10 Days Adventure & River Safari
10-Day Wildlife & Big Game Safari
Savannah game drives in Garamba, then canoe and boat safaris on the Upemba wetlands, in two of the DRC's most remote national parks. Charter flights, park fees and armed ranger escorts are included.
Tour Overview
This 10-day trip starts and ends in Kinshasa and covers two parks that few travellers reach. Garamba, in the north, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of open savannah, gallery forest and riverbank woodland. It was once the last refuge of the northern white rhino. You spend four nights there, with elephants, giraffes, lions and a bird list that includes the shoebill. Then you fly south to Upemba, where the upper Lualaba River spreads into lakes, floodplains and marsh. You spend four nights there, with hippos, crocodiles, fish eagles and savannah predators. Sankofa Africa Safaris arranges all of it, including the internal charter flights.
Trip Highlights
Four nights in Garamba
Game drives and ranger-led bush walks across open savannah, with elephants, giraffes, buffalo, lions and hyenas.
Shoebill and birdlife
Garamba's wetland margins are home to the shoebill. A dedicated birding morning targets it, along with African grey parrots and kingfishers.
Canoe safari on the Lualaba
Paddle the narrow channels of the Upemba wetlands, close to hippos, crocodiles and waterbirds.
Remote and unhurried
Both parks are rarely visited, and charter flights between them replace long, rough road journeys.
Plan Your Congo Safari
Tell us your dates and group size. We'll confirm availability and send you an exact quote.
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Arrival in Kinshasa
Your guide meets you in the arrivals hall at N'djili International Airport and takes you to your city hotel. Kinshasa is one of Africa's largest capitals, on the south bank of the Congo River, with Brazzaville visible on the far shore.
After you rest, your guide gives you a full briefing: the route between Kinshasa, Garamba and Upemba, realistic wildlife expectations, what to carry, and health and safety rules. You can ask any questions. In the evening there is an optional trip to the riverfront and local markets.
- Airport pick-up and hotel transfer
- Safari briefing
- Optional riverfront and market visit
Kinshasa to Garamba National Park
An early charter flight takes you north-east to Garamba. The park covers nearly 5,000 square kilometres of open grassland, gallery forest and woodland along the Garamba and Dungu rivers. It was once the last refuge of the northern white rhino, and today its rangers work to protect its elephants from poaching.
After you check in at your lodge or tented camp, you go on an afternoon game drive. The open savannah makes wildlife easy to see. Expect elephant family groups, giraffes, large herds of kob and buffalo moving along the tree lines. Your guide debriefs you around camp as night falls.
- Charter flight to Garamba
- Afternoon game drive
- Sunset over the savannah
Garamba Game Drives and Bush Walk
You start with a dawn game drive, when predators are most active. Lions and hyenas are in the park, and you are most likely to find them near water and in the shade of tree lines. After a midday break at camp, a second drive covers the cooler late afternoon. Elephants are the park's most visible large animal.
A guided bush walk with armed park rangers, who also act as trackers, shows you the savannah up close. You read buffalo tracks, lion scratch marks and elephant dung full of seeds. Birdwatchers can look for African grey parrots, the Congo peacock and the shoebill.
- Morning and afternoon game drives
- Bush walk with armed rangers
- Birdwatching
Deeper into the Garamba Savannah
Today's drives go to remote parts of the park that few visitors reach, including the gallery forest along the rivers. The Garamba River holds crocodiles on the sandbanks and hippos in its pools. Antelope are varied here: kob, Uganda kob, oribi, hartebeest and waterbuck all live in different habitats.
In the afternoon a park ranger or conservation officer explains the park's anti-poaching work, its community programmes and its history of wildlife decline and partial recovery. If it is available, you can join an optional night drive and look for civets, genets and African wild cats by spotlight.
- Game drives in remote areas
- Ranger conservation briefing
- Optional night drive
Final Day in Garamba
On the last morning your guides focus on birds you may have glimpsed but not properly seen. The shoebill lives in the papyrus swamps and flooded grassland on the park's wetland margins, and it rewards a quiet, patient approach. African grey parrots feed in noisy flocks, and the riverside forest holds kingfishers, weavers, sunbirds and raptors.
The afternoon is for rest at camp. You pack for tomorrow's early departure to Upemba and have a final dinner under the Garamba sky.
- Birding-focused morning drive
- Afternoon at leisure
- Final camp dinner
Garamba to Upemba National Park
A private flight takes you south to Upemba. After Garamba's open savannah, this is a world of water. The upper Lualaba River runs through lakes, floodplains and wetland corridors that hold a huge variety of waterbirds.
You check in at your lodge, then take an afternoon boat safari. Hippo pods of ten to twenty animals sit in the deeper channels. Nile crocodiles bask on the mudflats, and African fish eagles call from dead trees over the water. Open-billed and yellow-billed storks, goliath herons and egrets feed in the shallows.
- Flight to Upemba
- Afternoon boat safari on the wetlands
- Hippos, crocodiles and waterbirds
Upemba Savannah Game Drives
Upemba's savannah and miombo woodland lie between the wetland margins and the higher ground. A dawn drive gives your best chance of lions, which are most active in the first light and often rest in the shade of woodland edges later in the morning. Leopards are present but harder to find, mostly along the gallery forest on seasonal streams. Elephants move through the woodland in family groups.
In the afternoon you visit a village on the park boundary. Its people fish, farm the floodplain soil and use wetland plants for materials, medicine and food. Your guide-interpreter helps you talk with the community, and questions go both ways.
- Dawn game drive for lions, leopards and elephants
- Village visit with an interpreter
Lualaba Canoe Safari
Today you paddle the narrow tributaries of the Lualaba River. A canoe makes almost no wake or noise, so you can get close to animals on the bank. Your experienced river guide manages every hippo encounter carefully, and a hippo surfacing five metres away is a memorable sight.
The birdlife changes with each stretch of open water, papyrus, riverine forest and bank. A single trip can bring malachite kingfishers, pygmy geese, African jacanas, black egrets and Pel's fishing owl. You paddle back to camp in the last light of the day.
- Canoe safari on the Lualaba tributaries
- Hippos, crocodiles and birds
- Sunset photography on the water
Final Safari Day in Upemba
For your last full day you choose between a longer game drive into the remote savannah, for lions and the open plains where buffalo and elephants gather, or a sunrise canoe session when the light on the water and the birdlife are at their best. Your guide recommends one based on what has been seen over the last two days, and you decide together over breakfast.
After lunch at the lodge you take a last slow circuit of the park boundary. Tonight is your final dinner in the field.
- Game drive or sunrise canoe, your choice
- Afternoon circuit of the park boundary
- Final dinner in the field
Return to Kinshasa and Departure
A morning flight or drive takes you back to Kinshasa. After you rest, you visit one of the city's craft markets, where sculptors, weavers, textile artists and painters from across the DRC sell their work. You can buy directly from the makers.
The farewell dinner is Congolese food: grilled tilapia with plantain, moambe chicken cooked in palm oil, saka saka with smoked fish, and tropical fruit. If your onward flight is the next morning, you can add an optional overnight in Kinshasa. If you fly out on Day 10, your guide takes you to N'djili International Airport.
- Return to Kinshasa
- Craft market visit
- Farewell dinner, then airport transfer
What's Included
Included
- All park entrance fees and guiding services
- Game drives and canoe and boat excursions
- All meals on safari days
- Internal charter flights between Kinshasa, Garamba and Upemba
- 9 nights in mid-range lodges and tented camps
- Airport transfers on arrival and departure
- Armed ranger escorts on all bush walks
- Village visit with an interpreter
- English-speaking guide throughout
- Bottled drinking water throughout
Excluded
- International flights to and from Kinshasa
- DRC visa and visa-related fees (typically $100+)
- Travel, medical and evacuation insurance
- Tips for guides, rangers and camp staff
- Drinks, bar tabs and premium beverages
- Souvenirs and personal purchases
- Vaccinations and malaria prophylaxis
- Optional activities not listed in the itinerary
Price Per Person
| Group Size | Price per Person | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person | $5,500 to $7,500 | Solo traveller rate |
| 2 people | $4,200 to $6,000 | Per person |
| 4 people | $3,800 to $5,200 | Per person |
| 6 people | $3,500 to $4,800 | Lowest rate per person |
Before You Book
Good to Know
- What to pack: Light, breathable clothes for daytime heat and warm layers for early drives and evenings. Bring sturdy walking shoes, a wide-brimmed hat, binoculars, sunscreen and insect repellent. A 200 to 500 mm telephoto lens suits the wildlife, and early morning and late afternoon give the best light.
- Safety: All bush walks and remote-area trips are done with armed park rangers. Follow your guide and ranger's instructions at all times.
- Flights over roads: Roads between settlements are often rough or impassable in the wet season. The charter flights are faster and more comfortable, and we recommend them over overland options.
- Cash: Carry US dollars for tips, crafts and personal extras. Cards are rarely accepted outside Kinshasa, and older or damaged notes are often refused, so bring newer bills.
- Health: A yellow fever vaccination is mandatory for entry to the DRC. Malaria prophylaxis is strongly recommended, so see a travel clinic 4 to 6 weeks before you leave. Travel and medical evacuation insurance is essential for these remote parks.
- Visas: Requirements change, so confirm them with the embassy for your nationality before you book flights. We give confirmed clients current visa guidance.
Optional Add-Ons
- Hot air balloon sunrise safari over the savannah, subject to regional availability. Ask when you book.
- Night game drive in Garamba to see civets, genets and other nocturnal species by spotlight.
- Photography specialist guide: a professional wildlife photographer travels with your group for technical help and positioning on game drives and canoe sessions.
Ready for Garamba and Upemba?
Send us your dates and group size. We'll confirm availability and send an exact quote.