Another 0500 start and another airport - Ndolo, quite near our hotel and I am guessing probably the original Kinshasa airport - dusty dirt access road and a ramshackle collection of single storey corrugated roofed terminal buildings.

We did a bit of sitting around whilst our agents guys sorted out the baggage and did battle with various blue, pink, green and white forms. Then our hand luggage was weighed (which was good because we were to fly in a 17 seater plane) and we were directed to another building occupied by the DGM (Direction General de Migration) where our passports were being checked and our professions being established. Surveying is not something that really translates into French, so I reverted to being an "urbaniste" for today.

Whilst all this was going on various rather colourful characters were pushing past us and "facillitating" the processing of their papers before ours. One guy, casually dressed in jeans and designer stubble, was an Israeli diamond merchant. He had a Congolese front man/"walker"in a rather flashy black DJ style outfit complete with tails and white shirt with black leather ruffs - all at 7.30 in the morning. He looked like he had just come straight from some sort of magic show the night before.

Eventually we all got our passports back and we passed to the next booth where they checked our health documents. Then there was more waiting before a door opened briefly and we were invited to come through and have our hand luggage checked.

More waiting and then out to an old heap of a bus which eventually exploded into life with a noise like a can full of nails. We rumbled and creaked across an overland route which led us past an extinct Dakota (minus wings) and wondered what our plane would be like.