Congo River Rapids: The Water Trap That Swallowed 7 People

Long before Ash Dykes paddled the Sangha River, other people tried to get through the Congo, and many of them never made it out. Downstream of his finish line, the Congo River drops into the Inga Rapids, the largest rapids on Earth by flow, where the river falls ninety-six metres in just fifteen kilometres. For almost four hundred years, no outsider made it through this river. When Henry Morton Stanley finally did in 1877, about half his party was gone. In 1985, seven people set out to cross the Inga Rapids and were never seen again. It took until 2011 for anyone to kayak through, and even that team nearly lost a man. Beneath the rapids lies the deepest river on Earth, home to blind fish, species still being discovered, and goliath tigerfish with teeth the size of a great white's. And now there's a plan to build the world's biggest dam right on top of it. Would you take on these rapids? 0:00 Intro 0:27 Past Ash Dykes' Finish Line 0:50 The Livingstone Falls 1:20 The Inga Rapids 2:26 The Deepest River on Earth 3:12 The Blind Fish 4:50 New Species 5:46 The Goliath Tigerfish 6:03 The World's Biggest Dam 6:54 The Case for It 7:22 The Case Against It 8:05 Which One Would You Choose? Sources: Guinness World Records, National Geographic, US Geological Survey, American Museum of Natural History, American Museum Novitates (2025), World Bank, Africa Energy Portal, International Rivers. #AshDykes #CongoBasin #ingarapids