Emilio in Congo (DRC)

Category: thoughts

  • Pensées un mardi des martyrs

    Pensées un mardi des martyrs

    Aujourd’hui, on se rappel des héros nationaux, Joseph Kabila et Patrice Lumumba (17 Janvier). Kabila père est mort en 2001, il y a 22 ans. Lumumba en 1961. Il y a 63 ans.

  • Golf courses – photographs

    Golf courses – photographs

    Here are some pictures of golf courses in Africa and other regions, but mainly from Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Johannesburg. DRC, South Africa, Belgium & Italy Nicaragua Nejapa golf course

  • Dead bodies, filth, chaos, traffic, mangoes and corrupt cops. Another day in Kinshasa

    Dead bodies, filth, chaos, traffic, mangoes and corrupt cops. Another day in Kinshasa

    I drove. Sorry, I didn’t drive. I was driven from Gombe to Limete to meet a client this morning. On the way there, we saw a dead body, motorcycles taking over our lane, some were even being picked up onto the sidewalks to avoid the traffic! There were also huge piles of garbage left and…

  • Photographs of Kinshasa’s grimy streets

    Photographs of Kinshasa’s grimy streets

    Kinshasa streets are grimy, dirty and smoggy. Tough people, rough edges, aggressive driving, dangerous motorcycle drivers. Seeing a white or mundele here is entertaining for most. You get all sorts of reactions: happiness, anger, curiosity, aggression, teasing, opportunistic and many others. Taking pictures is a cheeky business. If you’re caught you get in big trouble.…

  • Internet speeds in the DRC (updated)

    Internet speeds in the DRC (updated)

    In January 2022, I wrote a post about internet providers in the DRC. I thought it was time to update it with only a few that I use regularly. Apologies if some others are missing. I have not used them. Without further ado, here are the results of tests done using fast.com on the 27th…

  • Challenges for pro golfers in Africa (not South Africa)

    Challenges for pro golfers in Africa (not South Africa)

    What’s it like to play golf professionally in Africa?

  • Kinshasa nightlife guide of sorts

    Kinshasa nightlife guide of sorts

    As you may know, Kinshasa is a party town. Just type “Nightclub” on Google Maps, and you will get 110 recommendations (I counted them all!). See here. Since the 60s, Kinshasa or Léopoldville as it was called, vibrated to the sounds of the guitar and other instruments. Jean Depara, one of Africa’s well known photographers…

  • A week-end and a half to Matadi

    A week-end and a half to Matadi

    A week-end and a half to Matadi. We went on a week-end trip to Matadi from Kinshasa. We decided to leave very early Friday morning at around 4am but the trip still took us about 12 painful hours (We did stop along the way). We got stuck in Kasangulu behind a plethora of trucks.

  • Congo (DRC) survival guide and other tips

    Congo (DRC) survival guide and other tips

    Idiosyncrasies and tips for living in harmony in the Democratic Republic of Congo

  • A trip to Leuven, Belgium

    A trip to Leuven, Belgium

    Home to a large university (KU Leuven), Leuven is mostly a student town situated east of Brussels (It is a 20 minute train ride away). It is on the Flemish side of Belgium, in Flanders, so don’t expect to speak French! Use your English skills or try to learn a few words of Flemish. It…

  • A Sunday on the Congo River

    A Sunday on the Congo River

    Photographs of the Congo river near Kinshasa and sandbanks

  • Sunday evenings in Kinshasa

    Sunday evenings in Kinshasa

    Everything is quiet The streets are empty The taxis are gone Sellers have gone home One or two cars zoom past A few beggars roam the streets

  • Sitting in Kinshasa traffic is tiring

    Sitting in Kinshasa traffic is tiring

    The rain has made it worse. We are waiting for hours to move 1 m. Everybody pushes for an inch. Everybody waits for an opening but there is none.

  • Photographers of the Democratic Republic of Congo

    Photographers of the Democratic Republic of Congo

    Here is a list and tribute to many great photographers who came to or from the Democratic Republic of Congo and made it part of their lives and work. Alice Seeley Harris (1870-1970) (Photojournalism) “Lady Alice Harris (born Seeley; 24 May 1870 – 24 November 1970) was an English missionary and an early documentary photographer. Her photography helped to expose…

  • C’est pas le Congo!

    C’est pas le Congo!

    Le Congo et l’Europe, les différences

  • Traveling out of the DRC

    Traveling out of the DRC

    What it feels like to leave the DRC

  • Meeting the Pope

    Meeting the Pope

    My handshake with the Pope. I was somehow invited to meet the Pope during his visit to the DRC.

  • Another year in the DRC gone by

    Another year in the DRC gone by

    Since the 1950s our family has been in the DRC, since the 1950s things have gotten harder for most Congolese. Seeing a country get worse and worse for 73 years can be heartbreaking. From the 50s there have not been many families that have stayed in the DRC for so long.

  • A city stuck in traffic

    A city stuck in traffic

    Nowhere to go. Stay in your seat. Watch cars squeeze left and right. Watch motorcycles slide between you and your neighbours. You’ve got AC at least Yellow taxis on the left, military 4x4s and politicians jumping the queue. Everyone is hitting their horns. Your driver is also losing patience. “What on earth is stopping everyone?”you…

  • Visiting Jaune Congo, a farm outside Kinshasa

    Visiting Jaune Congo, a farm outside Kinshasa

    Jaune Congo is not an ordinary farm near Kinshasa. They grow fruits and vegetables and soon, palm trees for oil production in a unique and sustainable way, hand in hand with local partners and employees. It is located here. Take the Cico cement factory road after Lukala to get there and ask for “Antoine’s farm”.…