Kinshasa in 3 days

Musée National de la RDC (formerly Musée de Kinshasa — Avenue du Présidence, Gombe; the national museum of the DRC, with the most significant collection of Congolese art and ethnographic material in the country (with the important caveat that the most important Congolese artifacts are in European museums — the Tervuren Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium has the largest collection of Congolese art in the world, assembled during the colonial period)); the museum collection: (1) the Kuba Kingdom art (the Kuba Kingdom (the most aesthetically sophisticated of the Central African kingdoms, in the Kasai region (600km east of Kinshasa)): the Kuba textiles (cut-pile velvet cloth made from raffia palm fibres — the only African tradition of pile-woven textile, with geometric patterns of extraordinary complexity), the Kuba wooden cups and boxes (the ndop cups — a royal cup form with face decoration), and the Kuba royal masks (the bwoom helmet mask with its distinctive bulging dome)); (2) Luba Kingdom ivories; (3) contemporary Congolese Peinture Populaire. Adults CDF 3,000 (~€1.05).

Kinshasa–Brazzaville ferry (the CCAR ferry service between the two capitals; the ferry crossing (4km, 20 min from the Kinshasa Beach Ferry Terminal (Port de la Gombe) to the Brazzaville port); the two capitals are the only pair of national capitals in the world separated only by a river (no other river in the world has two different national capitals on opposite banks this close together)); the crossing has historically been one of the most difficult border crossings in Africa (bureaucratic delays, corrupt officials, and the requirement for a separate Congo-Brazzaville visa for DRC citizens; European and most Western passport holders can obtain a Republic of Congo visa on arrival at Brazzaville airport but the visa situation for the ferry crossing is more complex — check current requirements before attempting). The view from the ferry: the Kinshasa and Brazzaville skylines simultaneously visible, with Pool Malebo stretching behind to the north.

Kinshasa is the global capital of African Pentecostal Christianity — the city has more independent Pentecostal churches than any other city on earth (the DRC is approximately 80% Christian, with a growing Pentecostal and charismatic wing; the 'churches of awakening' (Réveil) have exploded since the 1980s)); the Sunday morning services at the largest churches are extraordinary public spectacles: the Cité de la Victoire (the 'City of Victory' megachurch of Pasteur Marcellin Mubadilwa — 70,000-seat capacity; the service includes: a professional gospel choir (100+ singers in matching robes), an orchestra, light shows, and the 'healing and deliverance' portion (the laying on of hands for healing, conducted simultaneously with the worship music)); the Kinshasa gospel music scene (the most influential gospel music in Africa) has produced internationally known figures: Daddy Mussoki (known internationally as Mussoki), Rebecca Malope (South African but deeply influenced by the Kinshasa sound). Services Sunday 07:00–13:00 (some churches) and 14:00–18:00.

Congolese cuisine (la cuisine congolaise): Pondu (Sombe — cassava leaves (the young leaves of Manihot esculenta, the cassava plant, which must be thoroughly cooked to neutralise the cyanogenic glycosides that make raw cassava leaves toxic; after boiling and reboiling for 3–4 hours the leaves become a soft, dark green spinach-like mass) cooked with palm oil (huile de palme rouge — the red-orange oil extracted from the fruit of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), with a high beta-carotene content that gives it the characteristic orange colour and a distinctive flavour); Moambe Chicken (Poulet Moambé — chicken pieces cooked in the palm nut sauce (moambe — the thick, rust-coloured sauce extracted from boiled and pounded palm nut pulp (the fruit of the oil palm, surrounding the oil palm kernel); the sauce has a distinctive flavour that is simultaneously fatty, slightly acidic, and deeply savoury; the national dish of the DRC); served with fufu (the stiff cassava paste formed into balls and used to scoop the sauce)). Primus beer (CDF 1,500/330ml — the definitive Kinshasa beer, brewed since 1924). Restaurant at the Boulevard du 30 Juin area.

Inga Falls (Chutes d'Inga — 280km southwest of Kinshasa on the Congo River, accessible by organised 4WD day trip (approximately USD 150–200 per person for a group tour with a local operator); the Inga site (where the lower Congo River (the Basse-Congo section) descends through a series of 32 rapids and cataracts between Pool Malebo and the sea) has the world's largest untapped hydropower potential: the two existing Inga Dams (Inga I (1972, 351 MW) and Inga II (1982, 1,424 MW)) use only a tiny fraction of the site's estimated 100,000 MW potential; the proposed Grand Inga Dam (the most ambitious infrastructure project in Africa, under negotiation since the 1990s) would be the world's largest hydroelectric facility (39,000 MW — more than 3 times the output of the Three Gorges Dam in China) and could supply electricity to 1/3 of Africa; the falls themselves: a series of dramatic cataracts where the Congo River (the world's deepest river, with the highest discharge volume of any African river) descends 96m in 35km through a narrow gorge.

The Kinshasa contemporary art scene (beyond the Académie des Beaux-Arts, the city has a growing commercial gallery scene): Galerie Boboto (on the university campus — the oldest commercial gallery in Kinshasa (founded 1975), specialising in the Peinture Populaire tradition (the narrative figurative paintings of Chéri Samba, Moké, and their successors); a typical Kinshasa Peinture Populaire painting: a large-format canvas (80cm × 120cm) showing a scene of Kinshasa street or bar life — sapeurs in their finery, a couple arguing about money, or a political satire of the government — with a text caption in Lingala (sometimes French) painted directly onto the image, explaining the narrative or adding an ironic commentary); Gallery Mungani (contemporary photography and mixed media from the newer generation of Congolese artists). Prices: from USD 200 for a small format Peinture Populaire up to USD 3,000 for a major Chéri Samba.

Boulevard du 30 Juin (the main boulevard of central Kinshasa, named after the date of independence from Belgium: June 30, 1960; the boulevard runs 4km from the Gare Centrale to the Palais du Peuple (the parliament building) along the Congo River embankment); the boulevard at sunset (the sun sets in the northwest, over the Congo River and Pool Malebo, creating a spectacular golden-orange sky over the pool — the Brazzaville skyline across the water silhouetted against the sunset light); the Kinshasa Gombe waterfront (the stretch of riverbank in the Gombe commune (the affluent central district) has been partially landscaped into a riverside promenade (Corniche de Gombe)); the river fishermen (pêcheurs) who cast their nets from the bank at dusk and haul in the tilapia and capitaine that feed the city.

Kinshasa nightlife (the city that never sleeps — the Kinshasa entertainment economy operates on a completely nocturnal schedule; the major events start at 22:00 and continue until 06:00–07:00; most Kinshasa residents sleep from approximately 06:00–12:00 on weekends): the Ndombolo (the fast, hip-shaking evolution of soukous that emerged in the 1990s; Koffi Olomidé (born 1956 — the most famous Congolese musician alive, known internationally) and Werrason (Werrasson Ngiama Makanda) are the defining Ndombolo artists)); the major live music venues in Kinshasa: the Nganda Ya Congo (a large outdoor concert venue in Matonge), and the Pavillons de l'OAU (the concert halls in the Gombe district). The Kinshasa music scene's influence on global music (the Afrobeats movement that dominates global pop in the 2020s (Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido) is directly descended from the Kinshasa soukous tradition via West African adaptations of the Congolese guitar style and polyrhythm). Cover charge CDF 5,000–15,000 (€1.75–5.25).