Kinshasa surprised me in a good way. It had energy, personality, warmth, and a social life that did not exactly believe in going to bed early. People were friendly, lively, and very committed to enjoying themselves properly. The city had a real rhythm to it. Gombe, where many offices, embassies, and better restaurants are, felt unusually calm and orderly by big-city standards. In my experience it also felt fairly safe. The rest of Kinshasa was more vibrant, rougher around the edges, and much more chaotic, which was part of the point. Gombe was where the city looked more composed. The rest was where it got louder, rougher, and more interesting.
There was a very francophone Belgian feel to most of the restaurant scene, especially in Gombe. Frog legs kept appearing on menus with almost suspicious regularity. I am not complaining. Even now, just writing that sentence, I can feel my standards for lunch rising.
Then there was the price level. Kinshasa was expensive. Really expensive. Most goods were imported, and it showed. Decent restaurants could charge like they had lake views in Geneva, and taxis often priced themselves as if they were providing diplomatic airlift rather than a short drive across town. Life was good there, but certainly not cheap!
The River, Brazzaville, and the Bigger Congo Story
The Congo River is not background scenery. It defines Kinshasa. It gives the city scale, drama, movement, and that sense that everything is tied to something much bigger. Across the water sits Brazzaville, another national capital in full view. Kinshasa looks at Brazzaville, Brazzaville looks back, and both cities live with the other as part of the horizon. I still need to get over there properly.
The potential of the Congo River is underutilized in Kinshasa, to put it mildly. Notable exceptions apply, though. One of them is Majestic River, a famous boat restaurant. You don’t go there for a life-altering meal. You go because you are on the Congo River, with Kinshasa around you, and for a while that is more than enough. The setting is the attraction, and a good one for that.
Further downstream, Mbudi Nature had a completely different feel. Big rocks, smoothed by the force of the river over a ridiculous amount of time, give the place an old, powerful, almost geological calm. Nothing flashy. It just sits there with immense confidence.
And then further downstream still comes Inga, and with it one of Africa’s great long-running infrastructure dreams. The Inga dams are already there, while the much bigger Grand Inga idea has hovered over the continent’s imagination for years as the mother of all hydropower projects, with estimated potential in the low-40-gigawatt range if it were ever fully realized. In proper African mega-project fashion, it remains fascinating and never quite fully underway. Still, the scale of the ambition alone is enough to make it part of the Congo story.
Bonobos, Goma, and Eastern Glimpses
Another memorable stop was the bonobo sanctuary. Bonobos are not monkeys at all, but great apes, and among our closest living relatives. Watching them use sticks and other tools is fascinating in a slightly unsettling way, because it narrows the comfortable gap people like to imagine between humans and everybody else. They have that deeply observant look that makes you feel they are not only watching you, but assessing you as well. Fair enough.
I also made it to Goma once, again because of work rather than some grand adventure plan. Goma is a beautiful and surprisingly serene town on Lake Kivu, with a much calmer feel than Kinshasa. And the way they prepare Capitaine (nile perch) there stands out. As in, really stands out.
Going back one day is high on my bucket list. The DRC may be the underdog to Rwanda and Uganda when it comes to gorilla trekking, but it still holds the ace they don’t: Nyiragongo, with the world’s largest active lava lake. For now, that remains firmly on the future list.
It is safe to say that I’ve barely scratched the surface of Eastern Congo, and that issue needs to be addressed. Since M23 seized Goma in January 2025, however, this is obviously not the moment for cheerful travel planning in that direction. It was high on travel advisories even when I went, and I am still here to write this, which counts as a decent result.
What stayed with me most from those years was the contrast. Congo could be politically absurd, logistically frustrating, and ruinously expensive, sometimes all before lunch. But it was also warmer, friendlier, calmer in parts, and more enjoyable than many outsiders would ever expect. I didn’t go there as a tourist. Work was always the main reason. But spend enough time somewhere, even on a work schedule, and the place starts showing itself in the gaps. A weekend side trip here. Some bonobos there. Another city across the water still waiting for me to visit. That was enough for Congo to leave a mark.