刚果河是整片非洲大陆最深邃的命脉,其最深处超过220米,位居全球河流深度之冠。全长大约4700公里的河道在刚果(布)境内勾勒出蜿蜒的生命线,孕育了仅次于亚马逊的世界第二大热带雨林。对于渴望硬核探险的旅行者来说,这里不是那种可以拎包入住的成熟景区,而是一个充满变数、原始力量与法式遗风交织的真实非洲。从首都布拉柴维尔(Brazzaville)码头望向对岸,4公里的河面跨度将两座首都隔开,这种全世界唯一的双城奇观是开启刚果河之旅的最佳注脚。
站在布拉柴维尔的河岸边,你会发现刚果河并不总是平静的。由于地势落差,河水在进入这里之前经过了剧烈的奔腾,形成了壮观的斯坦利峡谷。这里的流速极快,水面下暗流涌动,即便是在旱季,那种震耳欲聋的水声也会让你对大自然产生敬畏。如果你租一辆当地人的木船尝试短途巡游,一定要选择有强力马达的那种,否则很难逆流而上。当地向导通常会带你去看那些巨大的漩涡,当地人称之为河流的呼吸,那是深达两百多米的水体在复杂河床挤压下产生的视觉奇观。
布拉柴维尔与金沙萨(Kinshasa)是世界上距离最近的两个首都。坐在布拉柴维尔圣安娜大教堂附近的河边餐厅,你只需要点一瓶当地的Ngok啤酒,就能静静观察对岸金沙萨那略显局促的天际线。这种体验非常独特,两座城市在文化上同根同源,却因为殖民历史和政治边界被刚果河一分为二。河面上不时有装载着木材和货物的巨大平底船缓缓漂过,这些船只往往是当地人的流动家园。这种繁忙而混乱的景象,正是刚果河作为中非交通大动脉的真实写照。
如果说刚果河是血管,那么奥扎拉科夸国家公园(Odzala-Kokoua National Park)就是这片土地的心脏。这个建立于1935年的保护区占地约13500平方公里,是西低地大猩猩最后的避难所之一。去那里旅游是一场考验体力的拉锯战,你需要从布拉柴维尔搭乘小型包机或者经历漫长的陆路颠簸。在丛林里追踪大猩猩时,脚下的泥沼可能会没过膝盖,清晨六点半出发时丛林里的寒气会让你不自觉地裹紧外套。但当你在繁茂的树丛后看到那些巨大的灵长类动物低头觅食,你会觉得所有的汗水都值了,这种近距离接触比在动物园里隔着玻璃看要震撼一万倍。
虽然刚果(布)的海岸线不算长,但黑角(Pointe-Noire)附近的沙滩和红树林却提供了另一种维度的刚果河印象。这里是河流注入大西洋的出口,河水带来的大量淡水与海水交汇,造就了丰富的渔场。对于游客来说,在这里吃一顿现烤的海鱼是必选项目。比起布拉柴维尔的嘈杂,黑角更有一种法国海边小城的闲适。你可以看到巨大的货轮在港口排队,也能看到当地渔民划着独木舟在巨浪中穿行。这里的物价不便宜,一顿体面的正餐可能要花费2万西非法郎以上,但那种海风拂面的感觉确实能缓解长途探险的疲劳。
钱的问题也得算清楚,刚果(布)并不是一个低成本旅游目的地。如果你想组织一次像样的刚果河巡游,包船一天的费用大概在20万到40万西非法郎之间,这还没算上给船工的小费和燃油费。签证办理也比较磨人,除了需要大约150美金的规费,你还必须提供一份有效的官方邀请函。至于交通,布拉柴维尔的玛雅玛雅机场(Maya-Maya Airport)设施还算先进,但如果你打算去内陆省份,就得做好面对烂路和频繁检查站的心理准备。记住随身带一些零钱,有时候那种非正式的过路费能帮你节省不少纠缠的时间。
去刚果(布)千万别挑错了时间。每年10月到次年5月是漫长的雨季,那时候的降雨量大到能让路面瞬间变成河流,很多进入国家公园的小径会被彻底切断。最佳的游玩窗口是6月到9月的旱季,虽然天空总是灰蒙蒙的,但气温凉爽且蚊虫相对较少。说到蚊虫,黄热病疫苗接种证明是入境的硬性要求,那个小黄本务必收好。另外,抗疟疾药物要从出发前就开始吃,那边的蚊子可不是闹着玩的,即便在布拉柴维尔的高级酒店里,也建议睡觉时把蚊帐塞得死死的。
布拉柴维尔目前是非洲相对平稳的首都之一,白天在主城区步行基本没有压力。不过晚上尽量避免去一些照明不佳的背街小巷,尤其是码头附近。黑角等海滨城市的治安状况通常好于内陆,但建议始终保持警惕并避免在公共场合露富,尤其是昂贵的摄影器材。
除了常规的护照和旅游签证,如果你打算在刚果河上拍摄航道或重要的基础设施,理论上需要提前向文化与旅游部申请拍摄许可证。普通游客拍照通常没问题,但不要对着警察、政府大楼或者大型渡轮猛拍。同时,如果你要跨越河流去对岸的金沙萨,必须提前办妥刚果(金)的入境签证,这两国之间并没有落地签政策。
这是一个相当昂贵的项目,奥扎拉等国家公园的追踪许可单人通常在500美元左右,这还不包括从布拉柴维尔出发的往返交通和丛林营地的住宿费。一个标准的3天2夜追踪行程,人均预算通常要准备3000美元以上。由于这里的旅游设施有限,建议至少提前三个月通过专门的生态旅游机构进行预订。
MR LOVSON - Congo River: It is the deepest and longest river in Africa at about 230 meters below the surface of the earth. It was formerly known as the River Zaire, and its length is about 4,700 km, making it the ninth largest river in the world. It is also one of the rivers flowing from the rainforests of the Congo, which is considered the second largest rainforest after Amazon. Will the dream of the Nile River connection project come true? The river is known to locals as the Zaire River. The length of the Congo River is about 4,370 km, or approximately two-thirds of the length of the Nile River. As for its annual water revenues, they amount to about 1,293 billion cubic metres, or approximately 14 times the revenues of the Nile River, according to UNESCO estimates, making it the second greatest river in the world after the mighty Amazon River, which is considered the greatest freshwater empire in the world with its annual revenues amounting to more than 5,600 billion cubic metres. Annually, that is, about 60 times the annual water revenue of the Nile River. The Democratic Republic of the Congo receives the bulk of the Congo River's revenues, or about 900 billion cubic metres, while the Republic of the Congo and Angola receive the rest of the river's revenues.[2] The Democratic Republic of the Congo consumes only about 12.8 billion cubic meters of fresh water, 1.4% of its total water revenues. This means that there are approximately 887.2 billion cubic meters flowing from the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone to the Atlantic Ocean without being used. The project provides Egypt with 95 billion cubic meters of water annually, providing agriculture with 80 million acres, which increases gradually after 10 years to 112 billion cubic meters, enabling Egypt to cultivate half the area of the Western Desert. The project provides Egypt, Sudan, and the Congo with electrical energy sufficient for more than two-thirds of the African continent, with an amount of 18,000 megawatts, i.e. Ten times more than the High Dam generates. That is, its value if exported to African countries is about $21 billion. The project provides the three countries (Egypt - Sudan - Congo) with 320 million acres suitable for agriculture. The idea actually appeared for the first time in 1980 when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat ordered Dr. Ibrahim Mostafa Kamel and Dr. Ibrahim Hamida to conduct a field tour in the Congo to provide an overview of the geographical nature of the river. Some claim that after presenting the project to Sadat, the Egyptian government sent it to Arthur D. Little, a global company specializing in providing American strategic consulting, to create the expected concept and the expected cost. However, there is no evidence at all of this step, on the part of the Egyptian government or on the part of the American company Implementation Abdel-Al Hassan, Vice President of the Geological Survey and Mineral Resources Authority, revealed that the Authority’s experts succeeded in developing 3 scientific and geological scenarios that would allow increasing the flow of the Nile River by exploiting a portion of the Congo River’s losses, which amount to 1,000 billion cubic meters annually, dumped into the Atlantic Ocean, by establishing a carrier canal. With a length of 600 kilometers to transport water to the Nile River basin through South Sudan to its north and from there to Lake Nasser.[2] He explained in a press conference held to announce the project on June 9, 2011, that the idea of the project is based on the connection between the basins of the Nile River and the Congo River. Therefore, all available data was used to study the most appropriate path for delivering water from the Congo River to the Nile River across the water dividing line all the way to southern Juba, South Sudan. ». He pointed out that three proposed scenarios were studied to determine the path of the water. The length of the first is 424 kilometers and the water level difference will be 1,500 metres, which is impossible to implement. The second scenario is at a distan
Pramod Kumar Congo river as a located an good place.🇮🇳🚩 Congo River, river in west-central Africa. With a length of 2,900 miles (4,700 km), it is the continent's second longest river, after the Nile.
Jesùs Manuel Rodríguez Great place to fish for some big fish. If you love to fish as much as me you will enjoy the bountiful amount of fish this river has to offer.
River Swimmer I love the congo river a lot. The only concern I have is that there are many animals. I tried swimming in the river, but the current was too strong, so i had to stop swimming. The sunset is beautiful though. I would not reccomend for kids though.
RapKeed Musik Can't share the experience with words on this one. You have to see it for yourself