17th March Lobito Angola

13^th March, Johann's Market Garden near Angolan Border

For those following on Google Earth S17 29.590 E014 40.112

The GPS stuffed us up this time. Clearly showed the Olusjhanda Resort/Camping but when we reached the coordinates all there was were market gardens. Johann, the owner came to the rescue taking us to a pleasant corner for us to camp for the night, no charge. He had served in the SADC fighting the Cuban and Angolans some years back in this very area. Sitting here writing this we are serenaded by some cow struck bulls as well as a herd of goats being driven down to the lake to drink. The clunking of a cow bell adds to the pastoral scene. The floods in Australia last year affected people further afield than I imagined: Johann was saying he wasn't able to get his cabbage cultivars from Australia last year because supply was affected by the disastrous floods over There.

Another fairly long drive through very interesting country. Goats and donkeys has replaced game farms and waterways has replaced the dry country we experienced yesterday. There is water everywhere with water lilies covering much of it and donkeys wading out to the middle to feed on the lusher grasses. One frustration driving was the overuse of different speed zones where going along at 120kph (not us) suddenly an 80kph one appears, then a 60, no derestricted signs a short distance on a further set of signs. This continued for every intersection or couple of straw huts on dead straight roads all afternoon. A Sth African had warned us of these, said we would be very fortunate to get through without a fine

We are a short distance to the border and cross over early tomorrow.

14^th March, Bush Camp Near Main Road.

S16 34.951 E oi4 54.151

Before leaving Windhoek we were told a police clearance may be needed to take our Namibian registered vehicle out of Namibia. It would mean a further 3 days in the capital and as we had the ownership papers with my photo on, the carnet with ownership and vehicle details written in, and also the receipt for us buying the vehicle, we thought we would risk it as time was slipping by. At the border the first thing the police woman said was 'Police Pass!' Was this going to mean a 800km each way trip back to Windhoek? We feigned ignorance and showed the papers we had, luckily, after checking engine numbers etc they said that it was ok, we could go on. The rest of the border crossing went well, few others were crossing that morning, in fact there weremore goats and cattlecrossing than humans. We were soon on our way, driving on the right for the first time, trying to find the turnoff to the road we wanted to get us across to the main road some 90kms further north. It was cunningly concealed amongst the grass huts, goats and cattle. Of course once more the Garmin had a problem as it showed a bridge over some swampy land, but the structure had been washed away meaning trying to find a way around. A bit of back tracking and the directions of a young boy we finally found the detour. The next 90 kms took us 5 hours with bad roads. A highlight though were the baobabs we passed, many of an immense size. Also the new schools being built in even the smallest village, a good sign for the future. On getting to the main road new asphalt greeted us. That was for 9kms, then it was back to a mind jolting, vehicle testing struggle. We gave up after 22kms and are bush camping just off the road. The land owner came over, he had seen us stop, after an offer of a few beers he was happy for us to camp the night.

The drive today was long but not too tiring.

15^th April. Namibe, Atlantic Coast, Angola.

S15 11.317 E012 09.065

Steady rain fell all night with us conjuring up the further nightmare of trying to dodge all pot holes the next morning as not being able to tell the depth of each of them. Fortunately the road started to improve not that you could take your mind off the driving because even with the start of asphalt meant dramatic holes across much of the road. Chinese have moved in to Africa in a big way and in many countries we have seen them building all types of infrastructure. It is debatable whether the host country get much out of the arrangement apart from a road that usually starts to deteriorate after a couple of years. They bring in all their equipment and man power apart for the most basic jobs and get their pound of flesh by way of recouping their outlay in influence, minerals, diamonds and the likes. The first good road we went on today lasted about 30kms, after that the stretch that was finished before that is already starting to break down. Maintenance is a word with little meaning here.

We reached Lubango after a few hours driving then travelled down the magnificent Leba Pass where the road dropped from 1900 to 600 metres in a series of sweeping hairpin bends. The road was wide enough to offer security although the guard rail had been demolished on many bends by not so fortunate drivers. The views were breathtaking.

Namibe is a port and fishing town. The camp here has seen better days, no charge for no services, not even running water. Though there is a small restaurant next door that served a very nice fish dinner and it is good to go to sleep listening to the surf break. Tomorrow we start heading north along the coast until we reach Luanda then N'Zeto from where the road heads inland to the Congo border.

16^th April. Lucira Foreshore

S13 52'oo.2 E012 31'14.7 Travelled 215kms
The days started disastrously. After a pleasant walk along the beach to an old shipwreck, I managed to get the bakkie horribly stuck in the middle of the park we were staying. A matter of breaking through a harder layer of sand into a very soft section. Before I realized the situation, the back right wheel was deep in sand with the diff also imbedded. 11/2 hours later I had it out with the aid of a young bloke. Namibe is one of these older towns that don't have a supermarket, the shops don't identify what they are selling, making it difficult to get what you want. But we did manage to find the bakery that sells those beautiful Portuguese rolls, and a coffee shop that turns out the strong bitter coffee you would get in the home country. Many of the buildings had bullet holes in the walls, a reminder of the civil war that raged throughout the country.
Then it was on the road after filling up with diesel (40cAU per litre) heading north. Once more the Chinese excelled themselves with a new road for most of the distance before hitting the long detours they put in place while the next stretch is constructed. The land was arid desert with spectacular mountains and valleys, cliffs colored green, red and yellow where they had eroded. The river valleys were oasses of palms and market gardens. Tomatoes, capsicums and cucumbers were stacked near the road ready to go to market. A couple of the tomatoes had fallen off the truck on the bad detour, they made a tasty salad tonight.
Lucira is a small fishing port, in the past quite isolated from the nearest town, Namibe. There is no campsite here but were told it would be ok camping near the foreshore away from the officials' offices. We tried out our shower brought from Australia tonight. One end plugged in to the cigarette lighter and the pump went into a bucket of water. We were a bit exposed by people in the vicinity but had a delightful shower after 4 days without one in warm temps. One gets quite basic travelling the way we do though Joan has her wipes for here and there.
Tomorrow we head north once more, hoping to get to Benguela or Lobito. The road turns to gravel from here on but hope it won't be as bad as it was crossing into the country on Saturday.