James Oatway joins explorer Kingsley Holgate on the last leg of an expedition to Africa's geographical heart, in the Republic of Congo, and has soulful encounters with animals along the way Where is the heart of Africa? Geographically, it is an invisible spot on a piece of muddy ground in the middle of a swamp in a dense rainforest in the Republic of Congo. This is where the continent would balance if you placed it on a pin. It is now marked by a steel beacon, screwed into the mud by Kingsley Holgate and his expedition team, who were guided there by GPS and local Bayaka tribesmen."Lovely buggers," says Holgate of the Bayaka. "We wouldn't have made it without them."story_article_left1I met him and his team in Etoumbi, a town near the Odzala National Park, just north of the equator. They had emerged from the forest a few days before, having completed their goal. The forest had scarred them. Having driven all the way from South Africa, they could only drive their beloved Land Rovers so far.They'd had to approach "The Heart" on foot - a trek through thick jungle. Kingsley's legs were in a bad way. His ankles were red and swollen. Many flies buzzed around inflamed cuts and sores, caused by the thorny vines that guard the forest. His burly, Rambo-esque son Ross Holgate, wiry veteran team member Bruce Leslie, and the stout, smiling Brad Hansen all sported similar wounds, but Kingsley's looked the worst. At nearly 70 years old, the jungle trek had nearly killed him."We were really worried about him," Bruce confided. "I've never seen him like that before. He was finished."He showed me pictures of Kingsley crawling neck-deep through a swamp. Then there were the bees. Team member Mike Nixon had suffered more than the other team members and sustained a potentially fatal number of stings - more than 60.I would not be subjected to these jungle horrors. I had flown into Brazzaville with two other journalists, Richard Holmes and Francois Haasbroek. We'd had time to briefly explore the capital. I could see Kinshasa, the sprawling, restive capital of the DRC, on the other side of the Congo River.full_story_image_hleft1The streets of "Brazza" were bustling but orderly. Traffic was thick but moving, aided by white-gloved pointsmen. We visited the colourful market district, Poto-Poto, and walked through the busy alleys, where mainly Muslim traders sold mainly Chinese goods. I drank my first Ngok, a popular local beer, on the side of a busy street as the sun set on the market.The following morning we left Brazza and headed north towards the equator. The road was quite good although it was littered with the corpses of many vehicles, including a Porsche Cayenne. We stopped for coffee in Inoni and discussed the large python we had seen for sale a short while earlier. Killed with a gun, this 3m snake would be sold for about R250. It would be eaten and its skin dried for traditional medicine.On the way we passed through President Denis Sassou Nguesso's home town of Oyo, bizarrely well developed in contrast to the other villages on the route. Further on, we stopped for some pictures in Makoua, which straddles the invisible line that divides the northern and southern hemispheres and, according to the recent Rugby World Cup results, good rugby from bad.After quick introductions in Etoumbi, we boarded the Land Rovers synonymous with Holgate's adventures and headed into the great Ndzehi Forest, which rose up dramatically on both sides of the dirt road. We reached Ngaga Camp shortly after dark. The air was heavy and fruity from the decomposed foliage on the forest floor. I stood on the stoep of my stilted wooden cabin, which blended seamlessly into the forest, and stared into a wall of black jungle, seeing nothing, hearing only the nocturnal forest orchestra.The next day was bucket-list stuff as we stalked a family of Western lowland gorillas. These are wild apes and strict gorilla-viewing rules are in place.After a 45-minute walk through the thicket, the sudden cracking of branches signified the presence of a large creature. That was when I laid eyes on Neptuno, a great silverback who, together with his family of around 15 apes of different ages, was nibbling at Marantaceae shoots.We sat and watched for about an hour. An inquisitive young fellow came up very close to check us out before retreating. Neptuno stood up and gave us an impatient look. Then he came towards us slowly. I hesitated for a second longer to get one last photograph. He saw this as a sign of disrespect and flexed his muscles with a soul-shaking mock charge before casually resuming his foraging.full_story_image_hright2Later we headed for the Mboko Camp, placed elegantly in a clearing in the forest. In the afternoon, our group boarded a thin dugout pirogue and headed up the Lekoli River. I positioned myself strategically at the front of the boat, which put me in the best spot for photographs but also, more importantly, placed me closest to the cooler box full of icy Ngoks. It was indeed "Ngok O'Clock" and I felt very relaxed sipping a beer in that boat.The pirogue advanced quietly, flanked by walls of thick, green jungle. We saw putty-nosed and Guereza colobus monkeys, forest elephant and the shy sitatunga, a more reclusive cousin of the nyala. Large, white-thighed hornbills and palm-nut vultures criss-crossed above us as we drifted towards the Lango Bai."Bai" is the local M'Baka word for "opening" - it is the name given to these swampy clearings in the forest. Animals are attracted here by the valuable salts, absent in other parts.We disembarked and waded through the clear, amber water, sometimes knee-deep, sometimes waist-deep, for about 1km. We stood in the bai and enjoyed sundowners before moving up onto the deck at Lango Camp. There we sat quietly around a fire and watched the sun set.On the way back to Brazzaville we stopped at a village earmarked as a beneficiary of the humanitarian component of the expedition. After a demonstration, malaria nets were handed out to pregnant women and those with newborn babies.Then the winners of the Elephant Art competition - a drive to get kids to understand the importance of conservation - were announced. Villagers with poor eyesight were screened and had spectacles issued to them. There was a little chaos when overzealous candidates rushed forward, eager to get their hands on a pair of specs. But this wasn't a patronising or exploitative affair - it was heartfelt and respectful.full_story_image_hleft3We stopped for the night in Gaboma. That evening, we sat outside and ate fried chicken and drank cold beer. I sat in the darkness and took in the surroundings. Acrid smoke from a burning trash heap nearby wafted in our direction. Blinged-up motos would sporadically buzz past with their fluorescent lights blinking - some even had music blaring. Inside the restaurant, patrons were watching the news on TV, the sound cranked up to max.The next morning we returned to our coffee shop in Inoni. I went to take a leak and heard what sounded like gunshots. I shrugged it off as a car backfiring. There was no violence here. When I returned to the road, I saw a trademark green Congolese taxi with a coffin on the roof. Men were hanging out of the windows of the car, keeping the coffin in place. In front of the taxi walked a man in a smart, white shirt. He fired a rifle into the air as he walked - a funeral procession, Congolese style.We reached the flashy Chinese airport before noon and said goodbye to Ross, Bruce and Brad. They would ship the Landies home. Kingsley would return on the plane with us. His legs were in a bad way and he needed medical attention. He was putting on a brave face but was clearly in agony.I had been drawn in and inspired by the group and their free spirits. The trip had stimulated every sense, leaving vivid memories and I left the Congo with a desire to conduct an expedition of my own.- James Oatway was a guest of Land Roversub_head_start IF YOU GO... sub_head_endGETTING THERE: SAA flies direct to Brazzaville twice a week. A test booking for early next month is R7 700 return, including taxes.CONTACT: Odzala Discovery Camps cost $10,125 for two people in high season (June 15 to October 31; December 15 to January 14). Includes 3 nights at Ngaga; 2 nights at Mboko; and 1 night at Lango with meals, guides, transfers from Brazzaville, 2 gorilla passes per person,1 power-boat safari and 1 kayaking excursion. For more, see odzala-kokoua.com..