Kinshasa - Brazzaville, ferry or?

[Ronnie79]

Any info about the ferry, is it operating now?

Our plan B, if we get double or multi Angola visa we will go via Cabinda.
Or C: Matadi - Luozi - Mindouli, any words of advice?
D?

We will get all visas in our home country, accept for the Rep.Congo, any recent info about this coming from the south?

Happy Travels!

[romnek72]

I would recommend plan C!
Kinshasa too many corrupt officials and too much money for ferry.
Just came back from Louzi(month ago)crossing,motorbike is free and they
Will help you to load your bike on ferry for free.
In Kishasa,3 weeks ago they charge(Filip on Ktm from S,Africa)$40usd JUST to load and $40usd to unload +big money for ferry ticket+ port fee this port fee that,CRAZY!
If you going from Congo Brazza to DRC they charge me 1000CFA=$1.80USD.
@530cfa per $1.
And if you in brazzaville, stop by @hippocampe the ovelanders camp for free!
The only negative side some sectons of the road from Louzi to Boko are in rough shape!
I would not recommend in rain season!
Roman

[Ronnie79]

Thank you!

Oh! That was crazy money... But I still would like to try to get it cheaper and cross Kinshasa - Brazzaville, want to see those cities.
But at least the ferry is running then?
Is it possible to cross Matadi - Luozi with a 4x4 car?

[ta-rider]

Hi,

I took the ferry scince there was no way to get a multible entry visa for angola. To get 4 days transit allready took me more then three months, my nerves and 160 Euro.

Riding the rough west coast through Africa part 3

Travel save, Tobi

[lbendel]

As usual, different people have very different experience. I took the ferry Kin - Brazz in Summer 2011 and it was very much unlike the hell I was being told. Very chaotic for sure but totally bearable. I had to haggle hard about the price, and waited several hours at Ngobila Beach before being allowed to board a boat. But absolutely no bribe paid to any official, at either side. YMMV but I wouldn't be put off by the horror stories you hear.

- the river level was high so on Brazza side I had to use helpers to haul the bike several meters up to the pier. A car is a definite no-no.

- I read that they recently (and temporarily) moved the ferry from Ngobila to the river boat port, to overhaul the terminal:

Le Beach Ngobila délocalisé au port de Kinshasa

Laurent

[Ronnie79]

We skipped the ferry Kinshasa - Brazzaville. We got the multientry visa and because the rain has started we took the Cabinda route instead of Louzi. Easy and no signs of corruption. Took some small muddy road though, but that's was a self choosen challenge! =D

[Surfy]

Originally Posted by Ronnie79

We skipped the ferry Kinshasa - Brazzaville. We got the multientry visa and because the rain has started we took the Cabinda route instead of Louzi. Easy and no signs of corruption. Took some small muddy road though, but that's was a self choosen challenge! =D

Do you need the multiple visa on the cabinda route?

Surfy

[Ronnie79]

Originally Posted by Surfy

Do you need the multiple visa on the cabinda route?

Surfy

Yes, you do.

[Surfy]

Originally Posted by Ronnie79

Yes, you do.

Thank you, that is good to know! We hope to get multiple...

Surfy

[taniyamorris]

I'm with Ibendel - we did Brazzaville Kinshasa in 2010 & found it to be one of the most interesting parts of the entire trip. Yes - chaotic & crazy, but no problems at all. No fixer required if you are prepared to negotiate the crowds - but at least that way you don't get ripped off with 'fixer' prices & you can enjoy the whole experience more. We would highly recommend the crossing.

[Desert Driver]

I did the Matadi-Louzi-Mindouli stretch in a Landrover 2 years ago and had no pr0blems other than heavy going after the rainy season but good off roading. I was presuaded after all the horror stories of the ferry crossing and the rip off merchants...

Whatever you decide both will be equally adventerous in their own kind of way

[taniyamorris]

Brazzaville - Kinshasa Ferry Crossing - An experience in itself. Certainly not the horror story that we had heard it to be. Costs: 6500 CFA (€10) p/person and 25,000 CFA (€38) for car & driver. Timings: 1030 hrs, 1230 hrs & 1430 hrs each day. No car ferry running on Sundays. Mandatory ‘disinfection’ of the car on entering DRC - we heard that this could be avoided, but we bartered for ages and were never going to get out of it. We did manage them to get the price down from US$60 to US$40. It looks like an official organisation (Red Cross). Customs/immigration process very slow in DRC; no problems, just slow, so allow plenty of time. The whole crossing took us 7 hours of which only 40 mins was spent on the ferry!

[langebaan sunset]

Hi

We did a lot of research at Hippocampe and found a ferry that runs down stream from Brazz and up stream from Luozi. Its called Pioka. We posted the route on our blog

Langebaan Sunset: Crossing the Congo – Alternative route in detail with map & GPS data

It cost us 20 litres of diesel as a "fee" and it can take 1x car or several motorbikes.....its pretty wild West.

Road from Southern bank where you get dropped off is a "track" and a REAL African drive. We posted full GPS track and way points. Would suggest that doing this route in the rain as NOT a good idea. I did read a blog this year that appeared to say it might not be running anymore...... Luozi is best bet and very cheap for cars and I have heard its free for bikes. Way easier than Brazz Kin ferry.

HTH

Nick

[Anacondor]

Does everybody agree that the Luozi alternative is not recommended in the rainy season (now)? Still doubting...

[ozranger]

i crossed it in the rainny season and got stuck a day when it didn't stop raining. you just can't climb the hills. its possible but a real challenge. doubt you could do it in a car. also there isn't much out there so if you do get stuck it could be for quite some time. we were lucky to cross the worse section (just before the border) without any rain for a couple days before. and when it did start raining we managed to reach a school and stay there for a few days to dry everything out.