Like a Hot Knife Through Butter

The hour-long ride from Lubumbashi to the border was pretty memorable. Here was my cab. (Click on the photo to get a better look at the windshield.)
And here was the minor delay we encountered.
But we made it.

I sailed through the DRC-Zambia border crossing with no problems. It took some yelling and some name-dropping, but I didn’t pay a single cent.

Then, I hopped in a minibus and rode towards Chingola, Zambia, feeling proud of my accomplishment. A few kilometers from the border, we were stopped at a police roadblock and I was singled out to pay a bribe.

For those crossing between Chingola, Zambia to Lubumbashi, DRC, here are the vital statistics:

- From Chingola to the border (and vice versa), you can find a “taxi” -- usually a car or bus that fills up with people before it leaves -- for 20,000 kwacha (about $4).

- Going into the Congo, the only “official” fee I have heard of (aside from the visa cost) is a $10 fee, paid to the man behind a window. He should be the third or fourth “official” you encounter, and he’s in the same office building as the person who checks your immunization records. However, I’m 80% sure that the $10 was a bribe as well.

- Leaving the Congo overland, you don’t have to pay anything (except your Zambian visa fee). Several people told me I would have to pay $50 just to leave the DRC, but nobody asked for that. On a plane, I have heard of a “go pass” -- an additional fee for leaving the DRC -- but overland, you don’t have to pay that.

- From the border to Lubumbashi (and vice versa), you can find a taxi that will take you wherever you want in the city for 6,000 Congolese francs. Right now, the exchange rate is about 750 francs per US dollar, so if you give the taxi driver $10, he should give you $2 (or 1,500 francs) in return.