Congo...
Gents my apologies for not providing a complete description of Congo as I thought not many people would be interested in it… thus did not wanted to waste time and space…
I already emailed a reply but for some strange reason did not go through… so there goes 20min of writing… anyway here it is again…
I am not a pilot (not yet…) and thus My visit to Congo was for a business trip NOT related to the aviation industry…
1) The airport is as good as can be expected from an airport in Africa… lots of Russian planes as well as 737-100/200 series.
2) The place is supposed to be safe – everyone I spoke to stated that this is a safe place – now having said that I did not feel that safe… - I guess this is mainly because I did not stay there for too long. It has also something to do with the fact that it was too much of a cultural shock for a time period of a couple of days… so do take all the above into account…
3) The place is extremely expensive… well…unless you live in Japan or Moscow… so if your salary is not solid then my suggestion would be to think twice…
4) I did not see much life outside the Office… none at all… BUT that all depends what you want to do after work…
5) I had to get 8 vaccinations just for a short visit… Malaria is the number one killer in Africa… and Congo is the most dangerous place on the globe when it comes to that… so what does this mean…??? It means that after 6pm you have to start dodging mosquitoes and also keep your house/apartment extremely cold throughout the night… every night…
6) Malaria also means that you will have to take a pill everyday you are there to prevent Malaria… the people I spoke to, had stopped the pill after the first couple of months… so I suppose it is your choice, your life…
If you gents are interest, do get in contact with me (private email) and will send you all the pics I have from Congo…
I hope all the above hints were helpful…
Cheers