We finally leave Kinshasa

RoC, part  1

Day 1: ~ 40 minutes after leaving Kinshasa, we dock in Brazzaville. We are concerned that to get onto the dock, our vehicle must pass under a walkway which is too low. Through charades we understand that the 3^rd pontoon will be disconnected and go to a different spot. But 1^st they must take all the cargo from “our” barge. The navvies get to work – though here it seems to be more of a team effort here rather than individuals carrying great loads. The barge is cleared and the engines started ready to take our vehicles to the landing place. But wait. Problem. The captain has disappeared, off to do some shopping. So we wait. Eventually the captain returns and we go to the vehicle landing area.

The offloading is a little risky, but achieved without mishap. Ray driving; Avril wants him to watch and take instructions from her, the official in charge wants to give directions.

Then Fany has arranged for a senior official to assist here. So Ange fills in some of the paper work and gets our passports stamped. The customs chief is not to be seen, but eventually this resolves itself (he is fascinated to see a tourist) and the carnet is stamped. Ange then takes us to the Hippocamp so we get there quickly.

The Hippocamp is a hotel in Brazzaville where Olivier allows overlanders to camp for free. He also provides ablutions. Wonderful.

They have a great Vietnamese restaurant and by chance, Saturday night is buffet night. Yummy.

We are greatly relieved to finally be out of the DRC and on our way again. But, maybe we also need to learn to be a little more patient as well

S 04⁰ 16’ 39.9’’  E 015⁰ 16’ 64.7’’

General: the GMAIL aspect of the blog does not seem to be working that well for folks..
We suggest that you write to either Avril’s or Ray’s private email address

 DRC Summary
Christo Potgieter said to Ray on the phone that we would not enjoy our time in DRC. And, as a summary, he is probably right.
Our entry was stressful due to the bad roads. Made worse by the expectations created by our various maps that we would have good roads. We had a few very bad experiences in Kinshasa. The police tried to extract funds from us all the time – our vehicle is very obvious.

We had them drag money from our hands, we were confronted by thugs in the street, Ray’s mobile phone was ripped from his hands (got it back), every time we went out we were continually hassled, surrounded by people all demanding “give me money” or such, when in our vehicle people would angrily shout at you from a passing bus or the “footpath”. We did not really like what seemed to be an underlying atmosphere of violence/aggression. Just the way people got so angry with traffic etc, we found quite intimidating. We were advised not to carry a camera as it allows a charge of being a spy to be brought. We were advised not to walk by the Congo river as the police were arresting people on the pretext they are spy’s – all to extract funds.

To counter balance this, we had the chaps who assisted us all the way on Day 1, through the mud bogs etc. Bruno was very helpful. M. Michel at the garage was just fantastic and could not have assisted us any more or been any more generous. After our accident, Alain & the people in the other car, the police and Albert from Helios towers were very considerate & helpful.  The folks at Chantilly were always ready to help and chat. Mary at the mission station quickly became a friend and helped us with translation and expert guidance.

So, we are a bit betwixt and between on DRC. Maybe with time we will sort it out in our minds. But, almost every person we spoke to would prefer not to be in the DRC – and that must say something.

 

DRC, part  3

Day 13: we again lazed around the hotel & pool. We had hoped that we would be able to get the vehicle today, but that was not to be. We checked into a different hotel (the Sultani), very close to the garage and a more reasonable cost. The manager, Mohamed, made sure we were given a suite. The room, restaurant, bar etc are more modern and nicer than the Grand hotel. Also, the staff makes an effort. A big rap for this hotel (it had been booked out until yesterday)

We experienced the frustration of not being able to communicate with people to arrange even the most basic matters (i.e. to arrange a car to take us to the new hotel). This reminds us of how hard it must be for the new arrivals in Australia and how we should look after them.

At the end of the day, Ray went to the garage. All the panel beating has been done and windows, doors and draws operate as they should. So it appears we only need to paint job – but M. Michel seems to think the weather is against us (not sure why?).

So Avril is remaining stoic and calm and Ray is getting stressed. Such is life!

Day 14: following the initiative Koos Moorcroft, we met with Teon Delopor of G4S this morning. They are a global security firm. They may be able to assist, but it is really nice to know some one in town. Thanks to Koos.

Ray went to the panel garage this morning and they said the vehicle should be ready today; rain and 3^rd party painter being OK. We the went for a walk back to the protestant mission and took Mary to lunch. Checked on the ferry for tomorrow (all is supposed to be OK, but we have heard that before). Then did a bit of chocolate shopping.

Otherwise a lazy day.

Ray went to collect the vehicle at 17:00, agh they exclaimed we said 18:00. The paining needs to be done. Now even a handyman as useless as Ray knows that it takes more than one hour to paint, buff and dry. So that sinking feeling. After waiting for an hour, talk turned to “tomorrow”. Ray decided that maybe the nice guy approach was not going so well. Time to roll out Mr not so nice guy. Some histrionics followed. A promise that the painting would be done in the evening and the vehicle ready by 06:00.

Ray returned to the hotel feeling a bit like Sisyphus, continually pushing a stone up a hill only to have it roll down, necessitating the need to start rolling the stone up the hill again.

Day 15: not so bright eyed, Ray returned to the garage at 06:00, having been promised that it would open at 05:30 and the vehicle would be painted and ready to go. Mmm, the garage actually opens at 07:00 & Ray returns then. No, the painter was sick, or traffic or such. But there are now 3 painters on the job. Vehicle is promised for 10:00. Back to the garage, actually, 3 hours was not enough. They need 3 hours more. Ray decides to wait at the garage to ensure work keeps going. 13:00 becomes 15:00 becomes 17:00 and finally at 17:30 we have the vehicle.

The issue is that we have arranged the ferry for the morning, so this needs to be undone. But, as per the previous discussion, we worry that the port chief will say we are unreliable or have an arrogance attack and we will yet again be stuck, waiting for the ferry. Stress!!

The hotel continues to be great, air conditioning, sports TV (for Avril) and internet fill in the time.

Back to the Protestant mission, where we are welcomed like old friends.

Day 16: the rain pelted down all night and for the 1^st time Ray needed to pack the tent down in the rain. So, DRC had a final piece of delay for us. It rained hard all morning. We were meant to meet our facilitator at 09:00, but keen to be on the way, we were there at 08:30. However, due to the rain the facilitator was late and only arrived at 11:00.

Then, into the port. Up to see the port chief, Ray had a suitable lost/forlorn look on his face and was very subservient. Today, we are successful, we can get on the barge. Downstairs to change the money (~ US$ 156) in to CFA. An immigration bloke comes up to personally do the passports (Ray paid $5, but at this time who cares!) and the carnet is stamped post haste. Then they buy a passenger ticket for Avril. All done in less than 10 min. For others who have French the facilitator was Oscar: + 243 9999 56771. The 2^nd facilitator (Fany: +234 818946454) shows up when the paper work is done. But, he still has a role to play.

Then we wait for the barge to arrive from Brazzaville, which it does at ~ 13:00. The Ferry is really 3 pontoon barges strapped together. After the offloading, the vehicles go on 1^st. so we are on the barge at ~ 14:00. Then the cargo is loaded. This seems to be reminiscent of the 18^th century. It is all done by human, physical labour. They carry enormous loads on their backs. Most of the cargo is for small traders who carry stuff between Brazzaville and Kinshasa and reverse. One chap had a sister in Australia and he takes an interest in ensuring we are not too badly hassled. He said that it is a good living, they can make US$ 100 in 4 days.

The variety of stuff in incredible, eggs, chickens, food, soap, potato chips, great amounts of different plastic goods (chairs, basins etc), beer, furniture etc.

It is piled high with much at a dangerous angle. Ray plays landcruiser police man, ensuring that cargo is not piled against the vehicle. Avril takes a position sitting on the roof rack and enjoying her favourite pastime, people watching. She is the centre of attention for ALL the men.

At 15:30, the vessel finally sets off. We are relieved to say the least.
In mid stream we officially leave

DRC, part 2

Day 7: sounds a bit boring, but another slow day in Kinshasa. Ray went down to the port this morning to arrange matters for tomorrow, only to be told that due to a squabble between DRC & RoC, the vehicle ferry was not running. Sounds like DRC has lots of squabbles – remember Dundo in Angola.

However, we got comfort that the ferry was a real option and we have a good person to facilitate. We also got confirmation from the Angolan embassy in RSA that a visa is not needed to transit Cabinda (now confirmed by 3 independent sources, but that may mean nothing at the border).

We then decided to take a break and get some internet therapy. So, we went to the local version of an international 5 star hotel and spend time (at huge cost) on a reasonable internet connection, had drinks and lunch in air conditioning etc.

Then we went to the hairdressers so Ray could get a hair cut and to a supermarket to get some (limited) fruit supplies.

In among all of this are the negotiations about whether a ferry will go tomorrow, costs, who will assist etc.

We are very lucky to have met an internationally savvy local Congolese at the mission, Mary. She has been a great help, went to the port with Ray, assists in the negotiations with the local facilitators etc.

The weather is quite hot. There has been no rain for a few days and in this case the sun beats down with a vengeance. Our location in the mission means we have no shade, but Avril has positioned us so the vehicle protects us from the afternoon sun.

We are both fit and well. Probably we have lost some weight! We are finding that a small breakfast and one meal a day is sufficient in the heat. We really cannot be bothered with a large evening meal.

One thing we have noticed is the very large number of conferences going on in Kinshasa, religious (quite a number of these),various UN, police, international NGO’s trying to arrange peace, violence against women, etc. No shortage of people talking here. Also, no shortage of western government & NGO staff with their impressive new Toyotas (white, with a sticker to proclaim who actually paid for the vehicle). When you look at the lack of security, undercurrent of violence/aggression, police corruption (at any set of lights the police will just demand “give me money”) etc; we are not sure that the talk feasts are having much impact. Seems like lots of people have deep pockets and KPI’s do not relate to actual positive outcomes and improvement on the ground. Still, we are not diplomats and may be just naive.

Day 8: for the first time this entry is being written the next day. Day 8 was not good.

We went to the docks, bright eyed and ready for Brazzaville at 07:30. All was ready to go. Then the head of the dock had a huge arrogance attack. No, we could not go until tomorrow. But, there were cars coming over from Brazza, so there must be space. Well, if there are cars coming over, we can go. But wait, no you cannot go. This went on for hours. Does he want a bribe?? Actually, no. This was just a way to get some kicks, show authority and generally be an arsehole today. Finally, the answer was no.

Sick of sitting in a compound all day, we decided to do a day trip to Zonga falls, ~ 120 km out of town. We set off directly from the dock, got a good run out of town, found the dirt road turn off to the falls easily. Things were looking good. The dirt track deteriorated to a little mud and a single set of tyre tracks.

Then, our worst nightmare, on a blind turn an oncoming vehicle hits our passenger side door, the panel behind it, knocks the big Dekker box and deforms the front tool box, which puts a large cut in the tyre. Remember the passenger side is where the driver should be here. The other vehicle (Toyota hilux extra cab) is a total mess. The engine under the front, all twisted and broken.

4 blokes get out of the vehicle, Avril thinks oh shit. Ray checks things out. Fortunately the vehicle belongs to a sizable company and the chaps are all right.

They take some pictures and report to head office by phone. They want the police involved. Avril phones Bruno who advises to try and make a deal, keep the police out. Ray also knows from previous travel that getting authorities involved could lead to lots of hassles, vehicle potentially impounded, court cases etc. Again fortunately the lead guy from the ute, Alain, speaks some English and one of the top people, Albert, at their head office speaks perfect English (turns out he went through schooling in Washington DC and holds US citizenship). Albert says we can sort it out, accidents happen every day, stay cool everything will be alright.  

Ray spent the next 2 hours extracting the tool box off the mountings and the tyre. Some folks passing by on a motor bike stop to assist. Alain and the crew from the other vehicle also help.

All the time Avril is keeping an eye on our stuff. With lots of observers, this is high time for theft. The guys from the hilux eventually tell the people to go away, and they do!

The police then show up. Here we are at a disadvantage as we cannot speak any French. Fortunately, they also turn out to be nice blokes. No aggression at all. They want us to tow the hilux back to Sona Bata. After some effort getting the hilux into a towable state, we do tow them using the winch extension strap as a tow rope.

We pick up the police commander on the way, a gentle sort of chap and go to their office (which is a dilapidated hut with a home made desk). The police commander takes our statements. This is a formal process with a series of questions to identify you, parents, address etc. One of the question was translated badly as “you have been arrested”, the actual question was, have you ever been arrested. I think you can all identify the colour of Rays underpants at the 1^st statement. The actual accident part of the statement is quite small. Ray is careful not to lay blame, but to state it was the road condition and blind turn – no need for enemies here. The police commander is very professional, we sign the statements. All this takes > 2 hours. Then the police commander asks for $ 200!!! We give $ 20, so as we can get back to Kinshasa.

The drive back goes OK, until we decide to take the T4A route rather than the Garmap route as the garmap route goes through a local market and this part can take 2 hours. Of course, there are road works and huge traffic jams. After driving around in circles, we go back and drive through the market arriving back at the mission at 20:30, absolutely shattered and exhausted.

Ray calls Albert to let him know we have not done a runner, and will contact him tomorrow. Avril had called her mate Mary at the accommodation, so we had our usual spot reserved and a key to ablutions.

On reflection we were very lucky to strike such a nice and professional bunch of chaps. Generally our impression here is that there is an underlying atmosphere of aggression almost violence. Not just the security stuff, but people yelling at you, lots of anger at traffic crossings, shouting, gestations etc.

Alain and the police were very courteous, polite and after we had spoken to Albert very helpful. Thanks to all of them

Day 9: Today we needed to sort out all the actions resulting from the crash. We do not have insurance as it is not possible to get it for Africa.

1^st we go to see M. Michel, but he is not in. They can do the repair; 3 – 5 days. Good, but bugger about the time. We contact Albert to make a time to discuss matters. It turns out his office is beside the Chantilly (ice cream shop). He is a great bloke. He is concerned for us and making sure we are OK. This is their 3^rd accident this month, so he knows the drill. He comments their drives are not that good. He proposes that we wait until the insurance has looked at the vehicle and then go from there. This sounds great and again very professional. He insists a couple of times that this should not impact our holiday (though we suspect he thinks we are a bit crazy).

Then we lunch at Chantilly, Mary, Farouk and the team there are concerned for us and very helpful. Then back to see M. Michel. He says no worries, start Monday 3 – 4 days. This is getting longer! But, what can we do.

We then check out some hotels to stay in whilst the vehicle is in the repair shop. All the reasonably priced ones are fully booked (who would have thought!). We check out the Memling, but do not like the location. So make a booking at the Grand – huge cost.

On the way back to the mission, we are given the shake down by a couple of police. Their eyes light up when they see us (We think one of them was a bloke Ray gave the slip to a couple of days earlier and suppose our vehicle is pretty obvious). They demand $ 250. Why, traffic violation – yeah!! Ray says he has no money but needs to go to the bank, they get a bit angrier (charades?). Ray has $ 15 in his pocket, so hands that over – bit silly, should only keep $ 5 in the pocket. Still, averaged out on the day, given the number of times we have failed to stop or drive through, the average is probably OK. You could argue the toss, but that may mean a trip to the station, lots of time and hassle etc etc. This is just easier. 

Day 10: last night we went a few doors up the road at the invitation of a local chap who has built a night club (very up market). It is yet to open, but the décor, fittings and setting is great. We had a drink and chatted for a bit. The owner is running in the upcoming elections for one of the near by seats. He seems to be honest, so hopefully he can win and make a difference

Today, we slept late, then lazed. Cleaned a bit, Avril did some washing, Ray made lunch (spaghetti) which we shared with some friends here, listened to some music, read about RoC and Gabon (we are preoccupied with road conditions and border crossings).

Fortunately it was a cool day and in the late afternoon our friends took us for a walk to the Congo River – we could see Brazzaville across Stanley Pools. This week hopefully.

Rereading some of the blogs from past travellers, our predicament is not unusual. Folks seem to get stranded in either Kinshasa or Brazzaville for a time; ferry or visa issues being the main reasons.

The term mission station is probably a bit of a romantic term for our surroundings. The compound is secure, which is the main thing. There is a central administration and meeting area (& former restaurant, which is no longer in use) and a number of accommodation blocks. The accommodation blocks have family, double and single rooms (but no cooking facilities). We park on the road and camp. We get a key to one of the rooms to use the shower and absolutions. The rooms are very spartan and in common with the rest of Africa, the concept of maintenance was forgotten many decades ago.

The people here tend to be short stays, but are very friendly, which make the stay more bearable.

Day 11: last night Bruno dropped around. It was comforting to hear that after the crash he had been to the Canadian embassy etc here to get everything in order should we need it. The Canadian embassy shuts down at 13:00 on Friday. The emergency number is in Ottawa – and just rings. No more comforting, the emergency number in Australia goes to a voice mail system. Very helpful if you are in an emergency situation.

We droped off the vehicle at the garage. Avril went to Chantilly to consume more ice cream and read the last 2 months of the International Tribune. Ray waited around the garage.

Finally the repairs were underway, so off we went to the hotel. In Kinshasa this is luxury (at an international + price) for us it is ~ 3 star. But it has internet & a pool.

We sat around the pool all afternoon and then did some internet searches and emails

Day 12: We spent a very lazy day in the hotel. Looking at options for future routes, skype to family, time at the pool, reading etc. It was good to spend time in air conditioning. One of the negatives of camping in a very humid environment is that there is a little moisture on clothes and sheets most of the time. So, 100% dry sheets were nice.

DRC, part 1

The road into DRC was as bad as the exit from Angola. But we had high hopes as the Reise Know How map (German mapping company) showed a major tarred road to the border. We should have realised after Angola that the maps are really very little use.

We were signed into the DRC and with a guide (as the route to the actual post was very hard to identify) we went to the actual entry post. Given the reputation of DRC officers, we approached this with some trepidation. However, we had a very smooth entry (apart from having to wait for the immigration man who had the stamp to come back from break, and also to correct the under officer immigration – who entered the ROC details instead of the DRC). Interestingly they also stamped our Inoculation books. No issues with the carnet here!!

So, with hearts set high, off we set to find the tar road. Fortunately our guide from the entry station came along as we went along basically footpaths. Then, that sinking feeling – there was no made road. There was not even a major or formed road. We were back to the worst of the Angola roads.

However, we were remained positive as at least we were on our way, and whilst the going was slow we were moving. Quite bizarrely we had to make way from 2 oncoming, heavily overladen vehicles. We took that as a positive, as the trucks were getting through. Agh, but then we started to reach mud bogs created by the vehicles. We had 4 major mud bogs. We collected another helper, who rode out rigger on the running board holding the roof rack. We supplied lunch and drinks for the team and set off again. Then as things got worse we gathered a further helper. At one point the team seemed to be having issues, so Ray got out to assist with digging, management activities and ensuring Avril now driving only got one set of instructions. We got to use all the recovery kit; sand mats, inflatable sand mats, bull bag and the Maj Shanks supplied sand bags. No trees to winch on (1 to Peter M).

Just as we thought things could not get worse, a massive thunder storm broke. Now our workers and Ray were wet, cold and very very dirty. On and on we struggled. Spirits were dropping. Avril realising the way to a mans heart is through his stomach broke out further food. We also gave the workers some dry clothes.

Finally we got to the promised land of a decent road, and well rewarded, our loyal and energetic helpers departed. You know the story by now, the good road lasted ~ 5 km, then deteriorated. We found ourselves driving in the dark on a very bad road, something we said we would never do. T4A does not cover DRC, so we are reliant on the Garmap map set (of which we have two). Garmap does not provide accurate routes and at one stage one GPS said go left and the other go right!! We went straight ahead. We drove on in the dark until we actually reached the N1 tar road. We managed to find a relatively decent hotel in Inkisi.

It is quite different driving thorough the villages here. Very few folks return our waves (unlike Angola where almost everyone returns a wave and the big ivory’s flash). The feeling is more intimidating, children seem to gather and frantically chant things, at one bog site a woman came along and demanded in an aggressive voice “give me money”. Not very helpful.

This was a particularly tough day. Well done to all.

118 km. S 05⁰ 08’ 02.1’’  E 015⁰ 03’ 40.0’’

Day 2: unfortunately, we are now in the habit of waking early, so could not enjoy the sleep in we had been looking forward to! We bought some bananas and bread at the local market and set off on the tar road for Kinshasa. Unfortunately, it seems that we have knocked a weight off one of the tyres and there is a bad wobble at ~ 60km/hr. But that was fine, we travelled slowly to town.

T4A and Garmap disagreed on the route, so we too the garmap this time. This took us through a large number of local markets and because the volume of people and because the mini bus taxi’s stop in the middle of the road to drop off and pick up passengers, we took a long time to get to our destination. But, that was OK, it was an interesting sight. A bit dirtier than the Vic market, but about the same sort of thing.

At one point we were diverted off the main road, this is really where the GPS (and Ray would like to add for the sceptics, having multiple units!!) comes into its own.

We had the GPS points for a Catholic mission and a Protestant mission. We tried to find the Catholic, but to no avail. Then we tried the protestant, a policeman directed us to a mission station – not the one we has a waypoint for, but satisfactory anyway.

We have set up the vehicle and have the key to private absolutions. Not too bad.
Ray drove: 118 km. S 04⁰ 18’ 13.1’’  E 015⁰ 17’ 57.4’’

Day 3: last night Ray went out for a few cold ones with Bruno Baert (Christo Potgieter had given the contact), a local born Belgian. It was very interesting to hear what times were like in the 1950s & 1960s. Turns out the border crossing we took was well used in those days. You could drive it in a VW and take 2 days to get to Luanda. It was good to hear from folks who know the route local conditions etc rather than rely on maps. Bruno has also recommended a garage to have the vehicle looked at..

We have also found an ice cream shop, and got chatting to the people there. They have recommended a hair dresser, so we have contacts for a couple of the most important jobs.

Today we spent most of the day cleaning and packing. Not all that interesting, but necessary. We also went to an expatriate type supermarket to stock up on necessities &/or luxuries.

We have been warned by everyone not to wander around the city, most particularly after dark. So, we are pretty much “stuck” at the protestant mission station. Which is not all that bad. There does not seem to be all that much to see in Kinshasa anyway.

Day 4: last night we dined on French delicacies; pate, jambon, camembert & (for Ray) Rouge Vin. We were forced to get up late this morning as the rain pelted down. A good lesson for us, no matter what the night looks like, pack everything away!

We went to the garage recommended by Bruno, but unfortunately they were full, and directed us to Mr Zaphiropoulos Michel at Garage de la Gombe (garagedelagombe@hotmail.fr). That turned out to be very fortunate. M. Michael took a very personal interest in ensuring the vehicle left his shop in as good a condition as possible, full service (grease, oil change, filters, battery etc) & a lot of work on the alignment and wheel balancing (he is a specialist in this) & replaced the rear brakes etc etc. Ray stayed at the workshop most of the day & M. Michael asked him up to his home for lunch. At the end of the day he refused to charge a traveller for the local labour. What an absolute delight. One of those things when you are travelling that really gives you a lift. A great big thanks to the team at the garage who were all perfectionists.

Meanwhile, M. Michael had his driver take Avril to Patisserie Le Chantilly where the owners arranged for their driver to take her for a “hair do”.  The chauffer driven back to the Patisserie, she had lunch and relaxed. A big thanks to them as well for all their concern & effort.

The vehicle took most of the day, so we arrived back at the accommodation just before dark.

Having both been fed well during the day, we had a light evening meal.

Day 5: A slow day. We went to the Angolan embassy 1^st thing to look at a visa to pass through Cabinda. The response was they do not issue vehicle visas there. We do not know if that means that they will not issue a visa in Kinshasa but will in Matadi, or if they have stopped issuing visas at all for Cabinda. It was compete chaos at the embassy, so we might go back tomorrow and see if we can get further info.

We then went to a very, very, very slow internet place down town. It took 2 hours to post the Angola blog. It is stressful whenever you stop and/or get out of your vehicle. You are immediately surrounded by many people, all wanting something and not asking nicely at all!! Given Kinshasa’s reputation for theft etc, we do not like to be isolated and surrounded like that. So, we tend to stick to the expatriate/embassy area in our accommodation. We have been warned not to go and look at the river as the police there will try and arrest you to extract money on the pretext that you are a spy.

Then a pizza lunch. Interestingly, our appetite’s seem to have abated, so we could only eat 50% of a small pizza – hopefully that will show on the waist line!

We then did a bit of shopping and bought some presents for the folks who have been so nice to us.

Finally we cooked a birthday dinner for one of the ladies here & her daughter.

Hopefully, we are finally becoming “aimless”

Day 6: yet another slow day in Kinshasa. We had a sleep in and then began investigating in earnest the possibilities of getting to the Republic of Congo. From previous research we knew there were two:

·         ferry directly to Brazzaville. A friend of a friend came around this morning, collected copies of documents and went down to the docks to investigate. Along the way we heard that the ferry had broken down (but who knows!)

·         to the beach and transit Cabinda to Pointe Noir. We went again to the Angolan embassy, but could not even get in the door this time. A friend phoned a friend in the PMs office, who said that a visa is not needed to transit and Peter (son) did some research and at least one blog agrees with this. If we do elect to take this route, we will double check with the Angolan consulate in Matadi – do not want to be stuck in no mans land.

We went and tried the internet again – very frustrating. Went to the entrance of the docks, so we are familiar with the route and then had ice cream & drinks and just lazed.

Final Angola

General things:

1.    Accurate information is very hard to come by. The maps we have do not reflect the ground conditions at all. The 2007 Reise know how map for Congo shows a major road to & from the border. The 2009 Angola map shows a major road to the border and a tar road immediately in DRC. In fact, the crossing is not suitable at all for vehicles. It is OK for pedestrians and dirt/off road bikes (I am not sure how a heavily laden road bike would go).

2.    The border crossing at one time may have been in good use as there are the remains of heavy vehicles and dilapidated buildings on the route. However, this must have been decades ago. Maybe it was a result of the infamous Berlin conference that “gave”the DRC to King Leopold.

 Angola

Overall we found Angola a progressive and nice place to be. Two things will stick; the people and the continual haze.

The best thing about Angola was the people. Initially the great people in our tour group, then as we became more comfortable, the Angolans. We found the local people always ready with a smile and to give a “thumbs up”. There were no security issues and the normally we felt safe leaving our stuff out in the open.

We were particularly impressed with the officials. The immigration people who went out of their way to give us additional time on our visa etc (as it turned out we did not need it, we passed through on te last day of our original visa).

In particular the police could not be more helpful. Koos and Jose said we should rely on them and we found this correct. That is a very comforting thought for travellers.

The big negative from our perspective were the roads. Coming out of 40 years’ war, this is understandable. However, it makes travel very tough.

From our experience, we would not recommend the Bradt Angola guide. Printed in 2010 it is massively out of date. Rating: 3/10.

Angola 4:

Day 18: today we started our journey south. Last night Koos presented us all with a certificate to recognise the achievement of making the Congo from the Cunene, all done over a few beers and a BBQ!

Today we covered the distance back to Musserra, and the camping area where Ray got bogged – so this time we camped on an area with green.

We stopped along the way to buy bread and some deep fried doe balls from a road side stall. We have noticed that there is little in the way of fresh fruit and vegetables in the north. Apparently the explanation is that with the bad roads, people will not take the risk of damage from bouncing around and delays (with associated degradation) in transport.

This was our last night by the beach, tomorrow we head back inland. Ray took the opportunity for a final swim. There were very loud waves for our last night.

The dust was incredible; we ended up with mm on the bonnet at the end of the day. So much for washing the car yesterday.

Ray’s turn to drive; 9 hours driving for 206 kms.S 07⁰ 34’ 35.4’’  E 013⁰ 00’ 14.1’’

Day 19: Some drizzle in the morning, but we still have not seen the rainy season start in earnest –  but it may well be belting down inland. A long days drive back over the tar road that had been ripped by a bulldozer. That means – you got it; Avril’s turn to drive.

We got some fishing net wound around the rear driver’s wheel. This took some time to fix (with the assistance of a local chap (coach of the local soccer coach who had just lost 10:0) who was suitable rewarded). We needed to take off the rear wheel to get to the net and removed most, but not all of it. It seems to have impacted the good air bag! But, we will see over the next few days.

We are camped by a river (in a picnic area) in Caxito. After the isolation of the north, we need to get reacclimatised to being the object of curiosity and being openly stared at.

7 hours driving for 167 Km.S 08⁰ 33’ 00.9’’  E 013⁰ 41’ 41.4’’

Day 20:Last night we dined captain’s table again; Isabelle’s lovely chicken a la king. Today was one of our more interesting days. We had a very pleasant drive to Uige. The route is marked in green on the Michelin map; the road takes you up the central Angolan highlands, through marvellous rainforest. The road has quite a number of low speed turns, so you can take time and enjoy the scenery; large hills (similar to the Otways in size) covered in rainforest and where agriculture had taken hold the long vista of rolling hills.

There were lots of fires from the traditional farmers (“slash & burn”). This made the longer view quite hazy. With the logging and farming now on encroaching the forest, you wonder how long the rainforest will remain.

The large number of wrecks at the side of the road reminded you that driving here is a serious business. We passed one crash only moments after it had occurred.

Today was also a day of police checks. At a one bridge the police copied down all out passport details (thanks Jose!). The next check (whilst we were filling with fuel) was a little more tricky. Clearly the local sergeant was looking for a bribe. The initial asking was really off the planet. Koos used his contacts to “phone a friend”; who instructed the local officer to let us proceed – but life is not like that. In the end we got our vehicle import papers back and some money changed hands. All very interesting for us.

Along the way we managed to get some fresh bread, bananas and tomatoes.

The road was good tar all the way (Ray’s turn to drive). 279 km. Tonight we are camping at the local airport (not in use at the moment). S 07⁰ 36’ 11.9’’  E 015⁰ 01’ 46.5’’

Day 21: a bad night’s sleep as the police sent to keep watch over us talked loudly and made maximum noise with their vehicles at shift change.

A very frustrating day. The Land Rover on the trip decided to get a bad oil leak, so we all waited around Uige whilst the problem was identified and repair started. We took the opportunity to replenish some supplies.

At ~ 11:30 we started our days drive (sans the Land Rover who needed to wait for the repair to be finalised). We drove out with police sirens blaring to clear the way – this was fun until we released that the police had now decided we needed close personal protection for the rest of the day. We had about 30 km of good tar, and the police decided to maintain speed under 40 km/hr. When we changed from one police command area to the next, we waited ~ 45 minutes whilst a vehicle was found for the rest of the journey.

Tracks 4 Africa (T4A) described the road now as “broken tar/gravel”: translated that means lots of kilometres of hell. The road had deep bad pot holes or trenches across the whole road and one ~ 80 km stretch had a deep scar running down the center of the road. Often times the gravel track at the side of the road was a better alternative. To make matters more interesting, the police in the new area decided that formula 1 speed was appropriate. Going through the villages with goats, pigs and chickens running across the road was an additional danger. Poor Avril had a very tough time, but did an excellent job.

The country side probably used to be rain forest, but is now rolling grass lands denuded of almost all trees. It gives a wide/long vista and was really quite interesting – too bad we did not have time to enjoy it.

We arrived at our destination Kalandula water falls in time to have a quick look and make camp just before dark. At ~ 105 m high the falls are the 2^nd highest in Africa. The are> 400 m wide and there is almost a veil fall over most of the width. As a connoisseur of water falls, these are a fantastic sight. Very glad to be here and to have seen them.

239 km. S 09⁰ 04’ 28.3’’  E 015⁰ 59’ 55.3’’

Day 22: after morning ablutions, Ray headed out to take a better look at the falls. Then most of the group went up stream of the falls for a river bath – very nice.

We then drove on good roads to PedraNegras – black rocks. For Australians, the best description we can give is that, from a distance they are vaguely in similar in appearance to Katajuta National Park. They did not appear to be all that black. We went to a view point on the top of one of the domes for a fine view of surrounding domes and the country side.

Along the way there sugar cane fields.

We managed again to get fresh bread and some avocadoes from a road side market.

Then on to Dondo and our camp at the Kwanza River, on white river sand. Up to this point Ray’s record of having the easy roads was holding up. Then the road went down hill, the dust was very thick and made driving hazardous. With the potholes and wash out, it was not fun.

The layers on the side wall of one of our fairly new (expensive) Goodrich tyres separated and developed a bubble. We were fortunate that one of the others in the group noticed (it was on the inside) and so with the assistance of everyone we had a quick tyre change and were on our way. The Goodrich allterrain tyres have not held up well at all. I am not sure if it was a bad batch or other reason, but both of the tyres look badly worn. By comparison the Dunlop tyres on the front that came with the vehicle when bought it look good.

The high light of the day was seeing our very 1^st Angolan road repair crew.

8 hours on the road; 298 km, S 09⁰ 45’ 25.2’’  E 014⁰ 30’ 35.5’’

Day 23: As I write this I am surrounded by literally 50 kids, all keen to see what is happening. We are camped by a church at Waco Kungo.

A fairly easy day drive on tar road, so for once Avril got a relaxing day. Through some interesting mountains. With the fires and heat it is difficult to get pictures.

After a few cooler nights, the temperature has now increased. So we are sweating it out a bit.

In the morning Ray changed the passenger side rear tyre for a mud tread. After all the work,  into the river for a quick bath. Avril pumped the tyres by herself for the 1^st time.

We went to one market for fresh fruit & veg and into another largish market for a look see.

Koos then showed us bridge 14, site of a 1975 battle between the FNLA/RSA & MPLA/Cubans and described the battle.

Then onto Waco Kungo, which interestingly is the site of a Kibbutz program run by the Israelis.

We can confirm that the air bag suspension on both sides in not operating – so all the folks in Adelaide can give the Mile End Opposite Lock a big raspberry.

120 Km of good tar. S 11⁰ 22’ 09.1’’  E 015⁰ 07’ 00.0’’

Day 24: last night was our final night with the Angola crew, so it was a bit sad. Koos said a prayer for all of us and wished us well for the rest of the trip. Then we went around the brai circle and everyone said a few words. Every one wished us well for our trip and said they would pray for us – which is very comforting.

One of our towels was stolen from the line – which is a timely reminder of the need to be careful. We now have 1 towel; that is togetherness.

Today was a good day: We got up early as Koos altered the planned trip to go through Huambo to ensure we got a new spare tyre. When he was assured that we were OK, we said our farewells; we were a little teary. A week ago Peter (son) had asked what the best thing about Angola was and had Ray replied, the people on the trip. We really hope to see them in a couple of years when we are back down the RSA way.

The tyre process took ~ 45 minutes and we were on our way – alone. We drove through Kuito, and they did not have fuel; mmmmm. But then in some non-descript village, we found gasoleo! There was queue for gasoline & nearly WW3 with the people trying to get it, but no one for diesel, so straight to the front of the queue. Very comforting for Ray who stresses if the dial is marginally off full.At Kuitothe road degrades to a T4A “road”: translation in the this case is badly deteriorated dirt track. But, not as bad as we have been on before. The road passed through the middle of markets etc.

Then, there was a bridge down – with charades & mud maps we managed to find an alternative route, along bush tracks, through railway bridges;etc all the time asking passer byes the way. Finally we got to Quemba, on the road to the DRC border. We were going to look for a hotel (the map said there was one, but the maps have been very wrong up to this point), but happened on the police station 1^st. Koos& Jose had said that we should ask the police for a safe place to stay and they would always look after us (Jose has written down a few critical sentences which came in handy at this point). So we are now camped behind an official residence (we think?), with a personal police guard and even a shower before dinner – what more could you ask for. We had a large group of keenly interested locals watch the tent go up, they were suitable impressed. A very good day!

Ray drove 487 km. S 12⁰ 08’ 48.9’’  E 018⁰ 05’ 31.3’’

Day 25: after early rising, we made breakfast (including for our police guards – we am not sure what they thought of porridge). We then set out on what turned out to be our most difficult day driving – Avril driving of course. The “main road”, initially probably a track, has been turned into a construction track for the Chinese who are upgrading the railway. The initial track was probably OK for the few vehicles a day it took, but the 1,000s of vehicle movements now have made the whole route a complete mess. At times the road is closed as fill has been dumped on the road (we waited at one point for the bulldozer to spread out the fill so we could pass). The Chinese truck drivers pay no attention to others on the road and use their vehicle size to intimidate to the maximum. At one point we had to negotiate passing a truck – there was insufficient room and neither of us could change get out of the ruts we were in. We cannot work out the approach to the construction task; they have multiple work faces with no apparent connection between the various sections, the concept of an absolutely terrible construction road must be bad for truck cycles and maintenance, but that seems to be the way the operate.

We spent the whole day in difficult 4WD (feeling like we were permanently on a mechanical bucking bull), at time not really sure whether or not we would make it through. The air bag suspension would have assisted, but of course it is buggered. The whole thing was very, very stressful.

The area seems basically unoccupied, we passed 3 or 4 villages the whole day, and these had not recovered from the war. The buildings were all shot out and the villages had almost a ghost town vibe. A nice aside was that in one village the police stopped us and drafted a note to get through the remaining check points. Very sweet.

On a good note, this has forced us to take a look at the idea of passing through Katanga then up the N1. Koos put us in contact with Christo Potgieter (from Anglo American) who works close to Kolwezi. He has advised there has been heavy rain in the region and trucks are already getting stuck. We always said we would go directly north if the rains had started. We have fortunately not been rained on, however the big pot holes full of water in this area show that there has been rain in the area.

More importantly, today’s stress has allowed us to look at the reason we are here: people, villages, wonderful scenery and game parks. The route though DRC would not provide any of this. Rather it would be a 4 WD ordeal. We are OK for a challenge, but really do not see the point of ~ 4 weeks 10 hours per day very stressful 4WD driving. So we will now look to proceed north out of Angola.

We are in Luena. Unfortunately all the “decent” hotels were full, so a clerk at one of the hotels took Ray out to a more local hotel and we had no choice but to stay there. We are sitting having a nice meal of steak & chips and a beer/sprite.  Could be a very interesting night!

For our sins we also spent time with the local immigration people. They asked us to come back at 18:00, which we dutifully did, but they did not show up.

257 kms in 8 hours.S 11⁰ 46’ 51.9’’  E 019⁰ 53’ 18.9’’

Day 26: after a restless night due to bar noise and the concern about the cleanliness of the hotel, we were up early and on the road by 06:00. For the 1^st time we had breakfast on the road.

The road turned out to be a mixture of heaven & hell. 11 hours for 402 km: ~ 200 km was very good tar, 200km/hr, the hell was “broken tar” (T4A). That it was, massive potholes and bumps meant we rode the mechanical bull again today. It seems that the original construction had paving stones then bitumen on top of this (I am not sure how this complies with the flexible pavement concept). As soon as one stone comes loose a very sharp pot hole starts to develop. The hole develops into a gigantic, vertical edge, full road width monster. Some > 3’ deep!

We have not commented on the vegetation/scenery over the past few days; it has basically been quite flat and just “scrub”. So with the lack of side interests, we are preoccupied with the road!! Basically we are on our way to Kinshasa, and there is not too much in the middle.

That said today we did pass a very nice water fall on the Chiumbe River.

Sunday must be washing day, at all the creeks/rivers there were lots of people out washing bodies & clothes. In one spot there must have been 200 m²covered with clothes drying.

We drove a little late, but managed to get near Lucapa and camp near a police post, outside a ready mix works.

For the 1^st time today we have had serious rain – so the decision to come north looks correct. Lots of lightning and thunder. We managed to get the camp up during a break in the rain and for the 1^st time ate in-doors.

Ray drove (hence 50% good tar). S 08⁰ 28’ 10.7’’  E 020⁰ 40’ 14.7’’

Day 27: a pretty awful day. We rose early full of expectations of entering the DRC. The road was very good to start with &Avril was driving, what was this then?? However, soon it deteriorated to a terrible mess of mud, potholes and bumps, so the natural order was restored! We got to Dundo near the border~11:00, but there were no signs to the border, so we kept asking the police the way & they kept giving directions. Finally we reached a dead end, so back to a police station, the commander then took matters into hand and personally drove to immigration whilst we followed – that was very nice of him.

At immigration we were ushered in to see the chief, which is a big deal. He looked at our passports and took us to a nearby room to wait. We chatted to the chap in the room about the border and he gave us very detailed instructions on how to get there – quite surreal given the following events. The chief informed us that the Lunda Nord – DRC border was closed, gutted cannot describe our reaction! We has spoken to numerous people along the way (including immigration officers) about our intention and not one ever mentioned the possibility of a closed border.

We now face 2 issues; our visas run out in 4 days. The chief assured us many times that we can get an extension easily in Saurima – Lunda south. We will see tomorrow.  We also face 7 – 10 days of terrible roads to make another border – some of it over the mess we thought we had left behind. It is the latter that gives us most grief. Whilst we are OK with the 4WD stuff, that is not the point of the trip, it is the means to get to attractions etc. So the thought of covering the same ground again is just painful.

A politically incorrect observation; along the road the local/Angolan drivers are always ready with a big smile & a wave. They will move over to let you past and have some idea of road courtesy. On the other hand, the Chinese drivers tend to use their vehicles as offensive weapons to demand the best road access. Rarely do the return a wave.

Given the appalling state of the road, there is amazing the level of commercial activity on the road. There are a large number of trucks and regular bus routes. Human endeavour is incredible. You get used to the sight of vehicles weaving all over the road like drunks and the normal safety distances cannot be applied, you can go quite close to an oncoming vehicle to avoid a chasm. We are getting near mm perfect on locating our tyres in the road. We also need to act as a team, one driving and one spotting the next hazard or identifying the better route.

We are back at the same camp site as last night, but this time inside the Chinese work site. All the Chinese workers came and had a look at the vehicle, marvelled at the gadgets and took photos. Just the tonic we needed after the poor afternoon.

S 08⁰ 28’ 10.7’’  E 020⁰ 40’ 14.7’’. 261 km.

Day 28: we were up early and the 141 km to Saurimo took ~ 4 hours. Avril drove and along the way Ray used his new gadget (electronic translator) and phrase book to compose 6 sentences to define our predicament in (grammatically incorrect) Portuguese. We changed into long pants outside town and went to Immigration.

The people there could not have been more helpful, they phoned the immigration chief in Dundo and quickly we were filling in the necessary forms. 1.5 hours later we had a 30 day extension to our visas. Absolutely fantastic. They even assisted in filling in the forms. We could not be more thankful.

Overwhelmingly we have found the Angolan officials more than ready to assist if you ask. They look for solutions and not stoppers.

We then withdrew money from an ATM (Bradt guide says this is not possible), filled up with Gasoleo and were quickly on our way. Even though Avril was driving, the road was good tar.

We were stopped just outside Cucolo at a “political road block”; 2 blokes in uniform, one wanted food and one money. So, Ray paid his 1^st bribe;    a packet of biscuits and $1.00.

We have now even gotten a change in scenery, we are driving through rolling hills with ~ 100 m from peak to trough, sort of like a big roller coaster. We drove through a fierce rain storm, reducing visibility to 10 or 20 m and speed to 40 km/hr.

Tonight we have parked in an abandoned gravel dump. Our 1^st solo “wild camp”.

Avril drove 413 km.  S 09⁰ 28’ 46.8’’  E 018⁰ 35’ 40.0’’

Day 29: a very bad nights sleep. It turned out that we were camped on the path to a charcoal workers camp. One of the workers came by late at night, clearly under the influence of, I do not know what. He then spent the next few hours wandering about talking at the top of his voice, looking for the way to the camp. A bit stressful at the start, he was probably also a quite a few shillings short of the full 10 bob.

We got off to an early start, Ray driving on very good tar. Initially the road was not all that inhabited, but then for one ~ 50 km stretch there were people walking along the road in both directions, quite colourful. However, a number of the towns have a very poor approach to cleanliness. We were a little disgusted at the putrid mess & smell left by people throwing all their waste into the street and then that being mixed with rain to create a floating sewer. Some of the villages make the effort to dig waste pits, but others do not seem to bother.

The road was narrow in places and we were more than a little terrified (I must get to understand Confucius better) by the antics of some truck drivers who demanded >> 50% of the road. At one point we were following a red (most popular car colour here) celica and a very small child ran onto the road. The celica stopped very quickly, waved us down to slow, then the driver got out with grabbed a stick with the intent of teaching some road sense to the elder children. May not be our idea of civic duty, but maybe they will not let the child go around unsupervised again, The tar of course eventually started to degrade with potholes and then to a single mud track (this is the main east ~ west road). But, we made good time and were in Malange by 10:00. 30 min to get gasoleo, fruit and bread and we were on our way.

Good and bad road on the way back to Uige. We were rewarded with a wonderful drive in the afternoon along a long green valley with great vistas. We got to Uige ~ 15:30 and Avril immediately tried to check into the best/only hotel in town. The initial answer was “we are full”, but she used all her charm to get us a room – pure luxury.

Then off to see the police Commander (friend of Koos). Again the police could not have been more helpful. The local commander guided us back to the hotel and checked on out vehicle security etc, We have also been promised an escort to just near the border tomorrow, which may slow us a bit, but is absolutely fantastic.

We are staying at the Grand Hotel, S 07⁰ 36’ 50.4’’  E 015⁰03’ 09.8’’. 628 km.

Day 30: a good night sleep in a “proper” bed! Unfortunately, habit being the way it is, we woke up early anyway. We had paid someone to wash the vehicle, so we had clean bodies and clean clothes for once.

We had a full police escort out of town and to the next town. Unfortunately, the chain broke down there, as the next 2 municipalities did not have any vehicles, and the request for formal assistance could not be passed on (it seems that word of mouth is the way orders are passed on). That was to have serious consequences later.

The road was very good all the way to Maquela do Zombo. That was a very pleasant surprise. However, from then on it was badly down hill – it deteriorated to bush bashing. The last 26 km to the BanzaSosso border took over 3 hours. We picked up a passenger on the way, who sat on the roof. He was a local chap who knew the various tracks etc and that was helpful.Avril did a fantastic job, as really there was no road at all.

We were warmly welcomed at the border post and reasonably quickly had the police and immigration formalities completed.

Then: problem!! BIG problem. There is no customs post at BanzaSosso, apparently we were supposed to have our carnet stamped at Maquela do Zombo. Though how you are supposed to know that, we are not sure. No amount of pleading could change the situation. We do not want to drive back, and to be honest the vehicle could struggle up some of the more difficult slopes (that is how bad the 4WD aspects were).

So, now Ray needs to go back to Maquela do Zombo and get the carnet signed. He will go by motor bike in the morning.

We are camped at the border post.

303 km. S 05⁰ 52’ 28.1’’  E 015⁰ 14’ 51.6’’. 628 km.

Day 31: Ray set off very early on the back of a Police motor bike. What took 4 hours by car was done in < 1 hour by bike. The bike can take foot paths and, one detour that took 1 hour by car (due to a massive road wash out) was taken at the side by the bike in 5 minutes. The carnet was signed in very quick time. More time was taken over some market shopping and the police officer visiting one of his 2 wives. There was a massive domestic dispute, which involved this wife taking a number of swings at the policeman. The ride back was a little less easy and clearly the police office was thinking about his wife and wanted to discuss this with Ray.

Ray arrived back at ~ 10:30, just as Avril was getting out of bed! Ray could hardly get off the bike and walk – sore knee and buttocks. All the crew at the post laughed themselves to a stupor at that. New respect for Richard Head.

Ray: “ having now travelled the route 2 more times, you can see what a fantastic job Avril did. Absolutely fantastic. Some stretches were very scary”

We then, finally, left Angola.