DR of Congo safari holiday

Planet

We know the wildlife of Lomako well, and are committed to the protection and conservation of this wildlife and the ecosystem at large. Lomako offers some of the most pristine habitat in the Congolese interior, providing habitat for rare primates including bonobo, black mangabey and Wolf's monkey, many forest duikers including Weyns's duiker, predators including leopard and golden cat, and extremely rare birds including Congo peafowl. As most of our game-viewing is on foot, this has a very low impact on the ecosystem and its wildlife. We are careful never to approach an animal on foot if that is likely to cause distress to it - fortunately the bonobos in this area are habituated to human presence. When conducting night walks, we will never spotlight an injured, vulnerable or distressed animal, and will never spotlight a diurnal animal during the hours of darkness - this latter point is particularly important for animals with sensitive eyes, especially primates.

This entire itinerary is designed to have minimal impact in our environment. When in the interior, we camp in basic campsites with tents we bring with us, leaving no evidence we were ever in situ. All game-viewing is conducted on foot, using no fuel whatsoever. Our transfers to the area are conducted in traditional boats with outboard motors, which is significantly less impactful on the environment than driving or flying. We are always careful to avoid pollution leaching into the Congo River, and take all refuse with us when leaving each area we visit.

People

All of our suppliers are Congolese companies who employ only Congolese people. All of our guides, boat drivers, cooks, porters and ecoguards are from local communities. It is vital to our mission than local people see genuine benefit from our visit, and this ensures that value continues to be attached by local communities to the preservation of wildlife and wilderness areas. We therefore insist that all suppliers in the DR Congo employ local people and this should be reflected throughout your stay.

It is crucially important that guests always treat local people with utmost respect in all interactions. Each night when travelling to or from Lomako we will camp near a local village, having sought permission from local villagers beforehand. As local people are being incredibly kind to allow us to spend the night so close to their homes, we ask clients to ensure there is no evidence of our presence, such as refuse, left behind when we leave. We also ask clients are kind and polite to all members of the local communities we visit - many, particularly children, may not have seen ecotourists before and their attention may seem intrusive on occasion, but this is a small price to pay for their hospitality. We also ask clients to consider spending small amounts of money in local communities we visit, to consolidate the benefit our visit brings to the area.