Let's change latitude again and head to the southern hemisphere to discover one of the three African rivers in the series, a tree-river mirroring the Amazon, one growing directly opposite the other, separated by the vast Atlantic Ocean that has distanced these two trees that could have known each other, touched each other, in a distant geological era when South America and Africa were joined together. Despite this separation, the two rivers have much in common: the Congo is second only to the Amazon in terms of flow, a veritable lifeblood running through the tree and bringing life, a life that is remarkably constant throughout the year: the flow of sap and water remains unchanged throughout the months thanks to this tree, which is large enough to capture the rainy season in several places as it moves through the equatorial zone of the African continent.

Second similarity: the Amazon and the Congo are both guardians of a prodigious equatorial forest with their large green crowns. Here too, the Congolese equatorial forest ranks second behind the Amazon. As for the trunk of the Congo tree, the main course of the river, it is quite curious and is said to reach depths of 220 metres in some places, thus sheltering abyssal aquatic fauna, at least by river standards. This can be compared to the mysterious underground rivers of the Amazon, which are several tens of kilometres wide.

These rivers and equatorial forests are still full of secrets, as are their populations, made up of diverse ethnic groups, still living in isolation, some perhaps disappearing before we even encounter them, like the species that become extinct every day, before we have even been able to record their existence anywhere.

If the Congo were a tree, it would be a Sapele, a tree with red, precious wood, reflecting the rich diversity of the river that flows throughout its basin. It is also a tree of colossal dimensions, generally reaching a height of 60 metres, once again reflecting the enormous river-tree that is the Congo.

Sapele Congo, Entandrophragma Congo