After spending the first few days in the deafening chaos of Kinshasa, unimaginable for those who have never come across its boulevards perpetually congested by a disproportionate number of people, vehicles and merchandise of all kinds, we finally reached the province of Central Congo.

The impressive waves of the Congo River and the endless hills that you have to cross for over 40 kilometers before leaving the capital behind, have given way to the pleasant town of Mbanza Ngungu, an important railway hub in colonial times and an obligatory stop for those heading towards the larger Matadi.

From here, through long daily journeys on a pick-up truck overloaded with people and equipment and, sometimes also using the motorbike taxis that speed along these dilapidated tracks and connect the villages of the Langa district to the karst area that extends towards the south, the La Venta team began documenting the Ndimba Dimba cave and the Ngovo-Ngungi system, also continuing the exploration of some sectors.

Enormous Precambrian galleries and stunning waterfalls that interrupt the course of underground rivers are the elements that most characterize these magnificent caves, which we are documenting as part of the GeoRes4Dev project coordinated by the Royal Africa Museum of Tervuren.

In the next few days we will complete the survey of some branches in Ngovo and explore the new waterfall identified during the 2024 expedition in the connection area with Ngungi, following other underground rivers of Central Africa.

The expedition is taking place under the patronage of the Italian Speleological Society ETS and with the support of Ferrino Amphibious Gaibana Bee1 Vigea Fenix