Internaut

Looks like I will be travelling on business there, possibly as early as next week. What are the pitfalls of immigration and customs at the airport? What hotels do you recommend?

More importantly, is this just another African city, or is it every bit as scary as it looks?

Stewie Mac

A couple of FT's more intrepid travellers, ironmanjt and hauteboy have just been there and posted separate trip reports, here and here.

Actually, I've just got around to reading their reports, and seems that because of the recent rebel attack on the airport, they only did a day trip from Brazzaville.

Good luck - I may be there myself fairly soon, and would be interested to hear how you find it.

Stewie

Internaut

Thanks. Looks like those trip reports are work in progress . From what our man in Africa told me (who unfortunately disappeared into the bush, on holiday, before I was asked to go), it's not that bad. Trouble is, when it comes to travel, I'm all about the details. I want to know every site, sound, smell, risk of having to bribe someone, and so on, from the point I get off the plane. The 7 Ps are pretty much my religion.

Austinrunner

Africa generally demands flexibility and quick problem solving skills along with the abiliry to listen to your gut. It appears you do things just the opposite of that. RU sure you have to go there? Can your company hire a trusted guide to help you?

Internaut

I spent much of last year in Namibia, Benin, and Cote d'Ivoire. Trust me, the 7Ps matter a great deal. There's only so far your gut can take you. After that, it's a matter of preparedness.

Austinrunner

Then what's the problem? Go and enjoy.

Internaut

The problem is that I could (and will) know more, before I go. This is all part of the preparation. All things being equal, the greater the knowledge, the fewer the risks.

Austinrunner

That's precisely the point. No amount of advance knowledge is going to lower risk significantly in an inherently unstable environment. The only realistic preparation is learning how to adapt on the fly.

hauteboy

Kinshasa wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting... it may have been due to the holiday in there not being so many people doing the Brazzaville-Kinshasa crossing.

I never made it to the airport so nothing to say about that... but supposedly it has gotten better in the past few years. Taxi from airport is ~$60 and it can take awhile due to traffic.

The center area around Gombe was very modern, clean, had supermarkets, good hotels, etc. We had a driver+SUV for the day, expensive at $250 but we had to arrange it last minute. You can probably get a car for ~$150/day with fuel.

Outside of the center, the city was very trashy, dirty and rundown. Definitely I wouldn't feel particularly safe at night in those places.

ironmanjt

Agreed. I'll have my Kinshasa post with lots of pics up in the next few days so you can get a flavour. As far as bribes, yes, you will have to pay them IF you want access to things. If you're fine not having access to things you want, or waiting a long time, maybe you'll avoid them.

As far as dangerous, I didn't feel it in Gombe, but as Hauteboy said we were there on a holiday, in the middle of the day, so that certainly contributed to it.

That said, if the airport border people are anything like the ones at the port, you're going to be hit up for cash, and the minute they have your passport they have you by the family jewels.

Internaut

Thank you Hauteboy and Ironmanjt. Our man in Africa took a break from his holiday for a very long Skype IM chat, last night. What you say about Gombe matches his experience. The airport should be a bit easier for me, thanks to the manner of my arrival. I will have a landing visa. My colleague reports this is still a disconcerting process, involving dealing with ill tempered people .

Once I've been through the process myself, I'll produce a trip report, and also see if I can collect experiences from people arriving on normal visas.

Stewie Mac

Internaut

Did you go in the end? If so, I'm sure that more than me would appreciate a short update

cheers

Internaut

I'm here! Sorry I didn't reply to you on this thread; I hope our offline chat was useful. Ok.... Nothing to fear. At the airport, an immigration officer got a bit shouty with us, because our visa arrangement is a little unusual (we arrived without a visa, but a with a bit of paper for a visa on landing), but we were quickly ushered away. The airport is chaotic, sweaty, but not impossible. Immigration looks straightforward, as does customs.

The drive form the airport, to the very quiet district of Gombe, was a bit of a roller coaster. Our hotel is the Fleuve Congo. Some quick comments:

- Five star hotel, with rooms that would not be out of place in a European five star hotel
- Priced like a five star hotel in London or Paris
- Only accepts visa or Master Card*
- Food and drink not up to to five star standards (and priced absurdly)
- They will confiscate drinks you bring into the hotel from a supermarket**
- Internet access is actually very good
- Gombe is clean - you can certainly go for a walk or jog along the Congo
- The view from my room is amazing - the Congo looking onto Brazzaville.

* But with Master Card they will expect you to pre pay your entire stay.
** But only if you're blatant about it (i.e. plastic bags full of bottles).

PuriPuriManTumas

Re Kinshasa airport: altho' I haven't been there for a couple of years, I can't imagine it having changed all that much ... remember the phrase, which you may have already "M'sieur, quelque chose pour boire?" ... "Sir, something for a drink?", especially if their conversational attempt to describe how hot a day it is hasn't elicited the expected 'pour-boire'. This will usually be after they've divested you of your bags/tickets/passport/Innoc book etc, so they have the upper hand ... usually a couple of dead presidents or CFA100 would suffice, but it gets 'emmerdant' after a while. And when finally processed past boarding pass issue into the 'departures' area, you'll meet the 'Immigration stamper' and the 'Yellow Fever vaccinator', Yes, on departure, who notwithstanding the prominent proof in your Innoc book will still endeavour to sell you same, for about 5 dead presidents, or 'ce que vous avez, M'sieur, a vous'. Don't look at the needles ...

Do try to keep an eye on your things from set-down at the entry, as I found the inside of the departure area quite dimly lit, and the number of 'officials' to be navigated seemed to increase each time I left.

And you can tell which is the Business Class lounge: it has more glass in the windows than the other, and is/was up a staircase to your right as you enter the departure gate holding area.

One of life's little enjoyments ...

Internaut

It helps a great deal to have checked your bags in, and have your boarding pass, before you arrive. I've not been through this yet (yes, I'm still bloody well here), but here's what the ex-pats who work for my customer do:

- Around 10:00 on the morning of the departure date, they go to the Air France Office, at the Memling hotel
- From here, they can check in, check their bag in, and pay the USD 50 departure tax
- At the airport, show the slip you've to confirm you've paid your tax, and head for the VIP lounge (USD 35, so I'm told).

It may be a bit more complex than this. My customer has a consultant, on retainer (they call him the protocol man), who handles everything when you arrive, and everything when you depart.

Check in at the airline office, as described above? I'm told Air France, Brussels and Turkish all have this facility.

A friend who left on South African Airways was tricked into paying Woman's Tax, by the check in staff (he had to go to the bank, where they knew exactly what Woman's Tax is, as they happily took his Lincoln (apparently the standard amount for any unofficial tax here).