About Mbuji-Mayi
Mbuji-Mayi was born from a diamond strike. Gems were found along the Mbuji-Mayi River in 1918, and the mining camp then called Bakwanga swelled into the capital of Kasaï-Oriental and one of the largest cities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, home to millions of people. The name means river of the goat in Tshiluba, the language heard on every street.
This is not a polished tourist town. The MIBA mining company has shaped the city for a century, and its company district still keeps the planned avenues and villas of Belgian colonial times, while the rest of Mbuji-Mayi spread quickly and informally across the gently rolling Kasai plateau. Motorbike taxis are the usual way to get around.
Most visitors come for family, business or church. The brick Bonzola Cathedral is the landmark everyone points to, the wide Lubilanji River and the Lukelenge spring offer green riverbanks a short ride from the center, and match nights at the Kashala Bonzola stadium show the city at its loudest. Flights from Kinshasa and Lubumbashi land at Bipemba airport, the easiest way in.
Best seasonJune to August, the short dry season
Ideal stay2-3 days
ArrivingFlights from Kinshasa or Lubumbashi to Mbuji-Mayi Airport
