{"id":5186,"date":"2024-10-23T08:50:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T08:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2024\/?p=5186"},"modified":"2024-10-23T18:04:44","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T18:04:44","slug":"congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2024\/travel\/congo\/","title":{"rendered":"The Republic of Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’m on the road again visiting my 189th country: The Republic of Congo, aka Congo-Brazzaville. In case you didn’t know, there are two Congos — this one, which occupies the north bank of the Congo River, and the much larger Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo-Kinshasa) on the south side of the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a fun fact to know and tell: Brazzaville, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Congo, sits directly across the Congo River from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. These two cities are the world’s closest national capitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brazzaville, like Kinshasa, has the usual African central business district full of high-rise hotels, office buildings, shops, restaurants, gridlocked traffic, honking horns, dust, mud and exhaust. Outside the CBD, there are vast slums of tin-roofed shacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brazzaville’s CBD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Gridlock in Brazzaville<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Fresh fish for dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

People speak French here. Although I was able to make myself understood from the first day, it took me a few more days to get used to the accent, and I never learned any <\/em>of the colorful local slang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Congo River barges<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Fishing on the Congo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Twilight over Kinshasa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I prefer Brazzaville over Kinshasa because it’s 1\/6 the size of its neighbor across the river. It’s also quieter, safer, the police are less corrupt, and the food’s better. I spent a couple of evenings enjoying a Ngok beer at a riverfront bar watching the sun set. Kinshasa is lovely at a distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the Republic of Congo is jungle. With 85% of its population living in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, Congo is one of the most urbanized countries in Africa. A luxurious way to see Congo’s untouched jungle is by riding La Gazelle<\/a>, an express train that links Brazzaville with Pointe-Noire once a week. This train resumed service this past April after having been shut down for seven years due to a disastrous derailment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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