Kinshasa - Post Report Question and Answers
What do you wish you had known about this particular city/country before moving there?
I wish I had known how (and, in my opinion, unnecessarily) severe the security restrictions would be. - Sep 2024
I did enough research that I wasn't too surprised. Just don't have your hopes up about anything and realize how depressing this place is. - May 2024
How difficult it would be for my family to live here. - Aug 2022
Like any post that has some built-in challenges, the people who struggle here are the people who are the least flexible. If you embrace your patience, adaptability, and sense of humor, you'll do great. And most likely, you'll leave Kinshasa with a deeper well of patience and flexibility to draw from moving forward. This place is also exponentially better with friends. It's important to work hard to find friends early on, and to keep making friends (turnover is fast here -- 2 years isn't long). It will be the difference between a bad/mediocre tour vs. a potentially great tour. - May 2022
More French. - Aug 2019
Hire. A. Driver. Trust me. It'll make your life so much easier if you have a go-fer that can get things done for you. And don't overthink consumables, you can get almost everything. Focus on beer and wine if you drink (liquor is easily available and generally inexpensive). - Apr 2019
How crazy the driving would be. It is certainly a make your own fun kind of post and security issues will be the deciding factor. - Dec 2017
I wish I had had more information about bring single and living in this city. - Dec 2017
How hard it would be to get a job. - Mar 2017
Kinshasa is a rough city, rather than a friendly one. It's not possible to blend in as an expat, and security risks mean you have to take precautions (such as driving everywhere) that make you stand out even more. Compared to other places I've been, it's quite hard to make local friends or authentically experience the local culture.
Also, it's really difficult and expensive to travel out of Kinshasa. Most travel in country is impossible due to the poor infrastructure and security risks, and flights to other countries are quite expensive. - Jan 2017
How bad the produce is. There really is not an alternative, though, so there wasn't anything I could have done with that knowledge. - Sep 2016
Nothing - I came with very (very) low expectations and I have been (and continue to be) pleasantly surprised. If you show up expecting things to be like the US you will be disappointed (hugely). - Apr 2016
Any day can bring extraordinary joy and wonder at what is possible or frustration and despair at what is not. - Jan 2014
