Hello there,
Me and a friend we did that way back in 1987 and it was very tough even back then. We then spent altogether seven weeks in what was then called Zaïre. We came in from Zambia overland to Lubumbashi in the south. Caught the so called express train in Lubumbashi to Ilebo, which took four days. We had what they called Cabine de Luxe, but it was still a rough four days. Trucks for two days and bus for one from Ilebo to Kinshasa. Then by bus out to the coast and back to Kinshasa, where we took a river boat, Colonel Tshatshi it was called, up to Kisangani. The boat trip was supposed to take ten days, the departure was delayed for two days and then the boat trip itself took twelve instead of ten days, which meant we arrived in Kisangani four days later than we were supposed to according to schedule. The trip on the river was very interesting, but travelling the country Zaïre, now DRC, was incredibly tough already back in 1987. Definately the toughest part of our six months in Africa, when we travelled overland from Cape Agulhas in South Africa up to Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya, And yes, we crossed the continent from west to east.
The part from Kisangani and eastwards in Zaïre was the toughest part on the whole journey! One single "road" and it was lousy. No public transport whatsoever. We caught a ride with a truck and went with it for five days, which took us a bit more than 500 km east from Kisangani towards Goma. It was TOUGH!!!
Of course this was 36 years ago and I have NO IDEA about what is like today. I doubt that it is easier though. Back then the Zaírians used to say Zaïre is the country with the future behind itself, meaning it was getting worse and worse. I am afraid this may still be the case.
Summing up, if you still decide to go, expect an extremely tough and rough time. You will need A LOT of patience and many other qualities to make it. And it may very well be risky.
Take care!
