The Republic of Congo lies on the Equator and it shares boundaries with the Angolan enclave of Cabinda and four other Central African nations. Brazzaville, the capital, sits on the northern bank of the mighty Congo River, directly opposite Kinshasa, its counterpart in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Civil wars and military conflicts have hindered political and economic progress in the country since it gained independence from France in 1960 so hopefully the next half a century will bring a sense of stability for its four million residents.

An elementary 18-hole golf course has been laid out on a plateau overlooking the Bay of Diosso on the Atlantic coast. Fairways are routed round sandy scrub land but they’re flat, relatively free of loose stones and they play to beautifully maintained hard-packed, oiled browns that are surrounded by little walls, offering little chance of playing a running shot from outside the putting surface.