Africa

DR Congo

Location

Central Africa, north-east of Angola.

Advice is not to travel to DR Congo unless essential. The collapsed economy, non-payment of military / public services and high unemployment have led to very high levels of crime. Street crime is rife with risk of armed robbery at all times. Girls are commonly used to lure the unwary into traps. There is also the risk of arbitrary arrest of foreigners by security authorities who demand payment for release. Local militia groups, weapons (various), ballistics danger areas, mines, vehicle security, personal security, ambushes, kidnappings, bandits / corruption, gunfire / snipers, legal / illegal checkpoints, armed robberies, general travel, navigation, off road driving, building / office security, hot weather injuries, personal hygiene, sanitation / sterilisation, clothing & equipment, emergency first aid, helicopter safety, terrorism, cultures / customs, communications, emergency shelters.

Filter and boil or branded bottled water with unboken seals.

Vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east.

Tropical; hot and humid in equatorial river basin; cooler and drier in southern highlands; cooler and wetter in eastern highlands; north of Equator - wet season April to October, dry season December to February; south of Equator - wet season November to March, dry season April to October.

Periodic droughts in south; Congo River floods (seasonal); in the east, in the Great Rift Valley, there are active volcanoes.

African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), bacterial and protozoal diarrhoea, cholera, hepatitis A, HIV/AIDS, malaria, pneumonic (pulmonary) plague, polio, schistosomiasis, typhoid fever, yellow fever. Minimum turn around air evacuation is 10 hours.
Hospital: The Centre Prive d'Urgence (CPU) clinic in Kinshasa.

Poaching threatens wildlife populations; water pollution; deforestation; refugees responsible for significant deforestation, soil erosion, and wildlife poaching; mining of minerals (coltan - a mineral used in creating capacitors, diamonds, and gold) causing environmental damage.

Most roads outside Kinshasa and other main cities are undriveable, even in four-wheel drive vehicles, especially during the rainy season (September to May). There is no reliable public transport system and unroadworthy / overcrowded vans serve as buses in Kinshasa.

Hostile Environments and Emergency First Aid Training (HEFAT®) (5 days)
Centurion's flagship Hostile Environments and Emergency First Aid Training (HEFAT®) course is for people who operate world wide, particularly in areas where there may be personal health or safety concerns. It is extremely effective for "frontline" organisations.

For more in-depth general information please download our Preparation and Training document.