Originally Posted by chris.perjalanan

Very very wrong, there is a good alternative for the Brazaville-Kinshasa ferry which is indeed a nightmare from what i heared from other travellers. Met a turkish guy who was imprisoned on the RDC side for having his visa issued outside his homecountry, his embassy had to bail him out.

On the road from Dolisie to Brazaville you will pass the town of Mindoulli. From there its a 10km ride over a horrible piste/mountain pass to a borderpost where there is one immigration officer who lives in his small hut ( it doesnt get more remote than there, seriously ) and had to walk to the next village to get his stamp ! Easiest border on the whole trip, he was very happy about the 2 packs of cigaretts we brought for him ! No temporary import for our bikes, 5 minutes of time. Don´t try if its raining, its going up and down the hills all the time and the "roads" become so slippery that there is a very big chance you´ll get stuck ! ( we did !!! )

Supply until Luozi is very difficult in terms of fuel, spareparts, food, mobile reception and passing traffic to get help in case something goes wrong.

You can camp in the small villages and the people are super nice. That area gets close to no foreigners and if you are looking for genuine adventure and an unspoiled african experience there you go.

About 15km after the borderpost there is a catholic mission in Miyamba on a hill. For that area its a relativly big complex with school, hospital and church ! They have two generators they are fireing on every evening to watch the news and if you need welding or repairs cos the roads broke your vehicle ( which is not too unlikely ) you can find help there as they have a workshop too. The congolese priests are unbelievable nice and welcoming, they gave us a room to stay in and food when the rains made any progress further impossible. Be nice and polite, leave your european attitude at home and contribute what you can cos they do an extrodinary job out there ! Its worth staying there also when not stuck, the that part of my trip was the most memorable. I waited one week there for a passing vehicle to transport my vespa to Luozi ( broken chassis i needed gas welding for ) but not one single truck passed the road. In the end they put my vespa on their landcruiser as they had to go to Luozi anyway to meet a delegation of other african bishops. It broke down after 50km but thats another story ...

In Luozi itself theoretically you have to register with the DGM ( Direction generale de migration ) and pay a fee of 10$. As i was travelling on a big truck I had to but a friend of mine just went past the checkpoint and took the ferry, depends if you are lucky. There is another mission there you can ask to stay at when needed !

I loved the DRC !!!

Hope this post helps some people on the road, added some photos.

Don´t manage to upload any photos so here some links :

http://s7.directupload.net/images/131103/b47u5xp9.jpg ( road to borderpost )

Directupload.net - r3s4bbfl.jpg ( borderpost )

Directupload.net - kmfpdo8u.jpg ( roads )

Directupload.net - y9e7xsmh.jpg ( ferry )



cheers,
Chris