Crossing Rwanda- Democratic Republic Of The Congo Border (Ruzizi)

Intro

Corruption? Lunch money? Paying off every officer in sight? It was everything and anything you could have ever imagined. Welcome to a border crossing that left me hysterical, laughing-wise, that is.

The Experience

During my drive from Kigali to Bukavu, we had to cross the Rwanda-DRC border in South Kivu. For those unaware, the South Kivu province in the DRC is relatively unaffected by the ongoing war between the M23 in the North, thus providing decent safety in the South.

I digress; the Ruzizi border to enter the DRC is located approximately 2km East of downtown Bukavu. Arriving at the border is a very complicated process (welcome to Africa). It's interesting to see how people from Rwanda commute to the DRC and vice versa on a daily basis. They even have a paper passport due to mitigating costs for these almost daily border crossings.

The first thing you must do is clear Rwanda customs. Depending on how the customs agents feel, they will either search you, your luggage, and your car or allow you to pass with no problems at all. Thankfully, I was let through with no problem at all.

The next part: you have to physically walk between the two countries. Yeah, you heard that right; only in Nicaragua, when riding the Tica bus, did I have to do this, but it was a stark contrast to a traditional border crossing in the West.

Alright, now what?

Once arriving at the Congo side of the border, I was met by my guide. After paying off some officials, we were taken into a back room where we were informed of the Visa on Arrival Cost (yes, the DRC has VOA but with a guide only from what I understand) and a "tip" for letting us pass quickly.

However, my guide's "passport" had been damaged, and the immigration officer got extremely angry with him. Even going as far as threatening to not let him in the country... After some more "lunch money," we were finally allowed into the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Not so fast, since it meant paying off more policemen to not have our bags searched 😂. All in all, I calculated that we paid around 25,000 Congolese Francs to over 12 people. Welcome to the DRC 🇨🇩.

Final Thoughts

Crossing the border into the Democratic Republic of The Congo is an experience that I will never forget. If you are planning to do this yourself, firstly you are brave, but secondly, make sure to bring a lot of money as you will have to pay the policemen off. There are no two ways about it; they can make your life tedious, and they know it. Good luck to you 😉.