Eastern Congo is an area of the world with no shortage of sad stories and it seems like an unlikely destination for tourism. But despite its violent history and current state of insecurity, some brave souls are braving the guerrillas to see the gorillas and, in my case, hoping that Mount Nyiragongo in Virunga National Park stays calm for a couple of days while we scramble up it.
Most tourists planning a trip into the park won’t be residents of Rwanda and won’t qualify for a regular DRC visa so the park has come up with a genius deal which offers park-specific visas good for the Goma area for people who book one of several attractions in Virunga National Park.
Once you’ve booked your Mount Nyiragongo Hiking & Gorilla Tours Congo with the stay at the Mikeno Lodge, you qualify for a Democratic Republic of Congo Tourist Visa. It’s all very easy and everything can be done. Book and pay for your park visit first and then use that confirmation information to book your special Virunga DRC visa. The visas are valid for 7 days and the fees aren’t refundable.
We were able to get a good idea of what to take with us and, as the generous little person that I am, I’m going to pass that knowledge onto you. Clothes & Gear include rain jacket, rain pants, running shoes, heavy fleece, light sweater, thin stretchy pants, long underwear, 4 pairs of socks, heavy sleeping bag. This list doesn’t include what I wore up the hill which was a pair of hiking shoes, thin stretchy pants that could be rolled up above my knees (which looked totally awesome, as you can imagine), and a sleeveless top.
I kept the rain gear and the light fleece in my small backpack that I carried myself along with a water bottle, camera, iPhone, passport, and some snacks. I ended up changing into regular gym style running shoes when I got to the top and decided to give those a try on the way down and they were totally fine. Not much ankle support which made the rolling loose volcanic rocks on Mount Nyiragongo a challenge, but I feel like the hiking shoes would have hurt the backs of my ankles. Plenty of people did the hike in sneakers, some people wearing jeans and a dress shirt, and others were fully kitted out in all the gear. Except for people being cold, nobody complained about the gear they hiked up in, as far as I could tell.
