Tourist Attractions & Monuments Congo Brazzaville

This self-taught ethnographer and guide has a good experience of common life with the Akas Pygmies. Its Eyes to Pygmies Association invites enthusiasts and curious people to dive into the forest to meet Pygmy communities in the Likouala forest and share in different ways their way of life. Discovery of culture mainly through music and dance.

From Iboubikro, a beautiful walk to Lake Sampion where it is easy to bathe given the shallow depth of water on the lake.

One of the particularities of the park is to be one of the largest nesting centres in the world of leatherback and olivâtres turtles. The WCS organizes night trips from 19 h during the nesting period from November to February. Cost: 20 000 FCFA.

A very beautiful canoe exit to the mouth of the lagoon, where it mingle with the ocean, is proposed. Sandy beach and coastal forest after a navigation of about 40 minutes through the lagoon of Conkouati dotted with islands and islets, the banks bordered by mangrove trees. It's memorable and costs CFAF 5 000, which is not too expensive. 

The gallery is located in the home of the art merchant Jacques Bouti, it is not exactly a gallery in the sense of commercial space with its opening hours, etc. It is recommended to call to announce his visit. Jacques Bouti broadcasts the paintings of some of the best contemporary Congolese artists.

Along the vast circle of the presidential villa and turning left at the corner, we find ourselves on a «beach» overlooking the Boumediene, a small, gagné space. Here, there are canoes unloading the shells and their leaves, which are braided, to isolate a little of the sheet toits of the sun. These kinds of mats are made on the ground under the wall of the president. A few piroguiers regularly make a palm wine. After paying the tour, we can negotiate a trip to a canoe, but beware: in a country recently released from monopartisme, civil war, non-existent tourism, and a fortiori on the chief's land, some rules of caution are required. Do not picture the residences of the president and his family, nor the facilities that even present a very distant, very unlikely strategic interest. Specifically, in the case of the rental of canoes, given the proximity of the presidential residence which gives on the river, a sensitive site if any, will warn the gendarmes, otherwise perfectly vendors, of your intention and request their consent. The opposite would make you a suspect. A White, alone, in canoe, which has not made itself known and which drags around the house of the leader, bad script, really…

The particularity of this saltworks is to host a large population of gorillas (more than 30 families identified). The area is well attended, which explains the presence of researchers studying their behaviour. 

The most famous saltworks in the national park. From platforms, there is a richer and diverse fauna (elephants, monkeys, gorillas, sitaguntas, céphalophes…). The lucky ones can even see lions and hyenas. 

Access by canoe. It will surprise elephants and buffalo.

The old national museum located next to the Plateau market has been closed for a long time. It housed paintings and sculptures, as well as local crafts (raffia and bark fabrics, fetishes, etc.). We expect his successor, who is expected to be on the side of the Nganga Edouard college, but the funds are missing for construction. This is apparently not a government priority-

This agency offers a dozen circuits on the country's livestock reserves, as well as on the river to Maloukou-Tréchot. It can also organize stays in Kinshasa. Price to bargain.

Classified as a biosphere reserve by Unesco in 1988, the Mayombe forest is a veritable green lung for the planet, with its varied and remarkable species of wood. However, it is seriously threatened by the illegal deforestation that goes on there without anyone saying a word, and to a considerable extent by the activities of gold miners. Auberge Vigoureux organizes walks through the reserve, to a lovely waterfall, for example. A breath of fresh air.

Like many French tourist towns, Brazzaville also has its own little white train! It's parked in the parking lot of the Mami Wata restaurant, which can organize a private ride to the south of the capital, along the corniche, for groups of 5 or more. It's an original way to discover this part of the capital, while enjoying a breathtaking view of the river, with neighboring Kinshasa as a backdrop.

The imposing sculptures made from recycled materials, including the famous elephant made from tin cans, which take pride of place in the courtyard of this art center run by women artists, immediately fascinate us. This association, founded in 2000, aims to train Bantu and indigenous women in painting and sculpture. The gallery features works by these artists, including paintings by Judith Tonda, the deputy president. A pleasant stopover.

This is Pointe-Noire's very first museum, inaugurated at the end of 2018. The Art Deco building, steeped in history, had been abandoned since the late 90s, having housed various circles, a court of justice, a political headquarters, and finally a goods depot. The museum houses a fine collection of masks and statuettes, mainly from the Vili ethnic group, donated by Luca Cosentino, former CEO of oil company Eni Congo. A gallery hosts temporary exhibitions of paintings and photographs. Not to be missed.

On the initiative of Sandra Plachesi, a French collector living in Congo-Brazzaville for over ten years, this art gallery opened in 2018 in the heart of the capital. It offers a new showcase for artists from Equatorial Africa to disseminate their work and thus make themselves known. Colorful paintings, sculptures and photographs adorn this modern venue over the course of the various exhibition-sales. Particular emphasis is placed on artists from the two Congo regions, who complement each other harmoniously. A beautiful moment of art.

Having toured Central Africa for over 15 years and settled in Dimonika over 10 years ago, Jan Limbourg of Auberge Vigoureux knows the country well. In addition to the guided tours he organizes in Dimonika, he offers a variety of multi-day guided tours of all regions of the Congo. For the more adventurous, he organizes treks to the Gabonese border, Cabinda or the Democratic Republic of Congo. Programs are tailor-made to suit travelers' desires and budgets. With Jan, you'll be in very good hands!

Nearly 40 km northeast of Pointe-Noire, the Makota salt glacier is an impressive site that grew out of potash mining by the CPC (Compagnie des Potasses du Congo), abruptly halted in 1977 following a flood caused by groundwater. Although the visit is breathtaking, the glacier is a disaster for the environment, as nothing grows there any more and salt water has invaded the freshwater streams. Today, the village's families make a living from the salt they gather in the traditional way.

The local agency, based in Pointe-Noire, organizes city tours of the capital so that you don't miss out on any of Brazzaville's must-sees. From Saint-Anne's Basilica to the August 15, 1960 bridge, via Sacré-Coeur Cathedral, you'll discover Brazza with a local guide well-versed in the country's history and culture. During this city tour, you'll be immersed in the typical atmosphere of the capital's emblematic neighborhoods, such as Bacongo and Poto-Poto, with the chance to meet the sapeurs. A pleasant visit.

This private gallery-museum, which aims to become a national reference for Congolese heritage in the near future, houses a rich collection of over 3,000 antique art objects, ranging from masks to statuettes, from raffia loincloths to colonial earthenware. The exhibition is the work of Felix Makouiza (1941-2022), a career doctor who collected African art for almost 50 years. The gallery-museum is very active, offering educational activities, art restoration and student support.

Art Brazza's little sister opened its doors in Pointe-Noire in 2022, a few blocks from the town hall on the way to avenue Charles de Gaulle. As in Brazzaville, it exhibits contemporary artists from all over Africa, mainly from the two Congos. The owner, a Frenchwoman with a passion for art who has lived in the Congo for over 10 years, shares with us her favorites from the exhibitions she organizes. A good place to stop and discover new African talent.

A central and very accessible market where one hundred small stalls overlap with the honest choice of Congolese crafts: modern statuettes with ebony, almost bluish qui, beautifully patina, leather bags and statuettes, sandals, jewelry, masks… Some stands also offer fetishes, spears and jet axes, although difficult nowadays to report in a cabin baggage. Prices are to negotiate lazily under the hot sheet.