Lubumbashi
Democratic Republic of the Congo · Haut-Katanga · 1208 m
Description
Lubumbashi is the second city of the country and the capital of the copper belt, laid out on a grid in 1910 as Elisabethville and still ordered in a way Kinshasa never was. The slag heap of the old Gécamines smelter rises black above the skyline and is the landmark everyone navigates by. The national museum holds Luba and Songye masks and stools, and the zoo has been rebuilt around rescued animals. At twelve hundred metres the air is dry and the winters cool. Zambia is two hours south down the road to Kasumbalesa. Copper and cobalt from the mines around it still leave by rail towards the Zambian border.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 3 days (optimal 2 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: May – August
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Musée National de Lubumbashi
- Gécamines slag heap above the city
- Colonial grid and the art deco centre
- Marché Mzee Laurent-Désiré Kabila
- Zoo de Lubumbashi
- Cathédrale Saints-Pierre-et-Paul
- Chutes de la Lofoi in Kundelungu
- Kiubo falls on the Lufira
- Luba and Songye carving in the museum
- Grilled meat and Katanga braais
- Upemba National Park to the north
- Border road south to Zambia
Getting there
- Airports:
- FBM
- Train stations:
- Lubumbashi