Wagenia Falls & the Congo River at Kisangani
The Boyoma Falls at Kisangani — the end of the navigable upper Congo — are the world's largest waterfall by volume, and the Wagenia people's extraordinary fish trap system over the rapids is one of Africa's great spectacles
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Wagenia Fish Trap Scaffolding
The Wagenia people have built elaborate wooden scaffolding over the rapids of the Congo River for generations — their conical fish traps suspended above the rushing water catch the fish trying to climb the falls
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Boyoma Falls Magnitude
The seven cataracts of Boyoma Falls carry more water than any other waterfall in the world by volume - the scale of the Congo River here is hard to fathom; the sound audible from kilometers away
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River Pirogue at the Falls
Skilled pirogue operators navigate the edges of the fall system and transport passengers — the Wagenia fishermen's knowledge of every current and eddy in the rapids is essential to safe passage
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Upper Congo River Trade
Kisangani is where river traffic from the upper Congo (from Ubundu south) meets the long downstream journey to Kinshasa — the city serves as a transfer point for goods from the forest interior
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Kindu River Journey
The river journey from Kisangani south to Kindu and beyond pierces the heart of the Congo rainforest — one of the world's great river journeys through landscapes almost unchanged from Conrad's time
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Stanley Falls Historical Site
Henry Morton Stanley reached these falls in 1877 on his transcontinental journey - the first European to do so, he named them Stanley Falls; the colonial history and the modern city overlap