Berberati

Berberati grew where the forest economy needed a capital: the southwest's timber-and-coffee decades built what is now the country's third-largest city around its landmark - the red-brick cathedral of Saint Anne, mission-era architecture at a scale the forest towns rarely attempted - and the wide avenues, market quarters and sawmill memories keep the era's easygoing outline. Today the town hubs the routes toward the Dzanga-Sangha forests and the Cameroon border, its market trading forest produce and its welcome unhurried - a practical waypoint with genuine character, within the country's standing arranged-travel frame.

What to look for

• Saint Anne's cathedral - the red-brick mission landmark.
• The market quarters - forest produce at town volume.
• The timber-era avenues - the third city's spacious outline.
• The forest-road hub - routes fanning toward Dzanga-Sangha.

When to go

November to February for dry roads. Arrange the trip through specialist local operators.

Good to know

In town: this is a waypoint with character rather than a destination - an easy day of cathedral, market and forest-road logistics; facilities are provincial-simple.

Nearby

The Dzanga-Sangha road south and the Cameroon border west.

Key facts