The Pool

A few weeks after we arrived, we went to a swimming pool. It was our second child's very first time in a pool, and he loved it.

Most of the pools here are located in hotels, and of course you have to pay an entrance fee. From our first visits, we quickly realized it wasn't cheap. Only children under two years old get in for free. If I remember correctly, the price is 10,000 XFA for adults and 5,000 XFA for kids (€15 / €7). If you want to make this a weekly after-school activity, you'd better find a cheaper place, otherwise, you'll go bankrupt.

At the hotel we went to, we paid a total of €52 that day. As you can see, that's quite a lot. But these are the normal prices here. It's not that they were charging more than usual.

Since the pools belong to hotels, you practically have everything there. You can order food, towels are provided, and the showers are clean and ready to use. One downside for us is that music is played everywhere, and the volume is higher than what we're used to, which makes it less enjoyable.

Seeing that the weather is good most of the time and the kids love swimming -even if it's very frequent, we decided to look for a place where we could get an annual membership.

Toni and I visited several hotels, talked to a few people, and did some research. In the end, we visited the Tennis Club Brazzaville. As the name suggests, it is primarily a tennis club, but you can also play padel, basketball, or even volleyball there. They have a 15-meter pool -maybe not as big as those in the hotels, but perfectly fine for kids and non-professional swimmers. You'll also find a restaurant, a bar, and a playground. Overall, it was the best option we could find.

For a yearly subscription of around €1,100, you can use everything. The best part is that two adults can register up to four kids, which works perfectly for us.

The club is located in the middle of a forest. You'll have the company of mosquitoes and furus (tiny biting insects that sting like mosquitoes but are much smaller and very itchy), but also lots of birds, and, above all, peace and quiet. Perfect for getting away from hectic daily life. I recently found out that people can also camp there for a weekly fee of €15 per person.

They also offer activities for kids from time to time. My oldest son is starting swimming lessons there, and he could also take karate or learn tennis if he wanted to.

I sometimes go there just to enjoy the peace, reading a book or simply watching the trees and listening to the birds sing.



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