Central African Republic

My Central African Republic travel summary:

Visited: February 2024

Duration of visit: 7 days

Capital city: Bangui

Population: 6.0 million (2024)

Central African Republic travel blog reading time: 15 minutes

• Tasting great food, interesting conversations and activities along Ubangi river in Bangui.
• Chute de Boali – impressive waterfalls even during dry season.
• Legendary drive from Bangui to Bayanga through the jungle in a truck cabin, combined with moto taxi on the bush road.
• Dzanga-Sangha National Park: superb gorilla trekking and elephant observation in Dzanga Bai.
• BaAka pygmy’s singing, house tour and happily welcoming.

With 622,984 square kilometers and less than 6 million people, Central African Republic (CAR) is one of the least densely populated countries in Africa. After gaining independence from France in 1960, this landlocked country has experienced widespread instability with multiple coups and internal conflicts. Fierce clashes between the government and armed groups forced over 600,000 refugees abroad and displaced another 600,000 within the country.

The Central African Republic is among the world’s poorest countries, with severe undernourishment, and a life expectancy of just 53 years.

There are also positive aspects. CAR is rich in natural resources like diamonds, gold, oil, timber, and arable land. It has exceptional biodiversity with many rare species, including gorillas, elephants, hippos, lions, cheetahs, leopards, rhinos and crocodiles.

My Central African Republic travel adventure started at Bangui airport. I was convinced that my visa and a local contact waiting outside would ensure a fair reception in one of the region’s most unstable countries. My friend, Nixon, approached me at the airport even before immigration control.

After filling out the arrival and customs forms, I received my passport stamp while my luggage was already on the belt. An easy-going custom officer briefly checked it.

“Bienvenue en République Centrafricaine!”

I decided to travel around the Central African Republic by public transport without local guides, avoiding expensive hotels, tourist restaurants, and private drivers. Almost no backpacking information was available, but improvisation worked perfectly.

I settled in a Catholic missionary center where nuns offered the cheapest rooms in Bangui. My room was comfortable, the welcome warm, and the location next to the cathedral peaceful.

To travel independently and avoid police bribes or interrogations at checkpoints, I first went to the Ministry of Tourism. It was Friday afternoon, electric eclipse, and the bored staff were eager to leave. My friend Nixon wrote a formal request for an official permit to visit the countryside around Bangui.

Two hours later, I received an official authorization, including permission to take photos along my planned route. The minister himself signed the document.

I knew this document would protect me from corrupt local authorities who often seek opportunities to demand money.

After completing formalities like buying a SIM card and exchanging euros for CFA, we went for an early dinner. Nixon guided her friend Jessica and me to a hidden local hut known for BBQ fish, where I chose my fish directly from the kitchen. From a wide selection of fresh fish, I chose a big chunk with little bones that was slowly grilled.

Almost an hour later, it was served with cassava and plantains. During my Central African Republic travel adventure, I realized how important charcoal and woodfire BBQ is in Central African cuisine, where fresh food takes time to prepare.

There are hardly any landmarks, attractions, interesting places to visit or exciting things to do in Bangui. I haven’t heard of any museums, parks or monuments that would mark the history or development of this turmoil country. The most bizarre monument is actually quite recent. Raised in February 2022, Russian Mercenary Statue, is dedicated to the Russian professional soldiers’ group, named Wagner.

For nearly a decade, a large United Nations force established one of the biggest peacekeeping missions, with over 16,000 personnel. Hundreds of millions, possibly billions, were invested to end the civil war between multiple rebel groups and the government. MINUSCA focused on protecting civilians, supporting political transition, delivering aid, safeguarding human rights, and managing disarmament and reintegration.

Despite all efforts, at one stage rebels controlled not only the countryside but also Bangui’s suburbs.

In 2018, Russia signed a military cooperation agreement with CAR. Small units of the Russian private military company Wagner arrived to train local troops and protect government officials.

In 2021, the government exchanged access to natural resources for a professional force willing to fight rebels. About 1,000 Wagner fighters, supported by the national army, restored control over more than 90% of the territory within a year. Gold, diamonds, and uranium were a strong incentive.

During my Central African Republic travel adventure in 2024, people were finally enjoying peace. Long-term consequences are not on the minds of those who still face violence, hunger, or abuse.

Many locals no longer welcomed the MINUSCA mission, questioning the high costs of salaries, privileges, and the expensive infrastructure.

With few tall buildings and traffic dominated by taxis, motorbikes, and UN vehicles, Bangui felt more like a large village than a real city. Power cuts and unstable internet were common.

I spent the day exploring downtown, the central market, and Lebanese-run supermarkets while observing street life. These air-conditioned stores mainly serve elites and UN workers, with prices often higher than in Europe.

I admired people’s friendly attitude toward “moundjou”, the Sango word for foreigners, and their respectful behavior. Nobody reacted negatively to my photography or sightseeing.

Ubangi River separates Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic.

“30,000 CFA for a trip in my pirogue!” asked a young captain to take me around the river bay in his wooden canoe.

Nearly 50 USD was absurdly overpriced, but quoting ten times the real price is a common tactic.

I calmly insisted on paying 2,000 CFA and eventually agreed on 2,500 CFA – 4 USD.

“Let’s go!”

The captain worked with a team of approximately 15 sand diggers who collected sand from the river. Later, they transported it by pirogue to the shore, and carried it uphill in buckets to load it on trucks supplying construction sites.

Diving underwater to fill buckets with sand and carrying heavy loads on their heads is exhausting work, but it gives them remarkably strong upper bodies. The earnings seem decent, and the men appeared proud of their job.

They were eager to show me around the bay, practice English, and host me on their pirogue. Instead of giving a tip, I thanked them with locally brewed palm wine sold cheaply in reused plastic containers.

The country’s best road, connecting Bangui with Cameroon, showcases remarkable human creativity in travel.

While I enjoyed a comfortable seat on a large bus, I watched modified yellow Nissan taxis carrying up to 28 passengers.

Some sat inside or in the luggage trunk, while others crowded onto a wooden platform fixed to the roof. A few even balanced on the front hood, holding onto the structure above. Despite my travels across Africa, I had never seen anything like it before.

Baoli Falls, together with Dzanga-Sangha National Park, are among the finest natural attractions in the Central African Republic and a must-visit place. Even at the end of the dry season, the waterfalls were impressive. walked down the stairs to different levels to observe the falls from various angles.  Huge amounts of water fall from multiple sources along the 250-meter-wide cliff into a single lagoon below. The impact creates loud noise and sends bubbles and mist into the air.

A park guide directed me to a bridge over the river for a better view from the top. On the way, I met a honey collector preparing bait for bees, a risky but skilled job. It is a risky job without proper equipment, but knowledge of nature yields impressive results.

Local women peeling cassava in the water invited me to join them, and I tried my skills with a blunt knife. It was introduced to the Congo Basin by Portuguese in the 16^th century. Cassava is a subsistence crop processed through fermentation, drying, and cooking, then sold in markets or eaten fried, mashed, or baked. I ate it at almost every meal during my trip.

About 500 kilometers separate Bangui and Dzanga-Sangha National Park, my next destination. Before arriving in the Central African Republic, I could not find reliable information about overland travel, as everyone recommended flying as the only safe option. I preferred exploring the countryside, despite difficult logistics and fragile security.

Nixon advised me to reach PK9, on Bangui’s outskirts, early Monday morning. On that day trucks supposedly leave for Nola, the gateway to my final destination – Dzanga-Sangha National Park.

A long motorbike ride at 5:30am brought me to the truck parking area at PK9. I quickly negotiated a cabin seat next to a young driver, ate breakfast at a roadside stall, and prepared a simple baguette sandwich with avocado and beans for later.

Around 50 passengers were squeezed into the truck’s rear, while I enjoyed the comfort of the cabin with the driver and an older woman.

The ride through the jungle was long, exhausting and full of action.  The paved road ended after less than an hour. From then on, a dirt track crossed dense jungle, poor villages, sand dunes, and low branches hitting the truck. Children and elders watched and waved at us, enjoying one of the day’s most exciting moments.

After two breakdowns and getting stuck in sand twice, we finally reached the village of Mambelle at 1:00am.

The driver was exhausted. He was not able to continue driving and called for a break until the dawn. The village of Mambelle was asleep. I was too tired to look for a hotel. I laid down on a bench in front of a closed restaurant and took a nap until the sunrise. Uncomfortable, hard, but rewarding.

We reached Nola at 10:00am, 26 hours after leaving Bangui.

Unlike other towns along the route, Nola had a stronger Muslim presence and a drier, unattractive landscape. My only goal was finding a moto taxi for the remaining 100 kilometers to Bayanga, my final destination.

After an hour of negotiation, I found a reliable driver recommended by a local shop owner. While the truck ride from Bangui had been slow and comfortable, the motorbike journey to Bayanga became one of the wildest and craziest rides of my life. However, I was not too afraid because the driver seemed experienced and confident.

The gravel road was in much better condition, without sandy tracks. There were almost no vehicles or motorbikes, and we crossed only a few muddy sections before reaching Bayanga at 2:00pm. I arrived exhausted, dirty, sleepy, and with back pain.

The journey from Bangui to Bayanga was one of those unforgettable trips that truly defines a backpacker.

Traveling in the dry season was a huge advantage, as the same route can take three to five days during the rains.

Dzanga-Sangha Special Forest Reserve was established in 1990 in southwestern CAR, bordering Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo. It protects one of the last refuges for forest elephants and western lowland gorillas. Many other animals live in the park: bongo antelopes, forest buffalo, monkeys, and diverse birdlife.

During my Central African Republic travel adventure over 2,200 gorillas lived in the park, including three groups habituated to human presence.

I visited Dzanga-Sangha National Park mainly for gorilla trekking and elephant observation.

After a COVID-19 test, I was cleared for gorilla trekking and became the only visitor that day. A 30-minute drive took me to the park base, where a guide, tracker, and ranger led me along a marked jungle trail.

The walk was easy, with occasional river crossings where we walked barefoot. The water was up to our knees. In such moments, I simply trust the guides and follow their instructions without worrying about potential risks.

At the meeting point, I was joined by another group of gorilla observers. I put on a mask and prepared for the encounter. Since it was my third encounter with gorillas, I knew what to expect and how to behave.

A family of seven gorillas appeared 5–7 meters away: a silverback, two adult females, and four babies.

Mukumba, the silverback, was massive, stood up briefly, then moved a few steps to a more comfortable resting spot.

The youngest baby gorilla was only a few months old, eager to play, climb, and attract attention. It occasionally stared at us, while the rest of the family, especially the silverback, ignored our presence. He never showed his face directly, often turning away and hiding behind bushes and trees.

During the hour of observation, the family moved only a few dozen meters. After the silverback changed position, a female and a baby inspected the leaves beneath where he had been resting. It was time to return and live the family alone.

Another highlight of the park is elephant observation from the viewing deck at Dzanga Bai. In the Pygmy language, bai means a forest clearing with a water source. An exceptional site attracts animals accustomed to human presence on the observation platform.

To save money, I combined gorilla trekking in the morning with elephant observation in the afternoon. After a short walk, I climbed the wooden platform overlooking the clearing.

Around sixty forest elephants gathered along a shallow stream crossing the clearing at the end of the dry season.

Elephants constantly emerged from the forest to drink, bathe, play, and search for minerals in the muddy clearing. Rich grass and sedge species also provided high-quality food rarely found in the forest.

The bai felt like a natural spa shared by elephants, gorillas, buffalos, bongos, and birds. Elephants played in water, dug soft earth with their trunks, and covered themselves in mud to reach mineral-rich layers. The minerals act as a buffer of secondary compounds from low quality food such as leaves.

Females, large males, and wandering cubs occasionally called to each other across the clearing.

The only observers beside me and the guide were researchers. They wore protective nets against flies while recording elephant behavior over the years.

Most visitors to Dzanga-Sangha National Park stay at the luxury Doli Lodge and join organized tours without interacting with Bayanga’s local community. They rarely walk through the village, meet residents, or observe daily life.

The population of Bayanga has grown to over 4,000 residents, many living in wooden houses roofed with palm leaves. Despite its location near one of Africa’s most beautiful parks, the community lacks electricity, water supply, sewage systems, and decent infrastructure.

I usually encountered this level of poverty in remote villages, not in settlements with thousands of people. It was painful to witness such basic living conditions co close to a world-class natural attraction – the top landmark of CAR.

Around 400 locals work in the park, but their salaries remain low compared to foreign expats employed by international organizations supporting the park activities.

During my two days in Bayanga, I spent time with locals, ate in small restaurants, and decided to support a local school. Together with the director, we bought notebooks, pens, and chalk before visiting a classroom where children eagerly answered my questions in broken French. Probably better education and family planning could greatly improve life here, but who am I to judge?

The BaAka pygmies still live as a relatively closed community across the rainforests of Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, and southwestern Central African Republic. Near Bayanga, they sometimes host tourist groups and organize planned activities.

I independently visited one of their villages, where I was warmly received. I walked through the village, observe daily life, and offered a small contribution as community support.

One of the gorilla trekking guides lived in the village and kindly introduced me to his family of four children.

Their home was very simple, with no furniture, toilets, or cooking utensils; just basic rooms, wooden boards for sleeping, mosquito nets, and water buckets.

In front of the house, a mud structure served for cooking over an open fire. I didn’t see any chairs or tables.

In the same courtyard there was also a traditional forest hut called a móngulu. These rounded one-family huts are made of wooden branches covered with Marantaceae leaves. They are mostly built by women, sometimes reinforced with other plant materials for strength and waterproofing.

I was invited into a very low, cramped space of about three-square meters. A crowd soon gathered and called me. They wanted to sing. Later, I asked the about daily life, but I received brief and modest answers. Cassava is their main food, while daily activities include water collection, farming, and gathering wood.

The BaAka are known for their ability to trek through the jungle for days, which is why they are employed in gorilla habituation. After a group photo, the visit ended and I returned to my guesthouse.

For the final part from Bayanga to the Cameroon border along the Kadei River, I hired a moto taxi through dense jungle. Unlike earlier fast rides, this one felt dangerous due to overhanging branches and thick vegetation along the narrow track.

At three of four checkpoints, police and customs demanded 2,000 CFA (3.5USD) bribes before letting me pass. I couldn’t avoid paying the bribes. At Lidjombo, I quickly crossed the river by wooden pirogue to Libongo (in Cameroon) as clouds gathered and the wind strengthened.

As many times before, in that moment, I chose not to overanalyze risks and trusted the locals, believing they knew what they were doing. A young boy rowed powerfully while his friend bailed water from the wooden canoe with a bowl.

The trip ended well. We reached the coast of Cameroon just as the first drops of rain began to fall.

There is always a solution in Africa – patience is all you need.

If the Central African Republic was one of the most mysterious countries before my visit, I would now recommend it to those seeking raw, wild, and unfiltered Africa.

With severely limited infrastructure and widespread lack of basic services, it is unrealistic to expect a warm welcome for the few tourists or UN workers passing by in luxury vehicles taking photos, eating in upscale restaurants and sleeping in luxury hotels.

My experience was different. By engaging with locals and using basic French, I was warmly received, especially by children. Simple greetings, smiles, and openness to photography were common throughout my journey, and I always received smiles or a simple “Bonjour.”

I enjoyed every moment of Central African Republic travel adventure, appreciating the food, hospitality, and kindness of its people.

I wish the country peace, visionary leadership, and a return to stability.  The growth should be based on balanced eco-tourism instead of resource extraction.

Dzanga-Sangha National Park, BaAka pygmies’ culture, Boali Falls and other hidden gems, could attract many more visitors in the future.