A lesson in political instability and African infighting and its disastrous geopolitical consequences, the Democratic Republic of the Congo sports all the scars of one of the world’s longest running civil wars. Fragile governments reign in the parliament houses in Kinshasa, the capital, while reports of marauding gangs and private armies still emerge from the rainforest wilds, and the UN still fields more peacekeepers here than anywhere else on earth.

A pity given that Congo is Africa’s most bio diverse country; 5 national parks deemed world heritage sites are home to rare and endemic species like the bonobo, Okapi, the African elephant and the mountain gorilla. There are mist-topped volcanos too, while away in the cities, intrepid travellers can look to Democratic Republic of the Congo tour guides to showcase the birthplace of funky soukouss music, the big influencer in the music genres belted out in the continent as a whole.