Hey readers!

How’s it going?

Maybe you’re wondering why I’m not writing anymore? Or maybe you’re glad to have some peace and quiet 😛

Anyways, what’s new in Kinshasa?

I don’t know. Not much I think. Life is still very tough for 90% of the Kinois! Traffic, expensive food items, bad jobs, useless administration, filth.

But there’s always “l’ambiance”!

We like to party! To laugh! To be loud!

The sun still shines most days with the regular downpour that floods even the swankiest of neighbourhoods! The expat schools on Avenue de la Gombe got a real surprise with flood waters reaching their classrooms but they were ready for it! It’s not their first rodeo!

I remember as a kid the rains would flood the roads and maybe a bit the classrooms but not as badly as today! In the 90s things were more manageable. My dad could come home for lunch.

Now when it rains, the city needs 2 days to recover. It’s like a bloody hangover after some serious partying!

What else is new? Haha! Not much, as I said before!

I guess you can see for yourself the huge buildings sprouting left and right. Promises of multimillion dollar projects (trams are on the way apparently thanks to Dutch and Chinese partners!) to fix the city’s infrastructure. Ha! Let’s hope it’s the case for all our sakes!

Jeunes Patriotes Congolais Facebook post

The cops are now stopping cars that don’t have 500 usd worth of papers (insurance, technical worthiness, license, etc…) so that has scared some of the cars off the road. That has somewhat helped reduce the traffic (for now, until they take a break or get bought off!).

There are some new restaurants and clubs that have opened like Aria (genuinely Italian it seems) or Levante (not really Italian but decent pizza!) where you need 100 USD per person. Most are overpriced and pretentious. I’d stick to the classics or more affordable humble places : Aldar, Kiros, Le Palais, Limoncello (which is moving to the old Poivre Noir), Tandoor, etc… But hey! Try them out!

Is it me or have blogs seemed to have fallen out of fashion. Everyone is making hyper stimulating low attention span TikToks about Kinshasa. A good blog is hard to find these days (not that mine is so spectacular).

Something positive (finally!): I was brave and went on the Ferris Wheel of Kinshasa. It wasn’t half bad. At sunset, it must be nice. It’s actually nice to see a place for children and families that is clean and well organised. The prices are correct. The wheel didn’t stop 🙂 They have an emergency generator set (which works! 😉). The loop costs a little less than 10 USD and lasts 14 minutes! Ask for an air conditioned cabin 🙂 Don’t be afraid!

In any case, I’ll leave you with a few pictures I’ve taken these last few weeks in the glorious city full of life and surprises!

Catch you again soon!

PS : This wasn’t written with AI! I promise!