Motorbike trip to Congo and South Sudan
Trip to Congo and South Sudan in May 2021. A prospective motorbike expedition in which a small number of travellers will participate. We will leave Kinshasa heading to Juba, probably through Uganda.
We will explore one of the most unknown, impressive and difficult to access regions of Africa, which is home to great cultural and natural treasures.
Some of the national parks that are part of the objectives of this trip, like Salonga, have rarely been visited by tourists because of their complicated access and lack of infrastructure and others like Garamba or the Okapis Wildlife Reserve in the Ituri jungle are located near unstable areas, which always complicates any trip.
On this trip to Congo and South Sudan there will be a departure date, but not an exact arrival date, just an approximate day.
The Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan are two countries we have never travelled through before. The idea in this prospective expedition is that you join us to discover something of the most interesting that these two countries have to offer. It will not be an easy trip, more like a complete challenge.
Objectives and possible visits: trip to Congo
- Kinshasa, we are crazy to discover the capital of DRC
- Sighting of wild bonobos in Nkala forest
- Sighting of wild bonobos in Salonga National Park
- Probably navigation on part of the Congo River or some of its tributaries
- Approaching the different pygmy peoples of the DRC
- Learn about the different cultures and ethnic groups of the regions we travel in Congo
- Upulu Okapis Wildlife Reserve
- Wagenia Falls
- Ituri forest and pygmy communities
- Garamba National Park
Click here to learn more about these destinations in Congo
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Bonobos -
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Mbuti Pygmy boys in traditional blue body paint and straw skirts, on way to forest to undergo initiation ceremony, which is a right of passage into manhood. Ituri Rainforest, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Objectives: trip to South Sudan
- Explore and visit the different ethnic groups of South Sudan
- Imatong Mountains
- Boma National Park
- Mundari and Dinka Camps along the Nile
Click here to learn more about these destinations in South Sudan
Do you have to be an experienced biker to join this trip to Congo and South Sudan?
For this expedition, we will use the same transport that the Africans themselves use to move around in the most remote areas of the continent: Chinese 125 cc motorbikes. These motorcycles are usually pretty reliable, easy to ride ( but with gears), not very heavy and almost everybody knows how to repair them in Africa.
Each traveler will be given a brand new motorcycle (with documentation, registration, valid insurance and some essential spare parts) in Kinshasa and will be responsible for his motorcycle, taking charge of all expenses during the trip.
You don't have to be an expert biker, in fact we are not bikers or specialists in motorbike trips in Africa but we have made several trips on motorbikes in countries like Uganda, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Togo or Sierra Leone. You just need to know how to ride a motorcycle and be willing to live an adventure trip that very few have done. Our motorbike is simply our way of transport.
This trip to Congo and South Sudan will not be a competition. This trip is also not for someone looking for motorbike sensations, but for someone who wants to reach remote parts of Africa. We will travel very slowly, always safely and in solidarity with our colleagues. If someone has a problem, the rest of the group will assist them, easy. At the checkpoints, crossings and villages we will wait for each other.
So why go on a motorbike trip to the Congo and South Sudan?
To realize an expedition so ambitious to a region so remote and without infrastructure and at the same time attractive, the only way of transport in which it can be done in a reasonable time and cost is the motorcycle.
The plan is to cover 100 to 250 kilometres a day, depending on the state of the tracks. These tracks will sometimes be very narrow, with a lot of sand or stones and always with a lot of holes. On a normal day of driving, we will get up early, have breakfast and get going. We will drive until lunchtime, making stops to extend our legs and/or have a coffee. After eating en route, we will continue until 17:00, where we will look for a place to sleep or camp.
What to expect from an expedition in Africa like this?
Due to the length of the trip, the uncertainty of the route to be taken, the great distance to be covered, the lack of infrastructure and comfort, the enormous amount of corrupt government controls that we will encounter during the trip, the limited information on the route and many other challenges, we think that this will be a difficult and very hard trip, for which we must be prepared physically and mentally.
Are you ready to change your plans and improvise? On this trip there will be no daily planning, no set route that has to be followed. Travel restrictions in some regions of the DRC, Ebola outbreaks, worsening of conflicts in some areas or any other eventuality may substantially modify the trip.
