DRC/Zaire/Congo River OK now !!

[hed]

Hi All,

I am in Mbandaka now, about 600 kilometres north of Kinshasa, on the Congo River. I am travelling by old Tenere XT600, on my own.

I came in from Rwanda, drove up to Kisangani and then from there took various boats, all the way down here. It was not easy, but it is very possible. Awesome adventure and total trip time about 4 weeks since entering. I spent about a week in Bumba, which is no too far south of the CAR border. I spoke to officials of the MLC rebel group that controls the area, they are quite disciplined and they told me that it is no problem to enter from CAR, and then to travel south to Bumba, via Gbadolite, and from there on further south on the river, by barge. I did the barge bit. I am posting this here as the Sudanese border now seems to be closed, so if you can get thru CAR, this might be a viable option.

Under all circumstances, avoid enetring from Uganda, i.e. avoid the entire Ituri province. Please note that whatever, this trip is expensive, the officials are all hungry for Dollars !!

E-mail me directly if anyone wants more detailed info or advice, I expect to be in Kinshasa in about a weeks time and will respond then.

hed