Boyoma Falls

Boyoma Falls
Seventh cataract of Boyoma/Stanley Falls near Kisangani
Location	Lualaba River, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Type	Cataract
Total height	200 feet or 60 meters
Average width	4,500 feet or 1,372 meters
Watercourse	Lualaba River
Average flow rate	17,000 m³/s or 600,000 ft³/s

Boyoma Falls, formerly known as Stanley Falls, consists of seven cataracts, each no more than 5 m (16 ft) high, extending over more than 100 km (62 mi) along a curve of the Lualaba River between the river port towns of Ubundu and Kisangani/Boyoma in the Orientale Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

At the bottom of the rapids, the Lualaba becomes the Congo River. The seven cataracts have a total drop of 61 m (200 ft). The two major cataracts are the first below Ubundu, forming a narrow and crooked stream that is hardly accessible, and the last that can easily be seen and also be visited from Kisangani.

A 1000m portage railway bypasses the series of rapids, connecting Kisangani and Ubundu.

Last rapid with Wagenia fishermen

Especially among French speakers the cataracts are also known as Wagenia Falls (chûtes Wagenia), referring to the local people of fishermen named Wagenia or Wagenya who have developed a special technique to fish in the river. They build systems of wooden tripods across the rapids fixed in holes carved in the rock by the water current. They serve as anchors for baskets that entrap large fish.