DR Congo 
In numbers.
65m
Height
291m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Apr–May
Dec–Jan
Best months
186MW
Water power
estimate
The water at Zongo Falls, month by month
It roars from April to May and from November to January.
The fullest months: from April to May and from November to January. The thinnest: from July to September.
- 574 m³/sJan
- 468 m³/sFeb
- 472 m³/sMar
- 536 m³/sApr
- 499 m³/sMay
- 306 m³/sJun
- 138 m³/sJul
- 48 m³/sAug
- 73 m³/sSep
- 226 m³/sOct
- 487 m³/sNov
- 623 m³/sDec
From about 48 m³/s in the lowest month to 623 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from April to May and from December to January.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfalls in Democratic Republic of the Congo
Zongo Falls is a waterfall in DR Congo. The water falls 65 m.
Getting there.
- Maya-Maya International Airport (BZV)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 70 km in a straight line
- From April to May and from December to Januarybest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
How big is it?
How big it really is.
Height of the drop from Wikidata. Buildings and the person are drawn at the same scale.
186 MW
About 291 m³/s falling 65 m: the power of the water as it drops.
- as much as 62 large wind turbines
- enough to power about 46,400 homes, if it were all turned into electricity
Power of falling water = density × gravity × flow × height. Average flow and height as shown above; an estimate.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 77 m in 3.6 km. Here the river runs about 94 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- 1viewpointsZongo Falls Viewpoint
- —waymarked walking routes
- —car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- —toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- —other named waterfalls within 4 km
- —caves
- 1campsitesSeli Safari
- 2hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmSeli Safari, Bandreka
- —restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 29 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 30 | 29 | 29 |
| Night °C | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 149 | 153 | 196 | 200 | 143 | 13 | 3 | 12 | 52 | 163 | 250 | 210 |
| Wet days | 26 | 25 | 28 | 28 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 28 | 29 | 28 |
| Sun h/day | 5.1 | 4.9 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 5.4 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 4.5 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (367 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 183% | 182% | 118% | 111% | 133% | 266% | — | 149% | 74% | 128% | 188% | 127% |
| 2021 | 137% | 106% | 100% | 94% | 69% | 84% | — | 167% | 104% | 77% | 79% | 82% |
| 2022 | 163% | 98% | 182% | 103% | 84% | 41% | — | 28% | 51% | 70% | 117% | 81% |
| 2023 | 111% | 67% | 120% | 150% | 95% | 73% | — | 18% | 47% | 74% | 53% | 82% |
| 2024 | 47% | 78% | 70% | 103% | 46% | 39% | — | 16% | 82% | 58% | 94% | 73% |
| 2025 | 80% | 78% | 56% | 147% | 198% | 273% | — | 13% | 34% | 77% | 73% | 78% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Zongo Falls
DR Congo
- 65 mHeight
- 291 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr–May, Dec–JanBest months
Livingstone Falls
Republic of the Congo
- —Height
- 42,000 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr, Nov–JanBest months
Loufoulakari waterfalls
Republic of the Congo
- —Height
- —Average flow
- Apr, Nov–JanBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q108442084) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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