Nzérékoré

Nzérékoré is the capital of the forest region in the far southeast, a humid town of red earth roads that is the second largest in the country and feels nothing at all like the rest of it. Rainforest survives in blocks around it, and the mountain on the border carries an inscribed reserve of grassland summits and endemic species that needs written permission and a guide to enter. The market is the meeting point of several forest peoples, each with their own distinct mask traditions. The wet season here is the longest anywhere in the country.