Bokungu

Bokungu is a town in Tshuapa Province and the administrative center of Bokungu Territory, best known as one of the main access points for Salonga National Park — the largest protected tropical rainforest in the world, created in 1970 and spanning parts of four provinces including Tshuapa. Along with Monkoto, Bokungu is one of the small handful of gateway towns from which visitors reach the park, which is otherwise extremely isolated and accessible only by water; travelers typically fly in from Kinshasa and continue by riverboat. Salonga is managed by the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature in partnership with WWF, and protects habitat for bonobos, forest elephants, giant pangolins, and other threatened species. As with the rest of Tshuapa Province, the wider local economy rests on subsistence agriculture, fishing, and small-scale trade, and the climate is tropical, hot and humid year-round with a wetter and drier season.

By Plane

Bokungu is one of the small aircraft airstrips used to reach Salonga National Park from Kinshasa.

By Boat

From Bokungu, river transport continues onward into Salonga National Park, which has no road access.

Walking and motorbike taxis are the typical way to get around town.

Bokungu's main draw is as a gateway to Salonga National Park, a UNESCO-listed reserve and the world's largest protected tropical rainforest, home to bonobos and forest elephants.

Arranging onward travel into Salonga National Park is the main reason travelers pass through Bokungu.

Salonga National Park is the main onward destination by riverboat; Boende, the provincial capital, is reachable by road.