The long avenues
Tall trees.
Pandries — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pandries — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pandries — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Josué Nsiala — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pandries — CC BY-SA 3.0
Kisantu Botanical Garden is a botanical park near the town of Kisantu in Kongo Central Province. Brother Justin Gillet of the Jesuit order founded it in 1900, and it reached its height in the late 1950s. Today it is one of the most peaceful places to walk in the region, with long avenues and giant trees. Brother Gillet arrived in the Congo in 1893, took charge of the mission garden and took an interest in local plants and food-crop trials. He planted a first garden in 1898, then moved it in 1900 to a fertile plain on a tributary of the Inkisi, covering 100 hectares protected by a dyke and watered by canals. After decades of neglect, its rehabilitation began in 2004 with European Union funding. You walk long straight dirt avenues lined with very tall trees of many kinds, some African and some from other continents. The garden has a towering araucaria, African mahoganies and broad lawns. Small pools and varied tropical plants are dotted around. It is about 2.6 km from Kisantu town in a straight line and about 95 km from Kinshasa. It pairs with Zongo Falls on a two-day trip. There is a small restaurant in the garden.
Tall trees.
Towering.
Broad.
Near Kisantu, Kongo Central Province, DR Congo
Brother Justin Gillet of the Jesuits, in 1900.
Yes, on a two-day trip from Kinshasa.