The Republic of Congo
Gorillas, chimpanzees and the living Congo River.
You carve the mask. You judge the Sapeurs. You are received by the Queen.
Nine days from the Atlantic coast to the Congo River, built around encounter rather than observation. You help a Mayombe village make palm oil, buy fish at a dawn river market, join the morning feedings at two great-ape sanctuaries, and share a festive dinner cooked by an entire village. Led throughout by co-founder Guillaume de Remacle with Congolese guide Prince Koulandissa.
The route, coast to river
The rhythm is honest: river days start early, and two easy days are built in on purpose, one to land, one to live at village pace. Every meal on the itinerary comes with a drink, and the boat is ours.
Rooms are shared double or twin, and we pair you with another solo traveler. A room to yourself is $6,800, about $900 more. Either way the group is small and every activity is exclusively ours.
Tchimpounga and Lésio-Louna are working rescue and rewilding centres, and your visit funds them. The stories you bring back are the loudest thing we do; the carbon work happens quietly, published for anyone who asks.
“The street is my mother. The sun is my father. What more should I ask of life?”Alain Mabanckou, The Lights of Pointe-Noire · born in the city where this expedition begins
Expedition briefing
Gui de Remacle designed this expedition and leads it, and he has walked through the whole thing on video: the river, the villages, Odzala and how the nine days fit together. The slides are yours to keep.
Watch Gui walk through the tripThe river days
Two villages, and the part of the trip people talk about afterwards.
Manguengé
A fishing village on the Congo River, a long way from a road and further still from a pharmacy. We arrive while the morning market is going and buy fish straight off the water, which is then cooked and eaten there with the people who caught it. We carry in basic medical supplies, which are hard to come by this far upriver, and we stay to talk rather than dropping them at the landing.
The stretch in between
Nobody schedules this part. Reed marshes, birds working the shallows, and fishermen standing to cast their nets from pirogues. It is simply what the river does between two villages, and it is the quietest few hours of the expedition.
Ngabé
Two days living at village pace. You sit and harvest manioc with the people who grow it, you can go to church on the Sunday if that appeals, and the community meal is put together as a joint effort: we provide the food, the village cooks it, everyone eats. Queen Ngalifourou of the Téké receives the group, and the Kébé-Kébé dancers come out before the evening is over.
Guillaume de Remacle designed this expedition and leads it. The village days are his work, and they are the reason the trip is shaped the way it is.
Why private?
The Congo has never been packaged for mass tourism. We keep it that way.
Every visit on this expedition happens because a community, a sanctuary or a royal court agreed to receive our group, and ours alone. That is what makes the encounters real, and it is why the group stays small.
We don't rush. We explore.
other tourist groups on your activities. Every experience on this itinerary is private to us.
group in all of Odzala-Kokoua if you take the extension: the park and its lodges are reserved exclusively for us.
Optional extension · 3 nights
Odzala-Kokoua: three nights deeper than almost anyone ever goes.
Odzala is one of Africa's oldest national parks and some of the most intact rainforest on the continent. In place of the Lésio-Louna day, you fly in privately for three nights with the entire park and both lodges reserved for our group: no other vehicles, no other boats, no other people. Gorilla tracking in the wild, forest walks morning and evening, 4x4 drives, and kayaking on forest rivers, returning to Brazzaville on the final day.
In the forest canopy among the research territories where western lowland gorillas are tracked in their natural habitat. This is the wild counterpart to everything you saw at the sanctuaries.
On the edge of the bais, the forest clearings where forest elephants, buffalo and a wealth of birdlife gather in the open. Mornings here are the reason wildlife film crews come to Odzala.
Your guides
This is a co-founder's trip. Gui designed it and leads it from arrival to departure; Prince is the reason the Congo opens its doors.
Guillaume “Gui” de Remacle
Gui built this itinerary himself after the country left its mark on him, and he is at your side for all nine days.
“In places like Manguengué and Ngabé, you'll truly understand that there isn't just one path to happiness.”
Prince Koulandissa
Prince has run his own Congolese travel agency since 2019 and coordinates this expedition on the ground. Every private door this trip walks through, the royal court, the villages, the sanctuaries, opens because Prince knows the people behind it. He is known for being larger than life, and for making the impossible possible.
Photographing the Congo
Great apes in rehabilitation and in the wild, river and forest life, and some of the most photogenic cultural traditions in Central Africa: the Sapeurs alone are worth a portrait session. It suits photographers from enthusiast to professional, and equally those who would rather put the camera down and take part.
From the expedition
Nine days, as they actually looked.
Every frame here was taken on this itinerary, by guides and guests. Click any image to see it full size.
Dates & price
| Departure | Rooms | Per person | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 3–11, 2027 | Shared double or twin | $5,900 | Private group |
| May 3–11, 2027 | Room to yourself | $6,800 | Private group |
| Odzala extension, to ~May 14 | Ngaga & Lango camps | + ~$7,375 | Park reserved for us |
Reserve your place
A short form, then a 25-minute expedition call. We reply within one business day. 30% deposit secures the place.
FAQ
What is the group size?
How fit do I need to be?
What about health requirements?
Do I need a visa?
What should I bring?
Why early May?
Where you stay
Three bases on the expedition, plus two forest camps if you extend.
Ready? Dive in.
Terns feed by plunge-diving, total commitment, perfect timing. It's how we travel, too.
Reserve your place