Kinshasa experience - 5 Days

In foresight of getting back to business and adopting the new normal, the Congolese Ministry of Tourism, with excitement, announced the reopening of tourism activities as well as the resumption of international travel for visitors arriving by scheduled commercial flights as of 15 August 2020. The well-being of all travelers is at the forefront of Kwafrika Travel. Reason why, we have taken serious measure to ensure the safety of our customers. COVID-19 is still present in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We are pleased to receive you in the Congo but there are few things you should know. Authorities will quarantine and treat affected people in government hospitals and isolation facilities. Monitor the media for latest developments and follow the instructions of local authorities. Current government guidelines require everyone to wear a face mask in public. There are medical facilities available around Congo. Hôpital du Cinquantenaire, Hôpital Maman Yemo located in Kinshasa City, Hôpital Général de Référénce de Goma, Hôpital CBCA Virunga available in Goma town. They provide Emergency and Assessment (E&A) services, open 24 hours with a physician on the premises at all times. All national parks have reopened but with a limited capacity. In Virunga National Park, a group of more than 20 people cannot be authorized to trek the gorillas for social distancing reasons. The same thing apply for people hiking the Nyiragongo Volcano, they should be less than 10 people per group. Kwafrika Travel is strictly applying the following guidelines as given by the Congolese authorities: - Our drivers must have undergone a basic prior training on the standard practices in prevention of spread of COVID-19 (Standard Prevention Procedure) - All of our vehicles are now equipped with contactless thermometer (thermal-gun). Drivers have been trained on how to take guest temperature, to read and interpret the result. - All of our vehicles are equipped with PPE basics such as sanitizers, extra face masks, hand-gloves and so on - Vehicles are installed with air-conditioners with particulate filters and purifiers. All windows are capable of opening when required to allow air circulation - Doors of vehicles are operated by one person, the driver. - The driver must thoroughly clean and sanitize his safaris car at the close of the day or as deemed necessary especially before switching customers - Drivers must minimize stop overs during the travel to Congo or Inside Congo. - Drivers should stick guest documents such as itineraries on the car seats or on body of the vehicles to avoid contact with guests

We handle and execute tours plus safaris in Congo and the neighboring countries including Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya. We operate with full permission of the Ministry of Tourism in Congo. Our customer-centricity has allowed us to successfully run a company whose aim is to satisfy our client’s expectations. Our company’s goal is to be a healthy and successful, leading in the provision of high quality safari’s experience to tourists from all around the world and to use guides from local communities to make sure they take the most out of their resources. We are customer-centric and we focus on 3 Ps (People, Process and Product) to effectively manage the organization. We value our tour guides as they are key in helping us deliver a good experience to our customers. Being experienced locals, they know how to work out all the kinks, and can handle any little bumps along the way with ease and professionalism. That translates into the smoothest and safest possible customer experience.

Even if you may have been to mega Africans cities as Nairobi, Dakar, Cairo, Kampala, etc. and have considered yourself a well-traveled person when it comes to visiting Africa, you should wait until you visit Kinshasa ... Let's start with the language. Lingala is spoken language almost everywhere even in offices- if you can't understand or speak Lingala, you have to learn very quickly to adapt, thing which traders from China, Lebanon and India have understood, and most of those I saw could speak fluently Lingala. If you don’t want to learn, you will always need somebody who does or at least speak French which is understood by a bunch of people in Kin (as locals universally call it). When communicating here, people speak very loudly which can often be very intimidating - most will debate or argue but violence is never an option. Due to the poor economic conditions here, most people are simply people are simply after a quick "buck" - start high ($50) and end up settling for $10. The vast majority of people in Kinshasa live at a daily rate. You will be blown away by the manner in which traffic operates here, there are no rules so expect a very different experience! You will know how to drive until you get here… You will definitely need a local contact to know how to get around and deal with the police who will stop most vehicles to obtain a bribe. So in short, Kinshasa is an amazing place, a land of opportunity for an entrepreneur like me because all things in Kinshasa are in limited supply compared to the excessive demand due to millions of people in a city that was create for only 1 million people. I saw everyday people including women fighting to get in a taxi, whether it is selling few stuffs down road or investing in the real estate industry, profits will not made not by a differential cleverness by simply by a differential stupidity, a lot ventures can obviously succeed in Kinshasa. The people were amazing, a place that I will oftenly be visiting but only after perfecting my LINGALA.