Three to four days work well for Kinshasa. Spend one in Gombe and along the river, one in the hills of Ngaliema and at the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary, and keep an evening for live rumba in Matonge. A fourth day leaves room for markets and neighborhood walks.

Brazzaville is about 4 km away, directly across the Congo River at Pool Malebo, which makes the two the closest pair of capital cities in the world. There is no bridge, and ferries cross from Kinshasa's river port. Brazzaville is in a different country, the Republic of the Congo.

French is the official language, and Kinshasa is the largest officially French-speaking city in the world. In markets, on buses and in songs, Lingala is what you hear most, so a simple mbote, meaning hello, goes a long way. Tshiluba, Kikongo and Swahili are spoken too.