Bangui & Boali Waterfalls, Central African Republic 2026, country 192 : 197
Central African Republic (CAR) is a beautiful country with warm people where a gentle pace of life seems to coexist in stark contrast with an overwhelmingly heavy military presence. Bangui isn’t particularly chaotic, and most people are kind. Everyone seems to have a gun, the most popular vehicle is anything white with UN on the side. If we didn’t know better – you could guess this omnipresent military security presence was sent to the wrong country by mistake. Everyone dressed up for nothing. Everything in my trip went wonderfully, until in a split second, it went horribly horribly wrong on the last day. But before we get to that: the essential details.
VISA For the joy that is a Central African Republic visa, or Message Porte go to my full writeup @ Central African Republic – Complete guide to Visa & Message Porte Process
Accommodation
- Hotel Oubangui – absolutely beautiful location with incredible board walk jutting out into the river. $83 inc breakfast. Good wifi. Free airport pickup and dropoff. They literally saved my day on the last day, more about that later. Request a high floor room (10 – 13). The view more than makes up for the rooms being worn by time. The calm of sunrise and sunset here watching the river piroques drift seamlessly across borders, and speaking with fishermen was unforgettable. Contact Johnathan to book (below #).
Sights & Activities
- Boali Waterfall – I hailed a taxi from the hotel for the round trip journey which will take an entire day. 5 minutes later, Issa arrived – he proved to be a trustable man. Fair, and more than helpful for my time at the waterfall. Entry to Boali is 5k XAF and includes a free guide, so no additional guide is necessary. Issa fought off the Boali guides attempt to solicit additional $$. Cost I paid for the journey was 60k XAF. This cost seems to increase by 10K each year based on others feedback over the years.
- City Tour – I walked and took motos for around $1 or so to the limited sights of Bangui. A couple funny statues, some interesting roundabouts, Notre Dame Cathedral, National Assembly. The small central part of the city is easily walkable and has a crumbling, 70s european / african charm to it. At night it’s eerily devoid of people. Unlike some African capital cities, Bangui doesn’t seem choked with traffic and chaos. Rather its a bit chill, albeit poor, with 1 in 3 cars on the road being an NGO vehicle.
- Pymies – I kept debating with myself to understand how interested I was to see them. Seeing Drew’s video romanticized the idea of staying there for 24hrs. But a lot of people visit them now. 10 hrs round trip to spend a couple hours taking photos with them wasn’t really as unique as maybe it was several years ago. The photos I have seen in recent years don’t really inspire a desire to stay overnight. The really interesting part must be the experience and time spent with them. And that was the piece I was interested in. However I wasn’t really sure I wanted to spend a day or 2 doing that….so in the end my uncertainty gave way to me deciding I shouldn’t go.
Eating – I ate at one restaurant every night and it was excellent quality, and value. Huge portions and a diverse menu. 5 Fourchetts. CAR is not the place to start experimenting.
Useful Contacts
I was in contact with all of the below, but did not use all of their services so am providing some for reference but without recommendations:
- Issa (taxi driver) +236 72 48 72 24
- Jonathan (Oubangui Hotel) +236 72 61 56 93
- Norbert (guide – not used, not recommended by EPSrs) – +236 72 15 80 53
- Steve (guide – not used, recommended by EPS but too expensive) +236 75 50 94 86
- Chris (guide – not used, not recommended by EPS’rs) +236 72 19 19 25
- Cyrille (Levy Hotel Owner – not used) +236 75 50 66 83
- Cedric (driver, not used, also willing to do Boali for 60k, recommended by EPS) +236 75 05 10 08
- Regis (another driver, not used) +236 72 35 61 7
This was a last minute trip to Central African Republic which was inspired by a conversation I had on a business trip. That week I found myself sharing a beer and an unexpectedly delightful conversation with Olympic gold medalist Apolo Ohno. We spoke about intentional preparation—setting expectations and “lighting the fire” before execution. An antidote to “paralysis by perfectionism” which emphasizes taking bold action even when success isn’t guaranteed. I had put off visiting CAR for far too long because something was always not perfect. This renewed my spirits and reinvigorated my 2026 drive to start exploring new countries.
That night I booked my Saturday plane ticket to Bangui, and arranged my message porte (MP) with William for 129 EUR via WU prepayment. A day or so went with blue checkmarks being unanswered, but he sent my MP just in time 3 days later. The day before my flight! This is also when he told me (suprise) there is a new process and at the airport immigration would take my passport, and William would bring it to me several days later at my hotel. I informed him that my return flight was at 1pm 4 days later, and he said this was not a problem. It was a big problem. I just didn’t know it at the time.
Air France cancelled their decades long service to Bangui on January 31st, and I was on their last flight from Paris. Hooray?! Reportedly the cancellation stemmed from a mix of profitability concerns + recently the CAR Foreign Minister getting too drunk, causing a stir onboard and then being told to behave by crew which humiliated him and resulted in him summoning the CAR military on arrival in Bangui to arrest all the Air France staff. This was not well received by France. Airlines don’t like flying places where everyone gets arrested by the military. My flight was wonderful, and unlike flight launches with waterhoses and fanfare – the flight came and went uneventfully like a thief in the night. Albeit a thief bearing free Champagne 🙂 It was bizarre flying into a country on a major airline’s last flight. Kinda felt like you were arriving when you should be leaving?
On arrival everyone walks down the runway into a small building. My message porte paper and passport were taken, stamped with an entry stamp but no visa, and then given back to me. Then I had to take my passport to a separate window where immigration happily disappeared my passport for several days. Apparently visas don’t work on weekends. They can only be made in the city center. They gave me a receipt to verify this had happened. Being in a new country for several days with no passport was disconcerting, especially one where passport checks are common. This was a new experience. One which didn’t feel great. I bravely armed myself with my message porte paper and Global Entry ID as I explored the country but was surprisingly never asked for ID while in CAR.
Jonathan and the hotel Bangui shuttle took me to the hotel with no issue. I went on a late night walk for a riverside beer at the La Tourangelle riverside bar & restaurant. Large beers at 1.5K XAF. The hotel seemed to think it wasn’t safe to wander around Bangui at night and the nice receptionist assigned a random security guard to accompany me there. Divin +236 75 39 81 27 was in his early 20s. and we hung out that night and had some beers. Good times.
The next day I arose before sunrise and walked to the riverside to wander around and attempt some photos. There was a symphony of music in the air from across the river. I am not being metaphorical, there was literally a symphony somewhere playing the most beautiful music. I couldn’t see the symphony only that it was coming from the DRC. It was absolutely beautiful and lasted all morning in the most ethereal way to start off my day. The sun peaks through the foggy african mix of smoke and mist to paint the Bangui riverside in a burnt orange each morning. Walking amongst the fishermen and women who make their living on the banks of the Ubangi river was an absolute pleasure. Several were surprised I was there, and asked for me to take photos with them and unusual fish they had caught. It’s an incredible experience to witness this city come alive each day. (note: photos without permit in CAR are not a great idea, it’s easy to get arrested for innocent photos. Everyone says to be VERY careful).
Waving down any moto will take seconds and they will quickly take you anywhere in the city for less than a dollar or two. There was never a lot of traffic, and seeing all the Bangui sights will take roughly half a day even if you are lackadaisical about it. Arriving at some of the places, like the mosque, I didn’t even bother to take a photo. I found myself zooming all over this city to visit buildings and statues which I doubtfully would visit in my hometown city. The national assembly and the Notre Dame cathedral are the only ones really worth going out of your way.
The next day I woke early, had breakfast and asked the hotel to call me a taxi. Issa arrived and we agreed on 60k for a full day round trip journey to Boali waterfalls. Our first stop was to purchase gas which I paid him 30k out of the 60k for. Several miles later we stopped and his friend concerningly handed him a car jack. In a couple miles we stopped again to fill up the spare tire in the truck of the car. This guy was slowly but surely getting prepared for this journey on the fly. Gotta respect that.
The drive to Boali is beautiful, passing through rainforest and past small villages living their lives. I really wonder what it would have been like to just stop and visit one of them for the night. Once you get an hour or so away from the city things become really rural and no trace of the city can be seen. This is when we started passing military convoys heading in the opposite direction. At first it didn’t seem odd. The first one was about 10 UN vehicles. A couple tanks and armored personnel carriers, armored ambulances, and trucks carrying lots of soldiers. The second convoy which passed half an hour afterwards was a similar setup. Everyone looked at us confused. This is when it started to feel like we were in some movie heading to the front lines, and soldiers were streaming back in the opposite direction looking at us in bewilderment. The third convoy, 20 minutes later, was different from the rest. Each vehicle was spraypainted crudely with a mix of camo and skulls, horns, faces. The soldiers were all white men wearing bandanas and helmets custom painted with different designs. Two of the cars waved Russian flags. Issa the taxidriver said, “Russe….Wagner”. These guys looked hardcore. Aggressive looks, as if they were not to be messed with. I hid my phone to ensure there was no reason to stop us. The fourth convoy was Central African soldiers. They looked at us a bit concernedly, but smiled and waved. We arrived at Boali in a couple hours. The waterfalls are incredible, and it’s possible to visit: 3 observation decks, a lower scramble across rocks to view the falls headon, a restaurant, and a small zoo of sad animals. There is also a rickety suspension bridge which goes to another side of the river and it’s possible to cross it at your own risk to view the waterfalls from the other side. I stayed at Boali a few hours. Its a relaxing beautiful place to spend the day. The 5k entry ticket includes a free guide. You can tip them if you want, but paying them is not necessary. Issa my taxi driver was helpful in clarifying this.
That night I had a riverside beer and walked to 5 Forchettes restaurant in the dark. The city was entirely abandoned. Devoid of people I walked through the capital feeling like it was some movie where everyone disappears. On approaching the 0 km roundabout people started to appear again and things seemed a bit more normal. I wouldn’t say it was dangerous, but it didn’t seem super safe either. I would recommend flagging down a moto. 5 Forchettes was absolutely incredible. My food was super fresh and arrived steaming from the kitchen. The restaurant was safe and clean, with football on the tvs and families eating at tables nearby.