Poto-Poto is Brazzaville's most energetic neighbourhood — a dense, lively quarter north of the centre where the streets are lined with small businesses, music comes from open doorways, and the market activity is constant. It is the kind of neighbourhood that makes a city feel real rather than officially presented.
The Poto-Poto School of Painting is here: a studio and gallery where artists working in the tradition established by Pierre Lods in 1951 still produce work. The style is distinctive — vibrant, figurative, rooted in everyday Congolese life — and you can buy paintings directly from the artists. The neighbourhood is also worth wandering simply for the street food and the human energy of it all. Allow a morning and bring small denominations.