Truth be told, my first visit to either bank of the Congo River had sent a tingle down my spine. Far from the cosmopolitan pavement cafés of Cape Town, or laid-back beachfront bars of Maputo, this felt like the real Africa. This was an “Africa” for James Earl Jones to do the voice-over; the corner of the continent Joseph Conrad immortalised in ‘The Heart of Darkness’.

Perhaps it’s Brazzaville’s history as a French colony, or the fact that relative peace has reigned north of the river since the civil war ended in 2002, but unlike many African capitals Brazzaville has a relaxed air about it.

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