Streets of Congo

Streets of Congo

An attempt to record contemporary life in Kivu, the eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. While visiting Goma and Bukavu, most of the pictures were shot from a vehicle. DRC is one of the poorest nations in the world, practically a failed state, with...

Tchegera Island

Tchegera Island

The return journey from Bukavu to Goma had no surprises. Our final destination was Tchegera island, a secluded piece of land, just 20 minutes away from busy Goma. It is tiny,  only 400m in circumference and shaped like a croissant. It hosts a tented camp that consists...

The Lowland Gorillas

The Lowland Gorillas

The speedboat service from Goma to Bukavu covers the distance in 3 hours and costs $50 for non-nationals, a better alternative to the 6-hour trip with the normal boat. The port was very busy but not noisy. We had to check in with our passports, quite odd as we did not...

Nyiragongo

Nyiragongo

Finally the day that we would climb the mighty mount Nyiragongo arrived. I love the gorillas, but the reason we came here was primarily to see the largest active lava lake in the world. Mount Nyiragongo peaks at 3470m and the lava lake is located about 500 meters...

Mountain Gorillas in Virunga

Mountain Gorillas in Virunga

We left Goma behind us, driving under the rain through the lava scattered roads. After two hours on very bumpy road and my back was already killing me. The story goes that Mobutu Sesse Seko had signed a contract to build this road but after inspection, it turned out...

Goma

Goma

We arrived in Kigali international late in the evening and went straight to bed for to get some rest. Kigali is a pleasant surprise, unlike other African capitals. Hilly, beautiful and clean. There are pedestrian sidewalks everywhere and tarmac on almost all roads. It...

Congo (DRC)

Congo (DRC)

I had Nyiragongo in my bucket list for quite some time but I was hesitant because of the security situation in the Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nyiragongo is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and hosts the largest active lava lake, a...