I took a successful ferry ride across the Mighty Congo River, from Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) to Brazzaville (Republic of Congo). I had carefully propitiated the river god with a delicious raisin pastry at breakfast, and was rewarded with smooth waters.
Sadly, even a river god can’t help with the DRC bureaucracy. This crossing is notorious for weird regulations and officials who deny all knowledge of English. Fortunately I had a Francophone tour guide, and he had hired a “fixer” to make Customary Arrangements. Even with that it took about an hour on each side and much patience to get through.
The river ride was in a “pirogue” (canoe) which fortunately turned out to mean a small fast ferry. It was all tolerably safe. We were even required to wear life-jackets. Which I think was a good sign.
To be honest, there aren’t very many tourists sights in either Kinshasa or Brazzaville, so I can’t really recommend them, but I did want to see the Mighty Congo itself, and the ferry was a good way to do it!
