BEFORE LEAVING HOME
You will need:
o Letter of Invitation
o Ensure your home country’s Health Re-entry requirements
o Check which countries you are passing through that require avisa in advance
o Extra passport size photos
o Photocopies of passport and important documents

Visas: Do you plan to get your visa in your country before arrival or upon arrival in Goma?
Please visit Traveldocuments.com for details, forms, etc.

If applying at the border, visas cost $35 for 8 days.

If there is a Congolese embassy in your country of residence, you may apply for a visa before arrival. We encourage this option. DR Congo currently has embassies in the USA, Canada and the UK, but not in Australia. Please check the specific requirements of your application with the relevant embassy. As a rough estimate, visa fees are: $75 one month with one entry; $90 one month with multiple entries; $220 two months with one or multiple entry. International Travel for DRC

If you have a local embassy, HEAL Africa can provide a letter of invitation to facilitate your application. If you would like one, Virginie can provide you with one, so please send each person’s:
-Full Name
-State and Country Passport was issued in
-Passport Number
-Dates of your stay in Goma
-SHORT purpose (not more than 50 words)

• Immunization Card. You are required to have a yellow immunization card, updated, when you cross the border.
  

Getting Here

GETTING TO GOMA FROM KIGALI
Depending on your budget and the size of your group you can either hire a taxi OR take the bus to get from Kigali to Goma. Our Public Relations Director can help you identify this as well as make arrangements for you or your group.

For large groups
Depute with Okapi Taxis (+25008532457) has large vans that can pick you up from the airport ($15/each), and to the border ($150/each).

For small groups (4 or less)
Deo (+25008521767), a private taxi driver has a flat rate of $100 for the trip from Kigali to the Goma border. He charges $10 to transfer guests from the airport to your hotel.

For smaller budgets
Rwanda has many buses, public transportation, taxis and motos. There is a public bus available for $5 each way from Kigali to Gisenyi (the town on the border with DR Congo). It is easy to take a taxi to the bus station, where buses generally leave every hour to the border. You would have to take a taxi or moto from Gisenyi to the Goma border, which is 5 minutes away. Large or additional luggage counts as an additional person, and will be charged at $5 per bag.

MONEY

Please remember that it is a cash-based economy only in eastern Congo, so make sure you have all the cash you need for you stay and other expenses here, or plan to travel across the border to Gisenyi to use their ATMs. You can pay in new cash here (all dollar bills 2004 or newer in perfect condition, as they will not accept one tear or any imperfections!). However, you can prepay with a transfer for your stay at Maji Matulivu if you prefer not to carry much cash.