Where the northern block of Salonga is wet and tangled, the southern block feels like the farther side of the moon. It lies roughly a degree south of the equator in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the great bowl of the Congo basin, and it is part of the same World Heritage reserve, which at thirty-six thousand square kilometres is the biggest protected tropical rainforest in Africa. A corridor of land between the two halves is home to people who farm, fish and hunt, and their villages are the only human mark on the map.
The park was created in 1970 and listed by UNESCO in 1984, and in 1999 it was added to the list of sites in danger, because war, poaching and the collapse of park management had left it exposed. Conservation groups and rangers have worked since to protect it, and it remains a place where the story is not yet settled. Bonobos live here, the apes that settle quarrels with affection rather than violence, as do forest elephants and the shy, striking Congo peafowl that was unknown to science until the 1930s.
The rivers rule this region. They run dark and slow between flooded banks, and the only practical routes into the forest are by pirogue, the dugout canoe, and on foot along narrow trails. Rainfall is heavy for most of the year, with a slightly drier spell mid-year, and the forest floor stays damp. The nearest roads are rough tracks between villages, often impassable in the rains.
If you are drawn to this place, treat it as an expedition and not a ride. Plan through the national park authority or a conservation partner, expect to carry every litre of fuel and water you will need, and check the security position well in advance. Medical help is a long way off. What you gain is the experience of a forest so big and quiet that it makes the rest of the planet feel crowded.