The Republic of Congo, more commonly known as Congo-Brazzaville, draws the silhouette of a horse in the heart of Africa, its head in the forest, its rump in the ocean. It is very intimately a land of rivers and water: the mighty Congo River, a border over some 700 kilometers, and the Oubangui, which extends it, together form the backbone of the country. Their many tributaries are the nervous system, its circulation routes. If the river distorts the route in the country to go and throw itself into the ocean at Congo's neighbor Kinshasa, its 170 kilometers of coastline open the way for maritime trade.

The capitals of the two Congos face each other on the banks of the river of the same name and it is a journey within a journey to pass from one to the other. Kinshasa the dilapidated or survival is an art and Brazzaville, the nonchalant, busy. However, the Congo is not experienced either in reference to or in opposition to its crushing and chaotic neighbour.

The north and its exuberant primary forests, its parks and its animal reserves offer everything a naturalist tired of air-conditioned discoveries can dream of. The Batéké plateaus, in the center of the country, spread their shrubby savannah as far as the eye can see. Brazzaville, the verdant capital, promises great urban walks in the shade of mango trees, a few giggles, seated in anganda (refreshment bar) with your Congolese friends. Pointe-Noire is the seaside atmosphere made in Congo, rumba and petrodollars, a few kilometers from beaches lined with mangroves.

The best of the Congo escapes economic, landscape and geographical categories: it is the phenomenal vitality of the Congolese, their unbridled humor, their mobility, their real kindness, the dignity of the poorest, beyond the daily difficulties.