Congo The Nile may be the longest river in Africa, but the Congo is the most African. This 2,900-mile juggernaut arcs across equatorial Africa like a giant anaconda before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. The Congo is the kind of river Johnny Weismuller used to dive into knife in mouth to slay an impossibly large crocodile in true Tarzan fashion.
Crocodiles still swim the Congo, as do hippopotamuses, manatees and hundreds of species of fish.
And some 250 kinds of outrageously plumaged birds inhabit the lush forest hugging the river for much of its course. Egypt, the Greek historian and traveler Herodotus said, is the gift of the Nile the world's longest and best-known river. During its 4,000-mile course, the Nile drains and flows through half a dozen countries, but Egypt is the star attraction. Herodotus journeyed up the Nile in 457 B.C., and visitors have been following in his footsteps ever since, from Alexander to Napoleon. No other river on earth even comes close to boasting as many archeological treasures along its shores, including the temples of Luxor, the colossi at Abu Simbel and the tombs in Valley of the Kings.