The waterfront at Mbandaka is the city's most compelling public space. The Congo River here is enormous — several kilometres wide in places — and at dawn, before the heat rises, the quality of light on the water is extraordinary. Pirogues and river ferries arrive from upstream and downstream; traders unload fish, smoked meat, and cassava; children swim in the shallows while men repair nets. It is the kind of scene that you can sit and watch for an hour without moving.
The larger ONATRA ferry (if it is running — schedules are unreliable) docks at the main quay on its journey between Kinshasa and Kisangani, one of the great river journeys in Africa. The boat can take up to two weeks to travel the 1,700 kilometres of river between the two cities, stopping at remote villages along the way. If you have the time and the constitution for it, boarding the ferry here for even a few days is an experience with few equals. The quay area also has a small market where river fish are sold fresh and smoked.