Loango Bay

Loango Bay north of Pointe-Noire was the port of the Loango kingdom, a state that traded along this coast from the sixteenth century, and from the seventeenth it became one of the main embarkation points on the coast for enslaved people shipped to the Americas. A tree at the shore is remembered locally as the last thing people saw before boarding. The Ma Loango museum at Diosso covers the kingdom's history.

What you actually see

• The bay - the anchorage that served the Loango kingdom's trade.
• The embarkation history - one of the main slaving ports on this coast.
• The remembered tree - the marker at the shore associated with departure.
• The Ma Loango museum - the collection at Diosso covering the kingdom.

When to go

June to September is the dry cooler season. The museum keeps daytime hours and closes some days. The rains fall from October.

Honest expectations

Very little survives on the ground and the significance is what happened rather than what stands. The museum is small with limited interpretation. Facilities at the bay are minimal.

Nearby

Diosso Gorge is nearby, and Pointe-Noire is south.