The CAR is considered to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world. It is not a place to go by yourself. That is why I jumped at the opportunity to visit it when NomadMania posted about an upcoming 5-day trip to the CAR.
In preparation for the trip, Harry Mitsidis, the founder of NomadMania, sent all participants a short travel guide that he personally composed and in which he tried to scare us off. We were going to the CAR during a period of relative stability. The peacekeepers were stationed there, but so was the Wagner group whose job is to protect extraction of valuable natural resources like gold and diamonds. We were warned not to leave the hotel on our own and not to take pictures of people with guns, be aware of the surroundings and to take malarone.
Having secured my visa beforehand in Kuwait, I had no issues with boarding the flight to Bangui, the CAR capital city. Half of the passengers on the plane were muscular men who spoke Russian and no other languages. They said they were going to the CAR for work but did not elaborate further.
From the air, Bangui looked like no more than a village with several concrete buildings in the center. Our small group of eight was met at the airport by the fixer Steve, the owner of Sway Tour. Steve loaded us into two taxis and we drove off to our hotel.
Ledger Plaza Hotel is easy to mistake from the outside for a presidential palace. It was built in 1989 as a 5-star Sheraton hotel. Nine years later, the hotel was closed due to the civil war. In 2004, the Libyan African Investment Company bought the hotel and reopened after a renovation.
The rooms probably were not updated since the hotel became owned by the Libyan state – frayed and holey sheets, rusty plumbing, old furniture, barely working Wi-Fi, broken lamps, etc. – all of these does not stop marketing Ledger Plaza Hotel as 5-star accommodation and charging preposterous room rates. Staying at a different hotel usually is not an option for foreigners which allows the management to set any prices they want.
Our first trip outside of the hotel was a boat ride on the Ubangi River to see a displaced village. This river serves as the boundary between the CAR and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). One river bank is located in the DRC, the other is in the CAR. We went past fishermen, boats loaded with cargo, and workers making mud bricks until we reached the village. It used to be on the island in the middle of the Ubangi. The village was flooded some years ago and the people moved to a higher ground on the river bank.
Back at the hotel, the group settled in the bar with drinks. All of us were experienced travelers with stories to tell. Spinning yarns and getting to know each other was the only thing that we could do after our guide left. My room was hot and stuffy when I returned to it to sleep. I turned a/c on but did not enjoy it for long. A power outage shut it off until morning. The “5-star hotel” did not have a backup generator.