29th April. Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

17^th April, Zulu Restaurant, Lobito

S12 19'02.9 E013 34'47.6

They allow camping on the beach alongside the restaurant, so once more, crashing waves to put us to sleep. They also have Wi Fi which means I was able to post the last blog after quite a time.

A day driving on gravel but nothing like we experienced earlier. The Chinese are connecting the whole of the coast with a sealed road. Today's drive was on formed wide road but not finished or sealed. Unlike yesterday when, even if the land was seemingly barren, we often encountered tribes people with their herds of cattle and goats, today we seemed to be the only people on the planet.

Or intention was to stop at Benguela and had been told that Nancy's English School allowed parking of the vehicle in the front driveway. Unfortunately we discovered a large generator running a metre or so from where our heads would be, The fumes were also a nuisance and when they said it would cost us US$40 we rebelled, drove a further 40kms and here we are, at the beach.

There is a young Swiss couple camping nearby heading south. We will swap info tomorrow before heading off. They are renowned as the couple who spent 6 months in Cameroon waiting for parts for their Italian vehicle.

18thApril. Cabo Ledo South of Luanda

S09 39'54.0 E013 13'24.4

Roland and Caroline, the Swiss couple, hadn't met other Overlanders for some 2months.The de-briefing lasted a couple of hours in which time considerable information was passed between us. They are heading up the East Coast once they hit Sth Africa, we were able to help them on that part of their journey.

After a late start we ended up just over 100kms from Luanda. It's a good chance to pickup our Gabon visas in the capital so had to get within striking distance tomorrow morning. The vegetation along the 400kms covered changed from a barren scene to one lush, green and with some strange plant life appearing. Namely forests of cacti growing slimly for up to 5 metres then branching out into a series of extensions. Quite unusual.

Not long after leaving Lobito we came upon a horrific accident, I think it was either a bus or truck going over the edge of a low embankment. Police and a fire truck were in attendance but as we drove past noticed there were 5 or 6 bodies lying uncovered on the road. One minute people thinking the usual everyday thoughts, the next, all life extinguished. It was very sobering. Wreckage of past accidents are left on the side of the road here in Angola. In under an hour we counted over 30 such wrecks, admittedly some were quite old. But this goes on for every kilometre you travel. The roads are pretty good here, sometimes narrower than usual, speed must be the cause of so much carnage.

19^th April. Yacht Club of Luanda. Luanda

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A bad day today. Started off well at Cabo Lado where Desiree had bought us some fresh bread the night before and we were getting the gen from her husband Queros. It was expected to get to the Gabon Embassy by 10.30 but with losing the coordinates and the chaotic traffic in the city we finally made it by 12 noon only to find it would take 4 days to get the visa. Also on the way in the A/C stopped working. Where we are going a/c will be essential. Finally found the Nissan crowd then learnt it would be almost 3 weeks before they could check the a/c. A compromise was reached and one of the mechanics is going to have a look tomorrow during his lunch break.

But the main problem today was the diabolical traffic in the city. A taste of things to come but we travelled over 50kms trying to find the embassy and Nissan. Almost as bad as India and Cairo. No road rules, at intersections, forcing your way across is the norm. Road works don't help as a short stretch of dual lane becomes a bottle neck as everyone tries to force their way in.

But where we are staying is a quiet haven. We are parked on the harbour next to expensive yachts with a 180 degree view of the lights of the city . At no cost. The bloke in charge is only too happy putting overlanders up, something we are all grateful for.

It has been a very tiring day.

21^st April.In a Quarry 30 kms south of N'Zeto.

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Missed out yesterday. Had the A/C checked by this mechanic who proceeded to try and rip us off. A solenoid I think it was had blown, I was able to go back to the Nissan place, buy one and fit it myself. Angola is an expensive country but not the price he asked.

Headed north after that was all settled and ended up down what you may call a country lane as there was nowhere else to spend the night. Some local came past in the morning asking for some water then one asked for whisky, we all had a good laugh.

The road today started off well, then it was roadworks with good detours, after that it was bad. Washouts, corrugations, potholed old tar, took us 8 hours to go 154kms. However the vegetation was interesting with those beautiful baobabs as well as those strange 5 metre plus cacti. We are really in tropical country here. One thing abut the baobabs, to many Africans they are a sacred tree, when the new road is being dozed through, we notice many older trees are left standing although they may be a metre or so from the formed road. That is nice to see. Native animals are rear, so far we have seen a couple of baboons, monkeys and a chameleon as he made his hesitant way across the road.

Luanda is a bit of a shit of a city as mentioned earlier. But one aspect of the capital amused us. In many arterial roads the surface is being upgraded to dual lane. Often a dual lane suddenly becomes a chaotic single each way. Here's where the enterprising locals have seen an opportunity: as the traffic slows the sellers appear hocking off any and everything you can imagine to the slowed drivers. Cold drinks are big but as well you get toilet seats, canteen of cutlery, full size mirrors, large paintings of semi nude women, cds, fluffy toys, anything you can imagine. The most optimistic I thought were some blokes selling shoes, how can a person possibly pick out the right size and try them on while driving along?

The weather has warmed up as we head north. Being on the coast the humidity as well has become tiring. Heading inland the land rises, that may bring some relief. The rains still haven't started which would cool the country down.

22^nd April. Between Aranza-Congo & Lucossa, Northern Angola

S05 55'24.8” E014 05'09.0”

Camp sites in Angola are few and far between. In fact we have only paid for one overnight camping spot the 9 nights we have been in the country. It is mainly a case of finding a place that is off the road a bit and you feel safe at. Even getting off the road can be a challenge as any off roads usually lead to villages. Tonight we are on a stretch of old road that has been bypassed by a new asphalt one.

There was a further 30kms of bad road this morning before reaching N'Zeto. After filling up with diesel from 20 litre containers we headed east on what turned out to be good asphalt. Meaning we could sit back and listen to an audio book as we went along. The road climbed considerably, that and a tropical storm that has just passed means the air is cooler at last. Tsetse flies last night were a problem resulting in both of us coming up in big welts all over. They bite through clothing easily and take a couple of days for their soreness to wear off. Good to hear from Luke while we were in N'Zeto.

A fellow overlander had given us coordinates to a nice spot on the coast near N'Zeto, we decided to have a look and see if it was worth having a day off. Unfortunately it was very hot, the site had little shade and not very conducive to a days rest. However we did see a couple of palm nut vultures on the cliff nearby. A beautiful large bird found in Central and West Africa.

23^rd April. Sister of St Mary's Mission, Kisantu, Democratic Republic of Congo

S05 07'25.4 E015 05'01.5”

Learnt a lesson this morning: don't free camp between a village and the local school. At least they didn't come too early but before we packed up there were over 20 kids surrounding the back of the van wrapt with what they could see. And good posers for photographs. They were a delight. Last night we were visited by three older boys who asked for books, their English was non existent, we had none suitable but did have an old tourism newspaper from Zimbabwe. They were so pleased and divided the pages up evenly. I told them to give it to the teacher who may help them understand the words. It makes one realize just how little these people have.

Water is a problem esp in Angola. It is non potable for the whole of the country and even in Luanda the water I saved for washing had unpleasant goobies in it. And that's the capital. This morning I went down to the stream near where we had parked to see what that water was like. It looked better than what was already in the container so made a swap. The local women washing at the stream were amused. I have just filled the tank with water from the mission which looks ok, we have also started putting the tablets in the tank to kill any bugs. We boil when we use tank water while everyday drinking water is in the purchased PET bottles. So far so good

We crossed into the DRC today but not at the expected crossing. Once more the Garmin ended us up at Luvo, another crossing inhabited more by animals than people. However apart from a 40 minute wait for the customs bloke on the Angolan side, all went smoothly and we were soon on a muddy but better road compared to Angola for some 20kms to the main sealed road. The heavy rain last night made us realize that the alternative crossing of the Congo River was out of the question as both Overlanders who had travelled that route both said not to do it in the wet. That route involved a fair bit of 4wd work even when it wasn't wet, hopeless after rain.

This mission where we are spending the night is a massive undertaking. The cathedral is immense and the hostel in the grounds of which we are camping would house 40 or so people. There are schools, seminaries and such. Sister Chantelle and Sister Anne Marie came round as were finishing our meal and indulged in a glass of wine with us. Both round and black with limited English they enjoyed the South African red, almost our last. Eric, an American we met in Nairobi 4 yrs ago had the mission as one of his waypoints, on his blog. The info on his website has been invaluable.

There is a famous botanical garden here in Kisantu which we will visit before heading west to Kinshasa, would also like to visit Chutes de Lukira on the Congo River if we can find the turnoff.

24^th March. Centre of accueili Protestant (CAP) Kinshasa, DRC

The botanical gardens were very impressive and a credit to the country. Over 100yrs old they house a large range of mature trees mainly from Tropical West Africa. And then it was back on the road again. Kinshasa was only 100kms further on on a well maintained sealed road. Missed the Chutes turnoff but were in the capital by 12 noon. We had been told it was necessary to buy the ticket for the ferry the day before therefore our first stop was the port. Lonely Planet described the scene at the ports either side of the river as scenes out of Dante's Inferno. A very apt description. It was bedlam. People pushing carts, money changers, police, unsavoury characters, it was all there. This is when things started to go pear shaped as we learnt the ferry wasn't able to take vehicles as the level of the river was too low. The alternative was to have it hoisted on to a barge which would take it across while we caught the ferry. The price? $500-600. Three times the normal fee. It then became an afternoon going round the different wharves accompanied by shifty characters and not getting very far. The last office we visited was of a company that gave the impression of a well run operation. We have to go back in the morning to find out a price etc.

But tonight we had a bit of luck in meeting Mary at this protestant hostel where we are camping. It seemed she helped the two Australians, Ray & Avril, when they stayed here a few months back. Admittedly the water level was higher then. I had been emailing Ray regularly in the planning of this trip as we will be following in their footsteps for a fair bit of our journey.

Apart from the ports, Kinshasa doesn't seem too bad a place with better traffic than Luanda. We still hope to cross over to Brazzaville tomorrow.

25^th April. CAP, Kinshasa, DRC

Kafka would have smiled if we were to retail our experiences today. The only saving grace was that Mary came with us meaning we at least had a translator to help us through the frustrations of trying to load a vehicle on a barge and get it 2kms across a fast flowing but lower than usual river. It was a day of waiting in receptions, waiting at The Beach, the local name for the ferry terminal, waiting at various offices of the harbour dept while our carnet was filled out by hand by at least 4 different officers, negotiating prices, getting an idea how much we should bribe each officer for him to sign off on his part of the work. Finally, at 4.pm we were at the port, the barge was already loaded with 4 containers and our car was to sit on top. Then Oscar, Mary's port contact, was called away. 30 minutes later he came back to say we hadn't paid one old codger his 'transport money' (bribe) and as it was after knock off time he wouldn't be able to sign off until he got his $2 tomorrow morning. He was the one who had held us up more than any other, copied incorrect details of the carnet and as Mary said, should have retired years ago. Today we have seen the ugly side of the Congo where every so called officer of any standing down to the gate keepers at the port, wants to be the chief, get his bribe, and make it difficult for the public who are unfortunate enough to have to deal with him. The fat necks as Len would say. As the late afternoon storm blew gusts of dusts around the gantries we had to give up and come back to CAP. One good thing out of it, if the bakkie had've gone over this afternoon we would have had to stay on this side until tomorrow, leaving the vehicle exposed on the other side. Some of the characters hanging around this part of the wharf looked fairly unsavoury.

So another day with little to eat, just didn't get a chance. Travelling up West Africa is a perfect place for those who want to lose weight. Crossing the Congo River was always going to be a challenge, one of the big ones of the trip, but none of us, including lovely Mary, quite expected this experience. At least we should have all the papers in order now, get our passports and carnet stamped tomorrow, and be on the water.

Joan has stood up to all this wonderfully. Hasn't lost her cool with any authority though a tear now and then may have helped. It is so steamy here, there are only cold showers and an hour after getting out your body is just as sticky. Once we leave Brazzaville we hope to get into a cooller area. We have been travelling non stop since leaving Windhoek with few problems. Our health has been good so far. Malaria is bad in this area and we are taking out Doxycycline religiously as well as covering up at night. The van has many openings with mosquito netting meaning we at least catch any breeze that blows.

Sorry about the lack of photos, the driving and heat takes it out of you, that and a computer that has a weakening battery, means my enthusiasm for loading, cropping and sorting photos is lacking.

29^th April. Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

Out of DRC and in to ROC. Took 4 days to get the bakkie across the river with some frustration at times but we are here. I will expand on what happened in later post, just want to get this on the blog if I can before leaving Brazzaville.

We are both well and looking forward to a more relaxed drive (??) from now on