DR of congo

Overview

DAY 1: ARRIVAL IN KINSHASA
Arrival and pick up at Kinshasa (N’djili) International Airport. Transfer to Ixoras Hotel or similar
Meals included: no

DAY 2: KINSHASA-KENGE: YAKA TRIBE
Distance: 300 Kms, 6 hrs
Depart time 09.00 after Breakfast.
We drive from Kinshasa to Kenge, nearly 300 Kms for about 6 hours. We drop-off our luggage and hotel and walk for an hour to the sacred village, 5kms out of Kenge, where the Yaka settled after breaking away from the Luba empire 200 years ago. We meet the King to get briefed about the next day’s activities.
Accommodation included: Wata Fils Hotel or similar
Meals included: breakfast

DAY 3: YAKA KINGDOM TRADITIONAL CEREMONY
This morning after an early breakfast, we leave at 7.00 am and depart for The Yaka village. For better photography experience, it is advised to leave early in the morning time, 06.30 am. The Royal Family will welcome us with a big traditional masked dance, blood sacrifice ritual, and learn about the local monarchies in today’s republic. We will taste some local specialties.
10.00am end of ceremony and Drive to Kikwit (257 Kms, 6 hrs).
Overnight in Grand Hotel de Kikwit or Similar.
Meals included: breakfast

DAY 4-5: DEPART FOR GUNGU AND PENDE TRADITIONAL CEREMONY
Distance: 150 Kms, 4hrs 30 minutes
Today we depart early in the morning, at 06.00 am and arrive around latest 10.30am.
We are meeting with the traditional Chief Kibala to get set up on activities that will be organized from today night to tomorrow.
Planned activities include:
• Mukanda (rite of passage for young boys)
• Mungonge (rite of passage from adult to elders – man with pierced cheeks)
• Tshiwila of Night (Rite of passage for young girls)
• TShiwila of day (women dance)
• Stilts men
• Mbambamba
• Minganji
• Mbuya
Accommodation included: camping in the Chief’s yard.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Possible tribes to glance between Gungu – Tshikapa :
• Leele People: The 20,000 to 30,000 Lele people occupy the western region of the Kuba kingdom. The men work in the forest, where they hunt in groups, locate medicinal plants, cut wood, sculpt, and communicate with the spirits. The women oversee the food crops and of fishing in the marshes; feeding the village is their responsibility. The sculptor hunts, extracts palm wine, and participates in daily assemblies. Heading the Lele is the nymi, a king with limited powers. The village is organized according to age groups, with the oldest man as chief. The elderly have a monopoly over the traditional cults, created to ensure the fertility and prosperity of the village. Presently, the elders are still the depositories of healers, who used to be organized into the banging society and subject to initiation. The art of the Lele is not well known. It is like Kuba style except for its masks, which generally have a flattened shape. The most important forms of Lele art are carved drums, divination instruments, boxes, pipes, and palm wine cups. Also, Lele carvers produce statuettes and face masks. The masks often have slit eyes. The functions ofthe masks are little known. Lele masks appeared in dances accompanying the burial rites of chiefs and in annual foundation/creation ceremonies. Although the art of the Lele borrows many elements from the Kuba and Dengese in particular, the hairdo and long braids of the statuettes distinguish them from any others. The Lele also uses different prestige objects. The figures on these objects occasionally have a coiffure with two long plaits down the back.
• Wongo people: The Wongo people live in the Kasai district of Democratic Republic of Congo. The Wongo people migrated from northern African and are now living scattered about in villages. They are said to share some of the same cultural features of the Kuba, yet are not formal members of this tribe. According to legend, the ancestors of the Wongo – the Woto, had three sons – Lele, Kuba, and Wongo, which make up their neighboring tribes. These tribes traveled from Tumba Lake into the current province they live in. Wongo have a strong artistic tradition.

DAY 6: PORTRAIT SESSION BEFORE DRIVING TO TSHIKAPA
Today morning, the traditional artists will dress in their ancestral attire for portraits photographers. Travelers have this up to 12.00pm, ready for Tshikapa driving.

Distance Gungu – Tshikapa : 251 Kms, 6hrs.
Arrive and check-in at Tchamuntu Hotel.
Accommodation included: Tchamuntu Hotel, very basic conditions.
Meals included: breakfast

DAY 7: TRAVEL TO MWEKA
Today morning, we present our civilities to local authorities, and sometime this may take us up to mid-day. Distance 280Kms, 12 hours
If departure is 10.00am, expected arrival 10pm. It’s nearly 300 kms but of a very dilapidated road. Mweka is a full challenging day drive on our way to the capital of Kuba Kingdom.
It’s planned to camp, on the single basis or sleeping in a catholic mission.
Accommodation included: catholic missions, very basic conditions, or camp, on the single basis. Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

DAY 8-9: DRIVE TO THE KUBA KINGDOM CAPITAL, MUSHENGE.
Distance 70 kms, 4 hours
Today, after administrative civility, we’ll be on the road for nearly 4 hours for such a short distance.
During 2 days in Kuba Kingdom, reigned by Prince Kwete, we will get into acquaintance with beliefs of these people. Their religion is linked to the nature spirits and spirit of passed-away rulers. We will witness their rituals, explore their buildings and special places elaborately decorated, will see initiation rites masks and carved wooden figurines, initiation masks, cups, and beautifully embroidered handwoven raffia cloth (we experience how thew sew them), and attend a ritual and/or initiation demonstration using their famous mask and clothes.
In Kuba Kingdom we will be accommodated in tents, on a single basis.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

DAY 10-11. TRAVEL TO KANANGA
Distance Mushenge – Kananga : 300 kms, 2 days (18-20 hours’ drive)
During these 2 days we are on the way from Kuba Kingdom to Kananga by sleeping midway in Benaleka at Saint Joseph Catholic Mission.
On our way, it’s possible to have experience with Bena Nsapo people who inhabit the region. The Bena Nsapo, transformed by the Belgians into Nsapo-Nsapo, are one of the major components of the Songye ethnic group, who lived for a long time in Luluabourg (Today Kananga). Coming from the Ben’Eki, that is to say followers of the “Bukishi”, they are the guarantors of Songye spiritual power and remain fundamentally spiritual. The initiation to “Bukishi” is done in a collective way, and the one who is not initiated is called “kapungulu”. Wherever they found themselves, they continued to practice cultural and magical rituals specific to the Basongye or BAYEMBI (name from the Luba empire), which are among the most feared and mysterious in the DRCongo.
In Kananga we will probably stay overnight at MED1 HOTEL or similar.
Meals included: breakfast

DAY 12. FLY TO KINSHASA
Today we are taking a domestic flight from Kananga to Kinshasa. Arrive around 11.00 am and transfer to Ixoras Hotel or similar.
In the afternoon, meet with Congolese sapeurs and set up photo session with them. SAPE (Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Elegantes) means “society of advanced and elegant people” and “sapeurs” do their best in order to prove that it’s true. These representatives of unique subculture appear in the slams of Kinshasa and in fact they are not rich. We end up buying some souvenir masks in one of the biggest Congo markets of ancestral and traditional masks and art.
Accommodation included: Ixoras Hotel or similar
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

DAY 13: KINSHASA FETISH CULT AND VOODOO WRESTLERS
The fetish wrestlers get their power from Witch doctors that live secretly in popular quarter of Kinshasa in their houses called temples. Between 6.00 and 12.00 pm (before traffic jams start), we’re visiting one of thwo witch doctors’ temples:
• Lisaponge Temple (located in
Delvaux,Ngaliema),
• Malema Temple (in Matete).
We’ll meet some wrestlers at temples before the fights. Attending the fight offers the opportunity of a wide range of photographs. From the temple to the fight field there are a lot of photo opportunities. With the jam in Kinshasa, this may take time to drive from one place to another.
• 1.00pm be back in the city of Kinshasa
• 02.00pm depart for the fetish wrestler’s caravan after seeing how they prepare for fight.
• 4.00 pm Attend the Fetish Wrestlers fights.
You may have heard of “voodoo wrestling” or catch fetish as it’s known in Congo. This interesting mixture of traditional voodoo and pro wrestling that’s popular in The Congo has received some media coverage in the last few years. The activity starts late in the evening, but we need to be with them before that to photograph their colorful parades. So, we’ll go and witness how some prepare for the event and follow the caravan.
Overnight at Ixoras Hotel or similar.
Meals included: breakfast

DAY 14: KINSHASA — MBANZA NZAMBI: TATA GONGA SECT
Distance: 120 Kms, 5 hours (yes, you read that right)
Early in the morning (04.00am before the Kinshasa terrific Jam) we will travel to Kisantu, nearly 5 hours out of Kinshasa, to visit the sect of the prophet Tata Gonda. New cults and sects, mixture of African religion and Christianity: Tata Gonda In the depths of the Central Congo province, the followers of the now dead prophet Tata Gonda live in total autarchy. Today, several hundred voluntary followers from Congo and Angola continue to follow the spiritual path of their “guru”. Their purpose is to combat an unjust and sinful world through continuous prayer and an austere, monastic life.
We will visit their headquarters, far away from prying eyes, if we are allowed to do so. In total privacy, this community lives self-sufficiently according to their beliefs. They do community work, have vegetable gardens, a river with drinking water, a fish farm, prayer facilities, dormitories, and everything else these “tropical Franciscans” could need.
Around 12.00 pm drive back to Kinshasa
Overnight at Ixoras Hotel or similar.
Meals included: breakfast

DAY 15: Departure date

What is included? 

What is not included?