Tag: traffic
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Updates 2025
A quick update on my life and Congo in December 2025 with some photos!
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The current state of affairs in the DRC – November 2024
I sit here on an overcast Saturday in Kinshasa. It isn’t too hot. The weather has been a bit unpredictable with rains in the mornings and afternoons. We’ve had some sweltering heat as well. The sun has been brutal on some days.
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Kinshasa, a megacity of traffic, chaos, potholes, plastic and puddles
A rant about Kinshasa
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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…
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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.
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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…
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On the road from Matadi to Kinshasa
Photographs of a drive from Matadi to Kinshasa
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Kinshasa : Fuel shortages, traffic and wewa godfathers
You wake up and step outside and notice a massive queue of cars around the block at the fuel station next door. You’re not sure what the cause is. You hear it is about unpaid government fuel subsidies, the war in Ukraine or some other confusing issue with fuel companies.
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Motorcycle adventures in Kinshasa
Today I got stopped by the Police while on my motorcycle. They had no uniforms. The supposed cop walked up to my motorcycle and just removed the keys. Motorcycles are not allowed in Gombe apparently but they’re everywhere. I am one of the few with a motorcycle with a number plate, insurance and permits to…
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Driving from Gombe to Limete
A description of a typical drive through Kinshasa
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Mad traffic
Traffic in Kinshasa is horrible Most of the time you will spend anywhere from 1 to 4 hours in traffic, sometimes, to do 1 km, sometimes to do 100 km. You never know. Motorcycles are the only way to be sure to be early, or dead, at your destination. Everyone fights for an inch. Courtesy…
Emilio in Congo (DRC) 