View of Sozacom from Galleries présidetielles.
A view from my balcony at dusk. Clouds over the river.
Kinshasa's busy and messy portside. The goods from the interior arrive here to feed the 8 million people. The wooden boats below are being built thanks to a USAID project 10 years ago, I believe.
RTNC's (national news broadcaster) sattelite dish outside Kinshasa. This was a French project, that apparently still functions.
Mobutu, Congo's longtime dictator, had two Chinese palaces, one of which is just outside Kinshasa (photo). Both have been pillaged.
Milla, a friend, poses in front of Laurent Désiré's memorial and burial place. It includes a North Korean statue of the assassinated statesman.
Everything goes on the streets here. "Efe" are the one who sell cigarettes and roots, like you see here. "Viagra" is the marketing catch on these stimulants.
Welding everything they can get their hands on. Here, my barbecue is made from a wheel with some metal legs they recycled who knows where. 10 bucks.
Spraying against mosquitoes. Malaria is a current ailment in town.
You find white people too: they're called ndundu, which means albino.
Gina with her baby boy. She was the cashier when I was at MONUC, thus one of my main Lingala teachers.
Ndombolo: the dance on everyone's hips.
Dancing again, and again. You'll see them dancing everywhere. I remember once seeing a pirogue on the middle on the Congo river, no one in sight, and the guy was dancing there, as if God was is only witness.
Getting a haircut sponsered by Tiger Blades at Fikin, Kinshasa's big fair every July.
Garde spéciale de sécurité présidentiel (GSSP): they number at 10 000 and they take care of the president's security. Many are thieves, but you can still find some friendly ones.
Sometimes, you see traditional instruments, but only on special occasions.
Transport. Lovely.
Driving at 60km/h.
It's fun to drive real close to these and see the legs go up in fear.
When you go to the airport.
- Animal inventories, Itombwe, Congo, 2006
- Ethiopia, 2005
- Hunting with Pygmies, 2006
- Ituri Forest, Congo 2005
- Kinshasa, a photo overview
- Montreal to San Francisco, 2005
- Mozambique, 2002
- Ruwenzori, Congo, 2005
- Salonga National Park, Congo, 2005
- Sunday On The Congo River (2006)
- Swakopmund, Namibia, 2002
- Virunga, Congo, 2005
- Israël, 2005