“This isn’t for someone who’s never been to Africa,” says Aled. “You have to be the right person with the right frame of mind; someone who’s done expeditions before. And if that’s you, then there’s nothing else like it.”
He’s talking about the
Congo river expedition, a wild trip dreamed up more than 10 years ago over a couple of pints at the pub. After ironing out the details with the company’s local tour guide, who spends time on the river in his fishing boat, they decided it was a trip that travelers were sure to like.
This is no easy journey; it’s an expedition along a long and powerful river that reaches depths of 220m. There are no set stops. Instead, you’ll land when you see something interesting, to find out who’s in the local village and where to buy supplies, or to camp overnight on the side of the river. The trip, which travels with a crew, cook and guides, is only run once a year and offers the most in-depth experience of the region that it’s possible to get.
As with most rainforest vacations, it’s the interaction with local people that will stay with you as much as anything – the stopping, buying, trading and bartering. As the boat goes past, you’ll have a whole village waving at you.
“We invite travelers to take photos along so they can show photos of their families and where they’re from, where they live,” says Aled. It encourages a bit of cultural interaction, and it’s often the cultural exchanges that travelers really bring back as memories from these trips.
