Many of the images on our Central African Republic profile pages understandably
reflect the ongoing conflict and its impact on the people who live there. This
video montage, however, takes a moment to step back, and view the country of the
Central African Republic without such images. This is probably one of the few
opportunities you will get to explore the Central African Republic's countryside
as its too dangerous for most visitors to even venture out of the country's
cities. Armed rebels regularly carry out attacks in the north and more recently
the Lord's Resistance Army has started to operate a wave of terror against an
already traumatised population.
The Central African Republic itself is about the size of Texas and borders Cameroon,
Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Sudan
and is located almost precisely in the centre of Africa.
The country has
three main rivers, the Ubangi (also spelled Oubangui) in the south and the Chari
and Logone rivers in the north and in general the Central African Republic
consists of an undulating plateau ranging in altitude from 2,000–2,500 ft with a
high granite plateau in the north-west forming part of the Adamawa Plateau of
Cameroon and in the north east the Bongos mountain range which extends into
Sudan. Most of the country is covered in
forest although much of this has been degraded due to forest fires, whilst in
the north can be found desert scrubland with the Karre mountains to the far west which rise to 4,625 feet (1,410 m) at Mount Ngaoui, the highest point in the
country.
For the intrepid traveller who is
prepared to explore outside the relative safety of Bangui, there are a number of
places worth visiting from the Kembe Falls on the River Kotto (above), the Boali
Waterfalls, close to the Boali village, the megaliths of burial mounds believed
to be thousands of years old at Boura, the beautifully crafted wooden houses in
Zinga on the Oubangui river and of course the wildlife parks of Manovo-Gounda St
Floris, Bamingui-Bangoran Dzanga-Sangha. For those who just want to stay in
Bangui the Boganda Museum is worth a look as is a visit to the Central Market.
This is probably one of the few
opportunities you will get to explore the Central African Republic's countryside
as its too dangerous for most visitors to even venture out of the country's
cities. Armed rebels regularly carry out attacks in the north and more recently
the Lord's Resistance Army has started to operate a wave of terror against an
already traumatised population. 
high granite plateau in the north-west forming part of the Adamawa Plateau of
Cameroon and in the north east the Bongos mountain range which extends into
Sudan. Most of the country is covered in
forest although much of this has been degraded due to forest fires, whilst in
the north can be found desert scrubland with the Karre mountains to the far west which rise to 4,625 feet (1,410 m) at Mount Ngaoui, the highest point in the
country.
