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Visiting Central African Republic during a civil war

During my journey to every country in the world, I had researched visiting Central African Republic (or CAR) a lot. Finally I did it, but with the cheat mode on easy. I flew from Douala in Cameroon to Bangui, CAR’s LAWLESS capital city. I stayed for a couple of days. Was terrified and flew back to Cameroon.

So had I visited Central African Republic? Sure. My journey to every country could continue. But it wasn’t done right. And not done in the true romance of exploration. I ticked the box. And I hated that feeling.

The next trip back though? It was wild. I rented a private plane, we lost the fuel, had to buy bootleg fuel on the black market. We nearly got lynched in a local market. I had heard of people getting shot on the streets. We visited the smallest people on the planet, a pygmy tribe there. And we weren’t allowed to board our plane outta there until we paid bribes. I saw some lowland mountain gorillas completely in the world, and visited the least visited national park in the world. Oh, and the Russian Wagner group were the only foreigners in the country. A wild, wild trip. This time I can safely say I visited Central African Republic properly. Here we go….

Visiting Central African Republic Round 2

Just like visiting the DMZ in South Korea doesn’t really mean you visited North Korea, nor does visiting Somaliland (although I had a wild experience there!) really mean you went to Somalia proper, or Northern Iraq meant you’ve been to Baghdad. I knew I had to go back. So I did some more research, and connected with a friend of mine in the country from years ago who would help me organise the trip. Perfect.

My itinerary for CAR

So this time around I wanted to visit a few different places in Car:

• Boali Waterfalls
• The pygmy tribes of the CAR
• City tour of Bangui
• Dzanga Sangha National Park – the least visited park in the world (but home to the most firest elephants on earth, and wild lowland gorillas)

Dzanga Sangha National park was the real draw. But there is a problem. The roads in CAR are awful and it can take up to 2 days, through bandit territory, to get there. Not really an option. So the only other choice is to rent a small private plane, and pilot, and fly there. There is no runway, per se, on arrival. Just a dirt field. But it could work. One issue. It’s over $20,000USD for the plane and fuel.

I couldn’t pay that solo. So I put on this blog that I was going to do this, and people can join me. I had 12 spots I could fill the plane with. 12 friends of mine hopped on. It was expensive, but once in a lifetime. We were good to go.

Wagner and Civil War Strike

I had known my fixer for years. I trusted him in a country where it’s hard to trust anyone. And the friends that were joining me, trusted me. So 3 weeks before the trip. Monies all paid. My fixed called me in the middle of the night saying he’s never done this before, but he has to pull out. The Russian mercenary Wagner Group had been gathering outside the capital city, Bangui. And there were rumours they would strike during the dates we’d be there. F*ck.

To visit places like CAR, it’s often (always?) unstable. There had been coup after coup, murder after murder, in Bangui for decades. When would it ever be stable. My guy offered a full refund. So I went to my friends and told them this.

“My guy is out, but I know another guy. I’m still going to go, but everyone is welcome to their money back if they don’t want to come“

Maybe my friends are psychopaths, but noone dropped out. We figured it would be wildly unlucky for anything to specifically happen on the 3 days we were in and around the capital. Onwards we went.

No fuel for the plane

I contacted William, the only other person I know in CAR. He said he would facilitate it for me, and pick it up from here. I was on the phone to him twice a day for the next couple of weeks. Then, one week before the trip, I get a call from a french guy. The coup last year meant there was no fuel in the country. None for businesses, none for cars, and certainly none for planes. In fact, even Air France had to refuel in neighbouring Cameroon each time it came to CAR, because it couldn’t refuel in CAR! The trip looked dead in the water.

William and I, though, we knew a few Lebanese guys who owned an obscure set of airplanes across central Africa. They live in Dubai, so I called them and spoke with them. The told me they can do it. They have a plane there, and a French pilot who would fly us, stay with us in the jungle in Dzangha Sanga, then fly us back to Bangui to meet our flight out of here. The problem? The fuel shortage was real, but they knew people who could score jet fuel on the black market. Did we want to do this? He asked. I said probably, but how much? Another $7k or something. Ooooph.

I had to tell my friends this. So I told my (now-confirmed psycho friends) that our plane has gone, but I know another way with these Dubai guys. But the fuel is on the blackmarket. And on top of that, it’s going to be an extra $500 or so each. Again, they all agreed. Hard core group, these guys! And again, on we went.

First, we stopped in South Sudan

To make the story crazier, I met the group in Juba, South Sudan. The world’s youngest country We stayed with the Mundari Tribe here. It was a crazy trip too, you can read about it here.

Once we had left the Mundari, we all flew to Ethiopia together to get ready to head to Central African Republic. A few beers in Addis Ababa helped, but we were nervous. It was time to try this thing.

Landing in Bangui, Central African Republic

We flew via Cameroon, same as my first visit. But the first time, I came solo. No guide. No fixer. And no plan. No hotel booking. Nothing. This time I had William meeting me in the airport. We landed. United Nations planes everywhere. William, heavy set older guy, sees me and marches up to the plane “I am here now. Your problems are over. You can trust me here“. I could have kissed him!

We checked into our hotel. A run-down ‘skyscraper’ right on the Ubangi River (a stellar 2.8* on google maps.

2 Russians Shot Dead for taking photos

Just time to throw our clothes on the bed, and we were off to the famous Boali waterfalls. I was so excited to be exploring CAR properly. We drove through the centre of Bangui. Military and guns everywhere. William told me to tell the group not to take photos of military. I did of course. Later that day he would tell me a story of 2 Russian mercenaries who arrived last week, who took photos of the palace we drove past. And both were shot dead. I told WIlliam I wish he had told me that story earlier so I could stress the important of not taking photos to everyone. Bloody hell

Boali Waterfalls

On we went, the roads were awful but it was fun. We stopped just outside the city when some guys waved us down. They had just found a F*CKING ANACONDA IN THEIR VILLAGE. They killed it, and now were trying to sell us the meat. We took some pics and moved on…

The Boali waterfalls were beautiful. Not as huge, of course, as Victoria falls or Iguazu falls, but knowing we were the only people here. And some of only a handful of people to every come here makes it feel all the more special to be honest.

We finished up and headed back to our hotel for dinner and drinks. What a day. WE WERE HERE! Finally!

Pygmy Tribes and Wagner Statues

Our second full day we would drive deep into the jungle to visit the Pygmy tribes, and late afternoon we’d take a Bangui city tour. Learn about the (brutal) recent history of CAR, and how the Russians are now involved.

First, the Pygmy tribe. Officially the smallest people on earth. Which is wild considering just last week we were in South Sudan, home to the tallest people on earth. What a world.

William and I had paid the elders to allow us to visit. By the time we got there, that money seemed to have fueled quite a lot of local brew and the dancing and partying was well underway. Under William’s guidance we didn’t hang around too long to see how far that booze would go!

Risking lives for a photo

On the way back to Bangui, one of my friends took a photo in a local village. Little did he know a (drunk) army colonel was walking past at the same time. He was FURIOUS. William, previously unshakable, looked terrified. We were in trouble. As the screaming started, William told me another story of a diplomatic family whose 14yo daughter took a photo like this. And ended up in a local prison. Cute little 14yo white girl. In the end, William offered to go to prison instead of her alongside a bribe, and he managed to do that. God knows what would have become of the poor girl. More bribes eventually got William out. But this was a serious situation.

The drunk colonel comes storming at us. Screaming and shouting. And a crowd gathers around our bus. Tens, then hundreds. Local villagers, looking ready to kill us. All their hands on the bus. It felt like they were going to rock the bus until we toppled over. This wasn’t fun anymore. William got out and begged and pleaded with the colonel. He ended up taking a chunk of cash, and the phone. We drove off quickly, counting our blessings.

We were ready to leave Bangui by this point. Tomorrow morning we take the plane.

Wagner Statue in Bangui

My parting view of Bangui was quite telling. Wagner had been sponsoring one side of the conflict here in CAR. I have no idea who the good guys or the bad guys are. But I know the last attack on Bangui killed thousands. Women and children butchered in the street. And the locals here say that Wagner put an end to that. Who knows. One of my friends asked William about what he thought about Russians, about the Ukraine war, about the mercenaries of Wagner. And he said something deeply profound. Sensing that perhaps some were judging him, or judging CAR, for embracing Wagner. He said “Listen to me, when your housing is burning, do you ask for clean water to put out the fire?“. Wow.

Nothing is easy in this part of the world. And with that, we were happy to be leaving the Capital behind. Just as we pulled back to our hotel, we stopped to see a recently erected statue in the city centre. The protagnist? A group of white Russians, and a family of Africans cowering behind them.

Private Planes and bootleg jet fuel

The morning we’ve been waiting for. Or dreading. We turned up to the airport to see if the planes I paid for existed. Or if I had been scammed. I hadn’t slept a wink the night before. My friends had trusted me. Had I f*cked it all up?! So while they were nervous about the thought of a 50+ year old plane flying into the African jungle, I was worried there wouldn’t even be a plane.

So when we arrived, I met a slightly strange French pilot who was living in Bangui (errm, why? On the run I assumed to be honest). He told me he’d be flying us. Which meant it existed! I could quash that stress, and begin worrying about the plane crashing, or the bootleg fuel not working instead.

Fuel Issues

Originally I had paid for a larger plane for all of us. But due to the fuel issues, we had a small plane that would do the journey twice instead. The flight was about 90 minutes, so I split the group and off we went.

A nervous energy. That’s what I’d say we carried. The plane looked like something from Indiana Jones. Legitimately maybe from the 60s. And even more ominously, there was a crashed plane right beside hours. Great…

The flight was bumpy. And hot. But beautiful. Less than 90 minutes later we could see a clearing in the dense jungle and a red, dirt track. ‘The run way’ the Pilot told me. Errrm ok.

If the flight was bumpy, the landing was bumpier! But we were in one piece. And ecstatic to be here! Less than 500 people a year come year, often less than 100. And we were 12 of them. Amazing.

Dzanga Sangha National Park

Dzanga Sangha National park is a UNESCO world heritage site. And because of that, believe it or not, there is an actual lodge in Dzanga Sangha national park. LIke a real one! Running waters, cold beers, actual beds. Insane. You can see it here.

We checked in, had lunch on the river, then that afternoon we were going to see what made Dzanga Sangha so famous. The village of the elephants.

Forest Elephants

JUST MAGICAL.

The park is home to the famous ‘Dzanga Bai’ ake the “village of elephants”. A large, mineral-rich clearing in the middle of the rainforest where forest elephants gather in large numbers to indulge in drinking the mineral rich waters that bubble up from the ground. 

You can spend time observing huge herds of forest elephants from a 9m high platform on the edge of the celebrated Dzanga Bai.

The interaction between so many different groups of forest elephants ensures constant action, while the possibility of seeing some of the other, normally shy forest creatures like bongos, giant forest hogs, red river hogs, sitatunga and forest buffalos visiting the Bai keep the excitement going.

A serious privilege to experience this. Unbelievable.

Lowland Mountain Gorillas

We had 2 days and 2 nights in the park. Day 1 I had allocated for the elephants, and Day 2 was supposed to be a river experience. Meeting the local tribes, hiking in the dense forest. However, because so few people ever make it here, it means it’s possible to see wild western lowland Gorillas in the wild.

In Uganda and Rwanda, for example, it’s also possible. But it’s $1500 for 1 hour! And it’s booked out months, if not years, in advance. Here, however, a permit is $200. And there’s no-one here. So no line,and no prebooking. I asked the group if they wanted to do it, most people said yes, and the next day we were face to face with wild gorillas.

Meeting the western lowland gorillas

We took a a 90-minute drive to Bai Hokou Camp, where we met the guides who would take us into Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve to find a habituated families of western lowland gorillas.

There are various rules in place for gorilla visits and no one with an upset stomach, cold, flu or other transmittable illness is allowed to participate as gorillas are susceptible to human diseases. We had to do a test before we entered.

The walk to find the gorillas can be a bit of a trek, but soon we heard them rustling around. Next thing we know, they were everywhere around us. After the elephants yesterday, and this today. A trip of a lifetime.

We were back at the lodge for our second and final night. Local beers, music playing. We had survived our adventure to Central African Republic. We just had to rely on our ancient plane and our bootleg fuel to get us back to the capital the next morning. Which it did.

Partying in Bangui

We had one last evening in the worst city in the world, Bangui. One of the girls bumped into a charity worker that afternoon randomly, and told us of a Lebanese owned place to go that night. And off we went. It’s not too smart to be out after dark in Bangui. And we hadn’t told our fixer. So we hopped in some local taxis, and found ourselves in a kind of fancy bar. I drunk about 20 espresso martinis while the girls danced with mercenaries and UN works. A weird, wild way to end a weird, wild trip.

Bribing the airport to leave

At least we thought that was the end. One last sting in the tail. Our flight to leave Bangui was scheduled for 16.55. We turned up to the airport at 14.30. 2 and a half hours early. Already checked in online to our air france flight. The only problem was that the airport was closed!

We found some staff. They told us it was closed. That we had to be there 5 hours before the flight. A huge argument erupted. The next flight wasn’t for another 2 days, and believe me the thought of 2 more days in Bangui was not great. After a large stand-off, things were smoothed over somewhat with a little ‘ahem’ passing of envelopes. Soon we were checked in and out of there.

Incidentally, I hate Air France. I contacted their help centre to tell them what had happened. And they replied “Thanks for letting us know. We consider this matter now closed. Bye”. Lovely service. And with that, I left Central African Republic. An amazing trip, but one I was happy it was over.

Thoughts on visiting Central African Republic

Nothing in life worth having is easy right? An epic group of people, for a f*cking epic trip. Disaster after disaster. Risk after risk. And here we stand, living to tell the tale.

I dreamed as a kid of living a life like this. On edge. Experiencing the world. Cool friends. Wild adventures. And I wouldn’t change it for anything. Here’s to the next one. Anyone fancy a trip to Timbuktu?