Day 2 in DRC

Spent today in the office on various work tasks, so not a lot to report. We did learn a bit about the country. DRC is about ¼ the size of the US, so it is a very big country. To go from Lubumbashi to Kinshasa, the capital city is over 3,000km or about 1800 miles. To go to the very northern part of the country would be even farther. The road system here outside the city is not very good. It is almost impossible to go from here to the west, east, or northern portions of the country by road. When your job is in logistics, it makes for an interesting puzzle to figure out how to get things from one area to another quickly, safely, and economically!

Other general observations – the roads here are much less crowded than other places I’ve been in Africa. People generally seem to follow the rules of the road. I actually saw people stop for traffic lights, stop signs, AND pedestrians today. That is really unusual, but definitely comforting. Some places, just riding a mile in a car on the roads can be extremely exciting, and not in a good way. We’ve only seen the area from the airport to our hotel, and then it’s only about 2 miles from here to the office, so our exposure so far has been very short. The weather here has been very cool. This morning, we spent about an hour outside in a tent for our first meeting, and I was actually wishing I’d brought my sweater! I’ve never been cold here before. We’re told the weather is unusually cold. I can only imagine if I’m chilly, what the local folks must feel!

More to follow tomorrow!