One Road One World

Tag: DRC(Congo Kinshasa)

  • Western & Eastern Gorilla : Where do silverback (mountain) gorillas live

    Western & Eastern Gorilla : Where do silverback (mountain) gorillas live

    We travel around Africa by motorcycle 1.5 years and search for where do silverback (mountain) gorillas live; how many type western and eastern gorillas we can see.

    We had a lot of dreams to see in Africa and most of them we did. One of the best things to do/see in Africa was visiting gorillas. It was one of our dreams but because of the price we didn’t know if it was possible but we went to gorillas trekking more cheaper than what we were thinking.

    Before we start write about how much gorillas permit? How you can find cheap tour for gorilla trek? We would like to give some info about gorillas then prices. You are welcome to ask questions and comment.

    How many type of gorillas: Western & Eastern gorilla

    Two kind of gorilla possible to see. They are called western gorilla (lowland and cross river gorillas) and eastern gorilla (lowland and mountain gorillas). Most famous one is mountain gorillas from Eastern and they are known as silverback gorillas. Also, they are the biggest one.

    Western and Eastern lowland gorillas population are still so much. Unfortunately, I cant write same thing fro Cross river and Mountain gorillas. 🙁  Cross river gorilla population is 300 and mountain gorilla population is around 900. When we asked our guide in gorilla trek we learned about it.

    Silverback gorillas
    Silver back gorilla

    We visited mountain gorillas and know more about them. Male is silverback and around 200 kg.  When they stand on two feed they can reach around 1,7 meters. Female is half of male. 🙂

    A short video from our adventure :  Silverback Gorillas, Virunga Park, DRC

    Where do mountain (silverback) gorillas live?

    They are in Africa and when you look at the map you can see a lot of countries to visit gorillas. But only few countries have  a easy option to see them. Our info comes from our search before we entered Africa because we want to be sure where we can see gorillas western and eastern Africa. But we couldn’t see them on west side because when we were riding motorcycles around gorillas area it was rain season and some security problems.

    Western gorillas on the west of africa.

    Possible to see them between Nigeria and Cameroon in/around Kashimbila game reserve. Also, Nki national park in Cameroon. Noubele-Ndoki national park in Central of Africa, Loanga national park , Franceville and Bateke national park in Gabon (I think that it is easy to see gorillas in Gabon because you can get a train from Libreville to Franceville and stop at the National Park) and D’odzala-Kokoua national park in Republic Congo. Also, it is possible to see gorillas in Equatorial Guinea.

    Eastern gorillas in the east of Africa.

    I suppose everybody knows where you can see gorillas on Eastern; Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Congo (DRC)

    Mountain gorillas : Silverback Gorillas

    Where do mountain (silverback) gorillas live
    Virunga park gorillas population and families info

    We visited silverback gorillas in Virunga national park Congo. The trek started around 9 am and we were next to gorillas at 11 am. They only allow 4 people at the same to visit one family which is good because we felt like nobody around only we were watching the family.  When we arrive Burkima they already knew that which families were where and how far.  We wanted to visit Rugendo family and had amazing one hour with them.  It was wonderful to see the silverback male and a two weeks old baby.

    Western & Eastern Gorilla : Where do silverback (mountain) gorillas live

    After watched some movies I was thinking that they are so dangerous. So, don’t get close to them! But when I was looking them I just wanted to play and hug because they were so calm and relax. The Rugendo family has an eleven months old baby who was just learning how he can walk and he was rolling around, coming close and close to play. We were running away from it because they can easily get sick from human bacterias.  I suppose our video better explanation than write. If you like you can watch our gorillas adventure…

    If you have time and safe a little money to visit them on your Africa journey I think that you would have amazing experience.  visit silverback gorillas.

    How many type of gorillas: Western & Eastern gorilla

    !!!!IMPORTANT NOTE!!! If you get cold or feeling sick please don’t go to see gorillas. Human virus can kill them. If you need to cancel your reservation Virunga park gives all money back accept the visa because it is from the government to apply and can’t take back.

    !!!!IMPORTANT NOTE!!!  Your security is most important thing for Virunga park. Before book your journey to there you should get contact with them and learn the security detail.  Even if after book if anything can happen they can cancel the tour and pay back money.

    GS

  • How much does it cost : Silverback gorilla & Nyiragongo trekking

    How much does it cost : Silverback gorilla & Nyiragongo trekking

    We were in Africa trip by motorcycle and we didn’t want to miss silverback gorillas but when we saw the price how much does it cost to see silverback gorillas, we surprised. Visit Gorillas is so expensive, especially in Rwanda and Uganda because, they just changed the permit costs to see the Gorillas for 2018.

    Do you know there is another option to see the gorillas? In Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), next to the Rwanda border. We did silveback gorilla trekking there. Also we hiked the Nyiragongo volcano which is world’s one of most dangerous active volcano also largest lava lake.

    But let’s start with gorilla trekking costs in Virunga Park, Congo. 🙂

    How much does it cost : Silverback gorilla permit and trekking

    The biggest problem is “see gorillas permit”. The permit is 1500 USD in Rwanda, 600 USD in Uganda and 400 USD in DRC. The permit is allows you to spend one hour with gorillas in the park.

    When we searched about gorillas trekking in Rwanda and Uganda we found more tour companies and of course the price was more high.

    Some countries gorilla permit fee can change in the rain season because it is low season. Virunga park changes the gorilla permits from 400 USD to 200 USD. You can check low season dates on virunga park website (https://visitvirunga.org/). It was starting 13 of march on 2018.

    You need visa a as well to enter Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); It is 100 USD. If you book directly from Virunga park website they apply visa for you. Their website writes that it takes 2 weeks to approve the visa. We didn’t have so much. We wrote them Friday afternoon and we entered DRC on Tuesday morning. ☺ You must remember; if you travel with East African visa you can not enter again with the same visa to Rwanda. You should check more info on EATV visa detail.

    A short video from our gorilla experience :

    They don’t allow enter the park with your own vehicle so you need transport to go and see gorillas.  Therefore we parked our motorcycle in Rwanda and paid daily 5 USD for two motorcycles in Discover Rwanda campsite.  If you want to have transport inside the Virunga park it is a little expensive but you can go by taxi. Taxi cost changes where you want to go. For example, you can go to Nyiragongo volcano hiking from Goma and turn back Goma. After that go to Burkima to see gorillas and turn back Goma border again cost around 180 USD. It is taxi price, not per person. If you are four persons in the taxi 45 USD per person. You can find companies on internet also you can check http://www.ubuntuvoyages.com/contact it. If you are good negotiator you can book everything from there maybe more cheap then park website 🙂 

    Rwanda-DRC border opens early but Virunga park office (in the border) opens 8 am in the morning. Therefore, they write on their page that ”You can not visit gorillas same day of border crossing because the gorilla trek starts at 8:30 am and Goma border to Burkima around 1,5 – 2 hours. The office gives your permit paper on the border when you arrive Burkima or Nyiragongo, you show these papers. If you want to do it the same day you should write Virunga park. I am sure they will do their best for you.

    So, if you can’t go to the gorilla trek same day of border crossing you can find some hotels on the border. For example, Rusina hotel in Goma was 40 USD for a double room with private shower. (You can find cheaper options if you search, but depends on the quality and safety you are looking for.)

    So, see gorillas cost can be around 365 USD (+ 30 USD Rwanda visa) if you are more than one person to go Virunga Park, DRC.

    How much does it cost : Nyiragongo Volcano trekking

    When we were going to see the gorillas we decided to hike the Nyiragongo volcano as well. And we booked everything from Virunga park website.

    Unfortunately, climb Nyirangongo volcano price doesn’t change because they don’t have low season for it. The price is 300 USD. You climb to the top and stay on the top in a hut (summit shelter) a night and next day you turn back.

    If you want you can hire a porter there to carry your backpack also you can order a food package on the Virunga park website. We didn’t have porter or didn’t book food. We carried our stuff. Because the porter is 24 USD to round and meal is 75 USD (snacks on the hike, dinner and breakfast) per person.

    We carried total 10 liters water, chapatis ( traditional bread name in East Africa like a wrap), tuna cans, some fruits, cookies and boiled eggs for breakfast. Also, a bottle of wine because it was our anniversary and we wanted to celebrate there. 😉

    You can watch short video from our hike of Nyiragongo :

    So, If you want to visit gorillas and Nyiragongo lava lake together in the low season the cost can be;

    300 USD Nyiragongo volcano hike

    200 USD Gorillas permit and trek

    100 USD DRC visa

    Transporter and hotel price which way you want to do. If you travel like what we did it can be 65 USD.

    We entered Rwanda from Tanzania and paid 30 USD visa for Rwanda. When we were turning back DRC we used our EATV because we were going to Uganda and Kenya.

    Total price: 695 USD

    !!!!IMPORTANT NOTE!!!  Your security is most important thing for Virunga park. Before book your journey to there you should get contact with them and learn the security detail.  Even if after book if anything can happen they can cancel the tour and pay back money.

    GS

  • Visa applications in West Africa

    Visa applications in West Africa

    Visa applications in West Africa countries to road trip;

    Most important thing in West Africa that You need to know which countries visa where you can easily apply and get it? I will try to write up all our visa application around Africa. I will split them up in 3 parts, West Africa, South Africa and East Africa.

    I will write our experiences, this is on a Dutch and a Turkish passport. I will write down as well if I have the information about other countries passports.

    Our countries we visit in West Africa will be Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea (Conakry), Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic Congo, Democratic Republic Congo and Angola.

    Morocco 

    Visa on arrival and it’s free for both of us. Also free for other European passports, also for Australian passport it’s free.

    Western Sahara

    The visa for Morocco is valid here as the Western Sahara is under control by Morocco you won’t even pass a real border.

    Mauritania

    Visa on arrival, the price is 55 euro. Make sure you have euro’s, they will give you a really bad rate if you pay in dollars or dirham. We only had dollars and ended up paying 70 dollar each. If you don’t have euro’s make sure you exchange them somewhere in the Western Sahara

    Senegal

    Visa on arrival, the visa is free for most of the passports. It is free for the Dutch, Turkish, English and Australia.

    The Gambia

    Visa on arrival, the visa is free for a lot of passports. It is free for Dutch, Turkish and English.

    Guinea Bissau

    Visa apply in Ziguinchor at the Guinea Bissau embassy, it takes about 5 minutes to get it. He’s just writing it in front of you. The price is 20.000 cfa (30 euro) for a Dutch, Turkish and English passport.

    Guinea (Conakry)

    We got our visa in Dakar, apply at the Guinea embassy. Costs 50.000 cfa (76 euro) for a single entrée valid for 30 days. If you want 2 entrees the price is 80.000 cfa (122 euro) the visa is valid for 60 days. It takes 1 working day. You need to bring in copy of your passport, 2 passport photo’s. All goes very easy. Better to do! Get it in Bissau, the costs there are 30.000 cfa (46 euro) you also need copy of your passport and 2 passport photo’s. This is all for a Dutch, Turkish and English passport. I don’t know about the multiple entrée in Bissau.

    Mali

    We got our Mali visa in Nouackott (Mauritania). This goes a little bit strange but easy to apply, you need to give your border crossing for us this was Kouremale as we will enter from Guinea. A single entrée visa valid for 1 month costs 6.500 um (17 euro), your entrée date needs to start within 1 month from the date you apply, otherwise you get a double entrée and visa that’s 2 months valid. The price will then be 10.000 um (26 euro). You need 2 passport photo’s and a copy of your passport. If you apply in the morning you can pick it up in the afternoon.

    Burkina Faso

    We got ours in Bamako (Mali). Easy to apply, costs 24.000 cfa (36 euro) for a single entrée visa that is valid for 90 days. You need 2 passport photo’s, copy passport and a copy of your vehicle papers. Apply in the morning pick up in the afternoon. This is for all passports
    Better to do! (see VTE Visa).

    Togo

    Visa on arrival, costs 10.000 cfa (15 euro). Valid for 7 days, easy to extend it in Lome for 2.000 cfa (3 euro). This is for all passports

    Better to do! (see VTE Visa).

    Benin

    We got our visa in Bamako (Mali). The lady there is not very friendly, you need 2 passport photo’s, copy from the first page of your passport, copy of your passpot, copy from vehicle papers and a copy of a reservation from a hotel in Benin. Costs of the visa is 12.200 cfa (18.5 euro), it takes 2 working days to get it. This is for all passports

    Better to do! (see VTE Visa).

    Nigeria

    We got ours in Bamako (Mali). Easy to apply, costs are various. Dutch, Australian and German passport 60.000 cfa (92 euro), Turkish passport 65.000 cfa (99 euro) and English passport 90.000 cfa (137 euro). You need 2 passport photo’s, copy of your passport and a copy from your vehicle papers. First you pay 20.000 cfa (included the price I write above) to their bank account at the bank next door. This is one of the only places to get the visa for Nigeria.

    Cameroon

    We got ours in Calabar (Nigeria). Easy to apply takes about 45 minutes to get it. The price is 51.000 cfa (78 euro).

    Gabon

    We got ours in Lome (Togo). They wanted a lot of paperwork, luckily we knew everything we needed to take with us. The costs are 50.000 cfa (76 euro) for all passports. You need 2 passport photo’s, copy of your passport, copy yellow fever, copy carnet de passage, hotel reservation, copy of a credit card, copy of motorcycle papers If you have them all ready it only takes 10 minutes. Pick-up is the next day after 3 pm.

    Congo (Brazzaville)

    We got ours in Lome (Togo). First of all this was just in a flat building, it looked nothing like a embassy, but other overlanders got it here as well and entered Congo, so it must be ok. The price is the highest one we paid so far 90.000 cfa (137 euro) each. You need copies of 3 other West African visas and 2 passport photo’s. Visa is done in 20 minutes.

    Congo (Kinshasa, DRC)

    We got ours in Cotonou (Benin). Nice embassy, nice and helpful people here. The price is 50.000 cfa (76 euro) for all passports. You need 2 passport photo’s and they make the copies from your passport. It takes about 1,5 hours to get your visa ready.

    Angola

    We got ours in Point Noire (Congo Brazzaville). This is one of the hardest visa’s to get in West Africa. You can apply for the visa on Tuesday and Thursday between 9 and 11 am. You need to put 2000 cfa on their bank account before applying the visa at the Bank of Congo. We had a invitation letter from a friend of us who lives in Angola, copy passport, copy Congo visa, copy DRC visa, 2 passport photo’s and a big smile on our face when we applied. The woman working there only wants to speak French, not even Portuguese what they speak in Angola and she’s not helpful at all. We got a paper to fill in what only is in Portuguese, luckily there is a guard around who do helps people with their application form so we filled it all in and went to the woman at the desk, handover all papers and she straight away gave the invitation letter back, she didn’t want to have it! Instead we needed a letter why we wanted a visa for Angola in Portuguese, off course she pointed us out to where we can get it, it just costs another 2000 cfa extra per person. We got the letter and handed over all papers again and it looked she was satisfied. Now we needed to wait for a phone call, next day we got one around 2 pm. They only speak French again and the only thing I understood is they wanted a reservation, this must be a hotel reservation we thought. We made a quick booking online and printed it at a shop and run to the embassy to hand it over, they accepted and told us to wait for a phone call again. The next day we received the phone call at 2:30 pm, we run to the bank to make the deposit of 75.000 cfa each took the receipt and run to the embassy, we arrived at 3:05 and got send away, tomorrow we open again. When walking away they shout at us to come back and did give us the visa. What a relief! We had a multiple entrée visa in 48 hours.

    What about border crossing and bribe in Western Africa?

     

    We made a short video for our Africa journey, roads, life… We hope that you like to watch :

    FS