I knew I was setting myself up for a big fall getting wound up to get to the DRC. And oh what a friggn fall is was. I’m currently sitting in a room fighting off malaria ridden mozzies in the middle of a Catholic mission in the middle of the DRC.

WTF am I doing in a Catholic mission? No I’m not converting, it’s the only place around here with any infrastructure to operate out of. So I’m trying to behave lest my soul be damned to the deepest pits of hell (wait I’m already here) but I’m doing something wrong because the weather has been F(*&ed and we haven’t done a single days flying. Almost a whole month now in Africa, a week in the DRC and I’m yet to do a proper days work.

It’s an eerie feeling as I’m the only one left. The others got eaten 2 days ago and now they’re starting to look at me with hungry eyes. Meat is in short supply here and we’re pretty much the ‘other white meat’. Well, not really. The pilot I was with was due to go home a month ago and after extension after extension he’s finally on his way back to Oz. What that means for me is that I’m stuck here alone until Tues when his replacements arrive. If they arrive on Tues.

So I’m slowly going out of my mind. I really want to get some f(*&ing work done. This place wouldn’t be so bad if I knew I was getting closer to getting out of here. But as it stands, I’m here in Kananga for 2 weeks probably more, than out of the pan and into the fire of Mbuji. More corruption, more bribes, more bullets. I’ve had one of those serious ‘WTF am I doing here moments’.

It could be worse. I could be a geologist in field on site collecting samples. Met a team from DMA that had just finished a 2 month stint out bush. We’re talking 30 degree plus days walking, hacking and hauling 20 odd kgs of sample bags. I thought malaria was an issue, try getting bitten by a Boomslang 5 hours from the nearest brick wall.

IT DOESN’T MATTER WHERE HOW BAD YOU THINK YOU HAVE IT, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE WORSE. GRATITUDE IS A VIRTUE NOT A CONCEPT.