Database in the Jungle

Lagoon of Cotonou by Mark Fischer 

I am being sent to West Africa to configure and possibly reinstall database and middleware servers. It will be an interesting experience and I will likely post images and anecdotes from the week I spend in the coastal city of Cotonou in Benin.

The trip came about for a number of reasons, but the definitive one, from my understanding, is that the engineers initially selected for the project do not want to go for sudden reasons. So, my colleague and I will be shipped off to drive the project and setup the foundations for a new information system. It doesn't help that we don't speak french but we'll deal with what ever comes our way.

In preparation, I've had to receive vaccinations for various bugs including yellow fever. I was even given a little yellow book to say that I am yellow fever proof. I've also been given 2 weeks supply of malaria tablets. Until we fly, I will be preparing my scripts, software installations, patches and certificates so that I am prepared and self reliant during my week long stay. We're not sure what to expect of internet accessibility but considering it is a large organisation, we have faith that basic internet connectivity will be available in the event we need access to the outside world.