The Republic of Congo has many tourist sites and excellent wildlife reserves to visit.
Odzala National Park:
Located north of the Kellé district in the Cuvette region, approximately 500 kilometers north of the capital Brazzaville, Odzala National Park, established in 1935, covers nearly 2,850 square kilometers.
The park forms a plateau of medium altitude, ranging from 500 to 600 meters, with the northwest representing its highest point, extending to a north-south escarpment 25 km west of the park’s current western boundary. This escarpment overlooks the vast valleys of the Ivindo River basin, on the border between Gabon and Congo.
How to get to Odzala National Park?
Access to the park is by land (for example, by renting a 4×4) or by air (see the list of domestic airlines). An airstrip has been built and is maintained near the Mboko camp. Within the park, visits are primarily conducted on foot, but most connections between the various wildlife viewing sites require transfers by motorized canoe. The park comprises numerous sites, all still in their natural state: Mboko, Lango, Mbouébé, various rivers, Moba, Ekania, Ambéré, the Upper Mambili marshes, Maya, the Elephant Trail, Lossi, and others.
Other national parks:
The Léfini Wildlife Reserve, located north of Brazzaville,
east of Djambala and south of Gamboma;
the Lekoli-Pandaké Wildlife Reserve, north of Kellé;
the Mont Fouari Reserve and the Nianga-Nord Reserve, located west of Divénié in the Niari region.
Other Sights and Tourist Sites:
Brazzaville and Pool Region :
Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, offers visitors a colorful and picturesque city tour. Affectionately known as Brazza the Green, the city stretches for nearly 10 km along the right bank of the Congo River. From a distance, it unfolds like a large park filled with flowering trees.
The Basilica of Saint Anne of Congo, with its green roof, changes hues throughout the day depending on the lighting.
The Sacred Heart Cathedral (Saint Firmin), built by Bishop Augouard, offers a view of Poto Poto, the city center, and Kinshasa (the neighboring capital of the DRC).
A remnant of the first European house in Brazzaville, built in 1884 by Charles Dechavannes, stands in front of the People’s Palace.
The stele erected in memory of Savorgnan de Brazza and his companions, the De Gaulle House…
The Marien Ngouabi Museum
, the Congress Palace,
the People’s Palace (residence of the Governors-General of the former French Equatorial Africa),
the Poto-Poto School of Painting
, the sculpture and ceramics workshops, the old quarters and the popular markets, etc.
A visit to the area surrounding Brazzaville provides access to the beautiful and wonderful tourist sites of the Pool region: the Nguéla Hole, the Thousand-Leaf Tree, the Léfini Reserve, the Loufoulakari and Béla Falls. The fishing villages, the Blue Lake, the Nkankata Museum or Museum of Fetishes…
Batéké Plateaux Region :
Located north of Brazzaville, the Batéké Plateaux are quite unusual.
Depressions remain wooded. The Teke people generally live in vaulted houses aligned along a central esplanade.
It is known for its monarchical social organization and a dynamism that has led to its population surplus flowing into the capital.
The Blue Lake, located in a magnificent rift valley
, is part of the Léfini Reserve, one of the most important in Congo, situated some 140 kilometers from Brazzaville and near the Blue Lake. Elephants, buffalo, hippos, monkeys, antelopes, gazelles, and several kinds of birds, including guinea fowl, can be seen there.
Cuvette Region :
A region of vast forests and humid lands crisscrossed by numerous rivers. It boasts a magnificent national park, almost entirely untouched: Odzala National Park, devoid of campsites, where the wildlife (elephants, lions, panthers, monkeys, buffalo, gorillas, antelopes, etc.) remains elusive. The region also offers other tourist attractions such as its old Christian churches, the marker symbolizing the Equator line at Makoua, and the village of Ombele, the birthplace of the late President Marien Ngouabi.
Opportunities for big game hunting abound; the depths of the forests remain the domain of the Pygmies.
The Sangha and Likouala region offers
a Pygmy Circuit departing from Brazzaville to the Sangha region, venturing into the vast equatorial rainforest. Visitors can also explore Lake Manamingoye and Mount Nabemba, the country’s highest peak at 1,000 meters.
While Likouala owes its reputation particularly to Lake Télé, home to a famous dinosaur known locally as “MOKELEMBEMBE,” which attracted numerous scientific expeditions a few years ago, it is also the domain of the formidable mudflats, said to be barely explored. In this area, mystery seems to be a given.
The Niari Valley :
In this region, a few Pygmies still live apart from mainstream life. A few kilometers from the city of Dolisie, there is a lake called “Lake MOUKOMBO” and its caves. A little further towards Gabon, tourists can visit the Bihoua caves and the Mount Mfouari reserve, which boasts the same animal species as the Léfini reserve. In the Bouenza region, there are:
The Bouenza Falls, 65 meters high;
the Moukoulou Dam;
the Nkila-Ntari and Fwalwila caves, the most important in the country, where you can find a table and benches made of carved stone, the work of warriors who took refuge during tribal wars;
the vine bridge over the Ogoué River near Lékoumou…
The Littoral and Mayombe regions :
This area is home to Congo’s second-largest city, Pointe-Noire, built on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, with its bay and fine sandy beaches.
Pointe-Noire is extremely rich in attractions and offers a wide variety of sporting opportunities. The most popular sport is sea fishing along the wild coast or in Loango Bay. This fishing sometimes results in sensational catches and Pointe-Noire holds the world record for a catch from land of a 2.5 m tarpon weighing 101 kgs.
During the dry season, the most exhilarating tourist attraction in the region is the chaotic exploration of the Mayombe: torrents, falls, and cascades are countless…
