Looking for contacts in Brazzaville and Kinshasa
 

We are currently in Libreville and are heading for Brazzaville. We will try to cross to Kinshasa and see what the possibilities are from there (ultimatly we would like to go to Lubumbashi).

Any contacts in both Brazzaville and Kinshasa are greatly welcomed. If you know people, or currently reside in, Brazza or Kin, please let us know.

Please send us an email via our website: http://www.radiobaobab.be (contact us)

We are hoping that the elections on the 29th don't go wrong...

Cheers and keep it safe on the road,

Frederik & Josephine

BTW, anyone crossed the road between Dolisie and Brazza lately? We are thinking of going via Franceville instead.

Road and Info
 

Hi,

Although my info is probably outdated (2004), we contacted the catholic mission, sainte esprit, on information regarding safety and roads (maison Libermann in Brazzaville). They also have a mission in Dolisie, where you can sleep although we did not get there.

The road between Dolisie and Brazza is notarably insecure. Both for Ninja rebels as well as bribing policemen. A friend of us paid 100 euros to get his passport back and another was in the train during an attack of ninjas...
We choose to fly with an Antonov 12 from Brazza to Pointe Noire as we could not cross to Kinshasa (Angolan embassy did not want to issue visa and boat did not run due to low water).
The good thing still is it was one of our most memorable experiences.

If you like to consider another alternative route (Franceville road is the main connection by road, so more busy with heavy duty trucks and the like), you can take the road from Makokou-Mekambo-Ekata-Mbomo-Etoumbi-Ewo-Boundji- Obouja-Brazza. May be you can even visit Parc Nationale d'Odzala, where you can see low land gorillas. More and actual info you can get at an EU institute that is involved in the conservation of the parc or WWF. They both have an office in Libreville.

Bon courage!

Ike

I'm not sure if it's work, but there is russian cultural center in Bressaville. you could try to call them (242) 811922, the head of the department is Vasiliy Chechin

Thanks for the replies!

We are currently in Brazza, we bumped into a fellow Belgian who offered us a place to sleep(and much more) for a couple of days. Nice town, calm, expensive though.

We entered in Lékoni (east of Franceville). Road is not used that much, but in veyr good condition. It's mostly sand, so no problems during the rainy season. People were friendly, as were the customs officers and the police. Nothing had to be payed.

Seems like most info on Brazza is a bit outdated. We have had no bad experiences (on the contrary) up to now. It's a great country, not spoiled by tourism yet, superb!

Safe travels,

Frederik
PS. We saw a Gorilla in the wild in the Lopé National park in Gabon. There are also freshly released gorillas in the Lefini national park, we will visit that park in the following days.