DIOSSO GORGES

One of the best-known and most beautiful sites in the Congo, located 20 km north of Pointe-Noire: rain erosion in the laterite has shaped a succession of large cirques, creating densely vegetated gorges, bristling on their flanks with flamboyant red spurs bordering the sea. Some of them resemble small, forgotten valleys. The young guides of Diosso have formed an association and now charge admission to all three sites (Diosso, Marseille and Libya). You can explore the gorges from the top of the cliffs, admiring the breathtaking views. You can descend into the heart of most of the cirques. Beware, however, that the descent is sometimes a balancing act, as the laterite is crumbly. It's up to you to assess the feasibility of this daredevil walk. Until now, the largest and most majestic of these cirques was only accessible via steeply sloping paths, which limited the number of visitors to a few hunters, kids and Ponténégrins on outings. The creation of a new road has changed all that, and from the top of the cliff you can already see holes in the thick forest, clearings created by charcoal burners who come to cut down trees and burn them. It is likely that if a conservation policy is not put in place, the cirque of these gorges will be nothing more than a barren, peeling area in a few years' time. Access to the top of the cliffs is via the RN5, at the end of the village it's the small lane on the left.