We went on a week-end trip to Matadi from Kinshasa.

We decided to leave very early Friday morning at around 4am but the trip still took us about 12 painful hours (We did stop along the way).

We got stuck in Kasangulu behind a plethora of trucks.

Eventually, we made it to a town near Lukala where policemen and the “DGRKC” which stands for “Direction Générale des Recettes du Kongo Central” stopped almost every car to pay for the “vignette”.

It is a small sticker and yearly tax to maintain the roads of the whole country or so the agent said. After much discussion, we handed over our car documents and paid the 56$ tax (cost depends on the size of your engine). We were given the vignette on the spot. We eventually got stopped again several times on the way going and back for this document. Good thing we had paid for it.

Apparently, we will also need to pay one to the DGRK, which is the same agency but for the province of Kinshasa. It is paid every year and, supposedly, 20% goes to the OVD, the “office des voiries et drainages” that maintains the roads. Hum… I wonder how much work is actually done with that money!

Anyways, we eventually made it to Matadi after 12 back breaking hours. G our driver was obviously exhausted.

But Matadi was also jam packed with cars, motorbikes and trucks! Plenty of trucks! Big, small, broken, smelly, new. If you love trucks, live in Matadi! Oh boy! You’ll never get enough! If you love containers, it’s also a great town for you! They’re everywhere!

Thankfully, we made it safe and sound to the non-profit Julie volunteers at, Mama Lufuma. It is near the Angolan border. It is a small non-profit that helps single mothers get back on their feet. It is run by a couple based in Belgium. The founder is the son of a single mother and Mama Lufuma was her name!

After a good night sleep at the non-profit, we headed off to visit a farm that the NPO had bought after the Maréchal Mobutu bridge. We drove there but only after paying a 6$ tax to cross the bridge. That is the one-way only price papa! You have to pay again to come back! Evidemment!

Once we were on the other side, it was heaven! No traffic, no noise, just the Congo River, peace and quiet and the open road!

We drove a little further and reached a village called Lukimba. There, we met a lady who knew the farmer who was taking care of the land we wanted to visit.

She told us: “You can’t reach there in a car! You have to take a motorcycle!”. We were a bit confused. A motorcycle? “Yes, the road is bad and small! Only a motorcycle. You can walk but it will take 2 hours!”. After a little discussion and surprise, we acquiesced and agreed to get on two motorcycles. Julie and I on one, G and the two ladies we brought with us, Mathy and Umba on the other.

For 20 to 30 minutes through a magical forest and after bumping and jumping over rocks and getting funny looks from the villagers, we made it to the future farm of the NPO.

It was quite wild and beautiful. But a lot of the land had been cleared and burned to prepare for planting vegetables. It is a local custom to burn and then plant. It is a sort of mini rainforest coupled with small farming fields of beans and other things.

I was shocked to see women carrying portable water pumps (gasoline powered) on their heads for kilometers! They needed to water their small plants and fields from the nearby river! Incredible resolve and power! Everyone was fit, energetic and cheerful.

After a quick tour of the farm and land, not to mention a scary bees nest, we headed back to the polluted noisy city of Matadi.

The next day we chilled with the kids. And after a nice meal together of beans, rice, fried chicken and fried plaintains aka makembas in Lingala, we went to bed.

G and I had a long day ahead to get back to Kinshasa. Julie would stay another few days and come back to Kinshasa with the local bus.

Indeed, it took us from 10am to 10pm to get back. Trucks, accidents, slow vehicles, darkness, traffic, it all kept us going at a super slow pace back to Kinshasa. The worst was when we arrived to Mitendi until Delvaux. Every thing was blocked. Trucks, accidents, broken vehicles, people, motorcycles. It took tremendous patience and carefulness to zig zag through the madness.

On the way though, we discovered a small pool of crystal clear water that local villagers say Stanley himself built. It is behind and above the huge stone carving as you leave Matadi. It is worth the stop and to chat with the improvised guides who will try to sell you some baby avocado, safu or pineapple trees.

All in all it was an amazing trip to one of the starting points of the Congo, where the first europeans arrived. The actual starting point is Banana (Yes that’s what it is called!).

There are beautiful places along the way and there are even more that I didn’t see.

As a side note, please check out my friend Peter’s pictures on Flickr that he took while in the DRC. You might see me in one of them 😉

I hope you enjoyed the post and pictures!

What did you think?