South, out of Angola and into Namibia

Monoliths 

Waterfall

The next day they went on to Cachoeiras on a fair road. On the road they saw some monoliths. At Cachoeiras is a waterfall in  some appreciable scenery. The welcome one gets there is less than tepid, sour faced individual who is into child labour – kids look after the toilets there! 






The place also caters for camping. It should be quite pleasant near the water, if not a bit noisy because of the waterfall.

Slums of Lobito

New bridge of Lobito

Many of the towns they passed were in full development – buildings mainly. It seems that in all these places the basic infrastructure of water and electricity does not follow – there are regular power cuts and the water is not very sure for drinking. 

New Benguela stadium

Old chuch in Benguela

Finally they reached Lobito and admired the change and the management of the slums that were there 4 years aog. Onto Benguela where there were also many changes for the better. The first address they had for lodgings did not really meet their requirements and they moved to Pensao Contente. 










This is a right little hotel just off the main road – quiet and well kept. The cars however, had to stay under the eyes of the watchman in the road.

It is there too, that when Coen was looking at his radiator, he was approached by a mechanic from next door. He assured us that he could repair the radiator and gave an estimate of what it would cost. Coen said he’d think about it. That evening they had a meal at an outdoor eatery on the ‘place’.

Ruins of the past

The next day, before breakfast, Coen went to see the mechanic who said he starts work at 6h30 – he was not there. When he did arrive, they dismantled the radiator and he started saying that the job is bigger than he expected and the job will now cost twice as much. He was asked to start on the job and see exactly what is wrong.

And they waited and waited. Finally they started assembling the car with Coen supervising. The mechanic too great exception to this but Coen insisted that to get an honest job, he needed to be there. Well, that mechanic tried to cut corners but Coen told him to take a hike that he was going to finish the job. At which the assistants of the garage had great fun.

Sunset on the Lubango road

After assembly, Stephanus came by when they were filling the radiator with water and spotted a leak much to the annoyance of the mechanic. It happened twice again before the work was satisfactory and the bill was not twice the estimated value and they were ready to leave. 

state of the roads

Out of Benguela the road was new and they were doing good speed. They passed some ruins of some beautiful old farmhouses on the way. But later, the road that they were building 4 years ago was being rebuilt, yet again and there were diversions into sand and rough surface. They did not make Lubango at the time they thought they would; they got there in the dark.

Camping at Casper lodge

Luckily the GPS was showing the camping place they chose for that day: Casper lodge. It is on one of the main roads into town – a very nicely set up lodge with a small campsite that is complete with toilet/shower and kitchen area. A bit on the pricey side but it would have been lovely if there were a similar set up in many of these Angolan towns we visited.

They decided to stay there two nights. The first night, when they arrived, it was too late to get dinner going so they supped at the fine restaurant there. They did not have an extensive menu but it was adequate and by Angolan standards, not very expensive.

View on the way to Tundavala

The next  day they first drove to Tundavala view point. This is a place above some gorges at about 7600ft. They are making a paved road to get up there. The view is quite stunning, it is a pity that people go there and leave their garbage lying about: plastics, broken bottles and cans.

Up on Tundavala

Back at camp they had an open sandwich type of lunch and a rest and then started off to the Leba viewpoint for sunset. The road there also leads to the Rio de Janeiro type of ‘Christ on the mountain’ place; they went on to the Leba. There they had a sundowner and took some ‘daytime’ pictures and waited. They were also looking at the traffic on this rather fascinating road.

Cliffs of Leba

Winding road of Leva

When the sun was setting, more people arrived. The cliffs where glowing more green than red at that time – seem to be the different types of lichen growing on the rocks. They took their pictures and proceeded back to camp for a braai and sleep.

New bridge with better road

Baobab on alternative road

Activity on better roads

The target the next day was Onjiva, about 400km away and there again they got their timing wrong by underestimating the state of the road. Outside Lubango the road was good, getting bad to really bad up to Xangongo. 4 years ago, there were the occasional potholes, but now most of it was non-existent. They ploughed on and managed to get there around mid afternoon. Hans was not far on the same road – 


they had been doing hard driving for the last 3 days in order to catch up.

Reunion and cookout

They opted for …. Hotel and sat at the bar with 
some drinks to wait for the other two. It was a reunion of the 6 of them at that bar where stories were being exchanged. As they were still talking in the parking of the hotel they were greeted by other South Africans who work and live in the south of Angola. They managed to get some information about the place, the road further and where to eat.

Finally they opted to do a cookout with all the meat they had since at the red line in Namibia they will get controlled about bringing meat into Namibia. And they sat outside just eating meat with meat. Apart from the peacocks moaning, the night was quiet, they managed a good rest.

The next day they had breakfast at the hotel, took some of their bread to make sandwiches on the road and left. The road to the border was another of those broken roads, maybe just a bit better but since it was only for 40km it was not too nerve shattering. At the border, it was quite civilized and straightforward before they were driving into Namibia, all papers in order and stamped.

They stopped at the shopping area that has grown next o the border to get some supplies and draw money and they moved on to look for camping places. Many of them were fully booked or only had space in the sun, and they made it to the resort of Kuluquelle in the town of Tsumeb.

She drove the first part into Namibia but the road was so good and straight that she was falling asleep. Coen took over and got them to Tsumeb. There was a beer fest going on when they arrived. They set up camp under some grand old trees and sat for a long while exchanging stories and talking about the road further.

Hans and Elisme were staying on in Namibia until their children join them in December. Stephanus and Mariana wanted to get home and Coen was looking for the best road to get to Pretoria as well.

With music going on from the next plot, they took out all left overs and prepared an excellent mish mash which went down very nicely with everyone. The camp site of this place is nicely set up with electricity, running water and shade but it is a tad far from the ablutions.

Bush grooming

Camp at Tsumeb

They chose to stay two nights there. And on Sunday they woke up later than usual, had the coffee and sat there blogging, doing some hair cutting and dyeing. Hans found a mechanic who did not mind coming on a Sunday to look at what work had to be done on the cars. He said he could also do the radiator.

Elismé did her hair and then she went to have a dip in the swimming pool. It was cool but nice. Later, when the car work was done, Stephanus treated them to a sumptuous lunch at the Dros.

At leisure in Luanda

Ship cemetery

After that they drove to the boat cemetery – a beach where there are many wrecks: trawlers, barges and many other types of sea going vessels. It was quite surreal to be there and see this. The place is littered with bottles and plastics. It could have been a very pleasant place otherwise.

Then they moved to a cleaner piece of beach where some of them walked the beach and others had a swim. Eventually, they drove into Luanda. Despite it being Sunday, traffic was hectic and they went through the slums, onto embassy row and then to Vero’s apartment. They took what they needed out of the cars and went to park them in the security of Koen’s office parking.

They had drinks on the balcony of the apartment overlooking the bay where the Olympic team was practising their sailing. Later they had dinner and them Koen and Véro took Mariana and Stephanus to the apartment of a friend – he kindly lent the place for them to sleep.

The next day, they had a lazy breakfast and she put some washing in Véro’s machine. By then most of their clothes were either dirty or sweaty or both. They did two loads of washing and then prepared to go to the beach. Koen and Véro found a piece of beach that is not too crowded, it is ‘attached’ to a Chinese restaurant where Koen is very well known – he had a visiting UNICEF ambassador, a Chinese movie star, whom he took there for a meal!

They sent a message to the Malherbes to be ready – the place they were staying at is on the way to that beach. Soon the car was rigged up to carry Koen’s wind surf and they piled in, picked up the Malherbes on the way and were at the beach. Traffic to get there was slow and even slower when a garbage truck blocked everyone else while emptying bins – on a Sunday and in Angola, strange but true!

Swimming in the Atlantic

Some were in the water while some only sat, had drinks and watched. After the swim Koen ordered an array of dishes that were all delicious and tastes of real chinese food. He then set up his surf and was on the water again after some procrastination.

Beach  in Luanda

Later, they dropped the Malherbes and went back to the Vanormelingen apartment to have a siesta and wash the clothes they wore that day and a few bits and pieces. It was a very lazy late afternoon spent with books, talking and on the computer while watching the bay.

Dinner was a nice vegetarian lasagne and then more talking and reading and then bed. Monday morning was still a bit lazy but the time they had breakfast, packed and discussed the best plan to get out of town: they fetch the Malherbes, draw money and then go to the parking to fetch the cars, double park in front of the apartment while they pack their last things and then Véro would guide them out of town.

They were leaving town through the east, to see some monoliths and then join the Lobito/Benguela road. It was a bit hectic to get out of town and without Véro, they would have had more difficulty.

They stopped for some last minute provisions; they opted for the Shoprite to support a South Africa enterprise. There was a cash and carry and a Jumbo on the way too. What a disappointment it was: the cashier could not be bothered to greet them, she was too busy talking with her pal. The shampoo bottle did not register on her till, so she just put it to the side without bothering to get the right price. And to top it all she short changed us 15 Kwanza, and also short changed the Malherbes of 20 Kwanza. Consider that she does this to 10 people during the day?! And for the whole year? It is rather shameful for an enterprise like Shoprite not to give their people small change when the simple shoppies at the filling stations all give the right change.

Bush camping at lodge

On to Catete, the road was good with a drastic deterioration after that. The road that was being built when they passed 4 years ago had deteriorated to a point that the Chinese have started re-doing it all over. It was a laborious job to proceed on this road. Finally, after Dongo they spotted what looked like a lodge. It was closed but the watchman allowed them to bushcamp on the premises.

Braai at bush camp

He even carried some water for them. The girls prepared the bread while the men organised the braai. It was cool that evening. They had an excellent meal of braai steak and chicken and braai bread, had a warm outdoor shower and retired to the cars for the night. 

Again into Angola

And they moved on to the Angolan side. From the time they passed in 2008, there was a slight change. At the boom, there were new buildings where they registered the passports and then they drove on to where they did all the paperwork in 2008. There they found that more buildings have been built in the meantime and they had proper offices with aircon and even buildings to house the staff who work there.

There started a long wait. The immigration officers asked a few questions and the passports went to their chief. They were back with a few more questions from their chief and they waited further. The passports came back and it took them ages to just stamp them. In the meantime they stopped dealing with the passports and dealt with some locals, answered phone calls, discussed with other colleagues and it went on and on.

Finally, with great panache the guy leant his weight on the stamp for all 4 passports and they left, greatly relieved that they were not questioned about entering twice into Angolan territory with a single entry visa. It was not late and they decided to try for Mbanza Kongo and even onto Tombocco if they can.

Mbanza Kongo has grown in 4 years. It now has high rise buildings, housing estates and supermarkets, even a petrol station (even if it did not have fuel when they passed). These were not there 4 years ago.

The road was rather good and even excellently graded in parts and they made it to the Catholic Mission in Tombocco before sunset. Unfortunately the good father was out teaching at some school and they could not settle in really. They figured that he would not throw them out, so they settled to make food and get comfortable until such time as he appears.

She made curried spinach chicken with rice and Mariana made some sweet potatoes. They were nicely settled to eat when the padre came back. He was very welcoming and spoke fluent English. He let them finish their dinner and then came back to speak to them. He seemed a well traveled person who understands about people who are on the road.

The living quarters he offered them was a bit neglected but then the whole place was like a building site. The church was building a school there and they were working on the whole plot at the time. She cleaned up a bit and they settled in for the night after washing up.

Road Nzeto-Ambriz

They all slept well, it was dark, silent, cool and peaceful. There were not mosquitoes either. After a short chat to the father, coffee and some basic repairs on the car’s radiator the next morning, they were off. The road was good, winding a bit up and down but good. The Chinese were working on this bit. They reached Nzeto in good time and went into town after the police at the road block said they had to register in town.

Example of baobab on the coast road

In 2008 they had a puncture there. They found that there was more going in the town than back then. There were many new buildings and people coming and going. They also found the graceful old house that was abandoned. It looks over a nice, calm bay where not much is going on.

Part of old fort in Ambriz

The police was more interested to show them where to buy fuel, bread and draw money than get them registered. And they proceeded to Ambriz. Here the road gets interesting to really bad. It was sandy with bits of tar. It had deteriorated about 100% in 4 years. They laboured through slowly, looking at the somewhat magnificent baobabs in these parts, there were more of them than anywhere else on their trip.

Broken clock tower

The bit of road getting into Ambriz was graded and they were still working on it. This is or was a graceful old place that has an air of ‘faire bon de vivre’. It was a bit empty of life in the main roads but they did see a brand new compound on the edge of the sea.

Back of lodgings in Ambriz

They found the one hotel of the place – Hotel Ambriz and negotiated for a room and for the Malherbes to sleep in their car in the parking at the back of the hotel. With a bit of upkeep this place could still be a nice place to stay when visiting this beach town.

With the new compound of some oil company and a few banks with ATM’s one sure gets the impression that there are great plans for it in the near future. Let us hope that they will not destroy the style and feel of the place.

They went to have a drink at the one café just a stone throw from the hotel. From the way it was set up, it looks as if this was the sports’ club of the town. On one side there was some sort of coat of arms with ‘flying club of Ambriz’ engraved in it. On the main road there was also the ruin of a building, it has a broken clock tower.

Sunset Ambriz

They prepared their own dinner under the ‘paillotte’ of the hotel – mince, vegetables and pasta followed by stewed fruits. The room was somewhat warm without the fan but they managed to make a good night. They were woken by a truck starting up in the parking of the hotel.

From there, they headed south by the coast track. This was pretty smooth in most parts. However, they missed a turning and wandered through some really poor villages where a motor cyclist offered to lead them to the main road – it was tarred he assured them. Well, not quite. It was the continuation of the disaster that leaved Nzeto: part tar, part sand, not graded and getting worse for wear.

They got to Barra do Dande just after 13h00 and opted to find some place to eat before they decided what to do for sleeping. They were seated at this nice restaurant by the sea when they heard the people at the next table speaking Afrikaans. They struck a conversation with them, asking about the area and what is to be done and seen there.

Lunch at Prada Garda

Soon after these people were offering them a place to camp at their place of work. It was very nice of them – the place had all manner of comforts: hot water shower, kitchen etc. They accepted and drove there after their delicious lunch of garlic prawns and chips.

Dinner with new acquaintances

They offered to cook harira for these people and finally they were 10 for dinner. It was very jolly. The harira was very filling and there was mixed fruit for pudding as well. The people enjoyed themselves too.

Fishing port Barra do Dande

The next morning, they all woke up later than usual. They had a nice breakfast in the kitchen and then prepared to move. They said their farewells and drove off to get some fuel further on the road. Koen and Véro were meeting them in Barra at a camping place about 5km out of the town.

Lunch in fishing village

They found the place but the guy at the entrance said they could not enter. When Koen and Véro got there, they managed to find out that the place was under renovation and was closed for the time being. So they went to the fishing port of Barra and chose an eatery at the sea front. There the ladies went to choose their fish and they all settled for a nice meal and drinks. It was an array of grilled fish with beans, plantain bananas and sweet potatoes.

Ambling into Angola

Finally they were through and drove a few metres forward to the Angolan border post. This place smells of unwashed toilets. There were not many vehicles but the people passing on foot were quite something to watch. There again the women sat in the heat of the cars and waited while the men ran from one office to the next: immigration, customs, health, fiscal control etc. At all those they were desperately slow.

It was a bit of a circus, especially because they were travelling with 2 passports each now. The one had to be stamped out of the Congo before it could be stamped into Angola and the immigration office would not hear of it. They were all behaving as if we were the only foreigners they have seen in ages.

After more than 3 hours at the border they started moving, then there was the one barrier and another but eventually they were on the road to Cabinda. There they were told that they had to register at the immigration in Cabinda as well, so they thought they’d find the catholic mission there and sleep there too.

Side road stop to fill radiator

They stopped to make sandwiches for the men who were hungry, thirsty and cranky as well. On the side of the road there came a drunkard who asked for cigarettes – she quickly sent him packing. And they ambled on south. The road was good. They passed a few small towns and the bigger and more picturesque town of Cacongo where they could have stayed at the catholic mission too.

It was getting to sunset when they reached Cabinda. Big town with fair roads, quite well organised but dirty in many places. Well, they found the mission in Cabinda, the padre was not in and no one else could give them the information. From there they moved to find hotels and finally opted for the rather expensive HD hotel that offered them safe parking for the cars.

The hotel was nice, clean and had hot water and a generator. Because as it invariably happens in these oil producing countries, the power went off some time after they checked in. They bought pizza and had that in the room. They both slept fitfully on these comfortable beds.

The next day they had a copious breakfast at the hotel. Then the men hopped into a taxi to the immigration office to ‘get registered’ and enquire about the procedures further. They also bought cell phone sim cards and went to the port to enquire about ferries to the other side.

It was all a rather so-so exercise since the immigration people did not quite know what to make of the passports, nor had they heard from their people at the Nzassi border and were not clued up about other accommodation. The ferry to Soyo only takes people, not vehicles and to get the vehicles to the other side would take the army plane that would cost a bomb.

So, they decided to check out of the hotel and proceed to the DRC border. The procedures on the Angolan side was done quite fast but when they reached the DRC side, the one immigration officer insisted that their visas were not valid because they did not get it in the country of residence. He would only sign them in if he receives orders from his Director General in Kinshasa.

Then began about a six hour wait while they bought a DRC sim card and tried phoning the SA Embassy to see what could be done. Finally one of the immigration people got some information for them and there was more phoning and more waiting. At around 16h30 the Congolese officials started closing the gates of the offices and they were still sitting on the benches inside – small blessing that there was a nice breeze there and the town did not smell!

A while later they were told to drive the cars through the boom and the men should go in to see the immigration officer. The passports were signed and the carnets were done; the sun was rapidly going down.

Dinner at the Mission

It was a sand road through some oil fields. It was graded but traveling was at a maximum of 60km/h. They opted to sleep in Muanda that night. They found the tar road into town and then someone pointed them in the direction of the Catholic Mission of Sacré Coeur. This place is at the end of a sand road on the right hand side, a bit before the tar reaches the beach.

Considering that this was the DRCongo and that the country had been through unrest and war, this mission was remarkably well kept. It was practically on the beach. As things go in the Congo, when they see Mundele prices go up. They negotiated for the Malherbes to sleep in their vehicle and they took a room – cold water shower only mind you!

That evening, the ladies cooked a copious dinner of fish cakes, mixed vegetables and mash. When the men finished ‘setting camp’ they sat for drinks and discussed the road ahead. Levels of stress were high after the drama at the border.

Road from Matadi to Songololo

After a nice cold water shower all retired for sleep with the sound of the waves crashing on shore. The mission gardener was the first to start his activities, which woke them up. They had their usual morning coffee with some cereals and canned fruits and were on the road.

Road side oil pump

USD20 toll road!!

The road out of town was sandy. It went through the other side of town where schools and houses were built within metres of oil pumps. There were quite a few of these pumps around the place. The road became a graded laterite one a bit further out of town. It was not good and they had to pay a toll fee of USD20 for that. Only in the DRC can they rip you off like that. 








This is a country that has gold, diamonds, uranium, oil and much more. The example is set right from the top, by their (mis)leader.

The Boma to Matadi road was not good, they had dug the bad tar and graded it and left the ok tar in – it was a constant hop onto tar and down onto laterite. And in parts it was just dodging and ducking.

Part of Matadi town

Matadi Port

But they made it to Matadi quite early enough to decide to move onto Songololo to see where they can sleep there. They had heard that border crossing at Matadi is hectic and not so pleasant. They decided to cross at Luvo.

Braai at Songololo

At Songololo Coen did not feel like sleeping in the car in front of the police station so they booked into the only guest house there – Guest House Km5. This is ‘establishment’ is managed by a rather slow-to-understand guy who spoke a bit of English. He was very helpful though.

Braai dinner at Songololo

He allowed the Malherbes to park there and they used one of the kiosks under construction as a kitchen, another as a shower and another as a dining room. The only disadvantage is that this place is rather close to the road and there is a constant movement of heavy vehicles.

Dinner that evening was the longed-for braai of excellent meat that Jimmy had given to Stephanus. The guy had bought some charcoal for them and he also offered his stove. 




While the men were grilling the meat and having refreshments, the girls made mash and mushroom sauce. They made a very copious and animated dinner. There is no power is that town, nor running water either. The guest house put their generator on at 18h00 and switched it off at 22h00.

With a good warm shower, they all retired to some kind of sleep or other. They put the fan on and closed the door and windows – there was loud music from some establishment not far off.

And they departed southwards to face the road, the border crossing and whatever else awaited them. On the Congo border, they had the cars’ papers stamped quickly enough but were told to wait a bit since the immigration guys down the road were not on duty yet. They waited an hour and were told they could proceed.

There, they found there were already quite a few people having their procedures under way. They had to queue up at one office to have their passports registered and then another officer took their passports and had to examine it. At this point another more senior officer popped up and said he would look after this.

When Coen asked if they could stamp both sets of passports – the one they were travelling on from the start and the one with the Angolan visa, the guy said he would do it for a fee. There was no getting away from it this time. The Angolans insist on it and it had to be done one way or another.

What he asked, they could not give since they did not have change, so they popped him a packet of cigarettes as well as some small change. He had to be satisfied with it.

Getting out of Gabon

Road through concession

Logging on the way

After coffee and biscuits and a packing process we were back on that bad road to the main road south. They were exhausted just thinking about it. But we made it to the north gate of the Shell concession in good time and there we had to wait for the convenience of an escort car that arrived about an hour later. After passing out of the east gate and 


getting to the logging barrier at Mandji they decided to push to Mouila.

There they found Hotel du Lac Bleu that has recently had a bit of renovation because the president was visiting. They were lucky the visit was over the day before and there was a room free for them, the Malherbes could then camp in the parking for free.

The room was comfortable, quiet and had air con. They opted to dine at their restaurant after she negotiated the choice of meals. They had some refreshments at a bench next to a disused swimming pool and then had hot showers in the room before going for dinner. Coen spent some time in their wi-fi area getting updated on news and e-mail.

The men chose the buffet which was made up of local food and the girls had pasta. There they discussed the plan to go further the next day.

Wake up to coffee and biscuits and leave Mouila before 7h that morning. It was still cool and the sky overcast. Outside Mouila it became a dirt road in a reasonable condition for most part, a bit corrugated here and there. At Ndende they did the formalities of immigration and customs: forms to fill and stamps in the passports – the stamp had run out of ink!

On to Doussala and then the road got a bit worse and they got to 3 rusty drums across the road. A barefoot girl popped out of one of the wooden houses and came to move one of them – no questions asked. After that there was the very obvious red and white boom. The place smelled of garbage, there was garbage along the road where they had to stop to do the formalities.

This was in a hut where the immigration officer was sitting at his desk with the poster of a yacht on the wall. The customs’ guy was not there and had to be called – his motorbike seems to have run out of fuel because his children were playing with it.

Eventually the paperwork was done and they waved us through much to the indignation of the guys from a truck nearby – they had to unload the truck for inspection.

Slash and burn in the country side

The country side is very much the same as in Gabon but with more slash and burn, the villages are dirtier and poorer looking and less trees due to rather savage logging that takes place in this country. At one point they saw flames from some gas/oil operation somewhere in the mountains.

Bridge over

From there on the road gets very interesting. At first it was these big holes filled with muddy water, the Chinese were working with a grader so we must be thankful that the other holes were filled by the time our cars passed. After that it was laterite roads, which have not seen much maintenance for a bit. It had not rained for a while and dust had accumulated on much of the road – it felt like sand roads, the cars were digging as they passed, it was very difficult to keep a steady course and make good speed.

Tea break by roadside

There were a few roadblocks and at Kibangou we were stopped and the men had to get out of the car and go present the passports for the guy to fill the details in his book. He said that after Mila Mila the road gets better. Hmmm, more kilometres of bad road and then Mila Mila and then it gets better but not for long. Quite a stretch before the N1, it gets laborious again.

And then came the round about where the N3 (where they were) and the N1 meet. This is a nice and new piece, complete with roundabout. They chose to sleep in Dolisie that night, so they went into town. There they started looking for the hotel that appeared on the GPS. Not very satisfactory, and they moved on to fill the car at the Total when she saw a catholic mission on the other side of the road.

She went to enquire and they did have a room and they said the others could camp for free. They inspected the place and called in the men with the cars. They parked and move some of their things to the room. She was cooking that evening: involtini with corned beef.

Coen and Stephanus were so tired that they just wanted to sit and have some refreshments and do nothing. The girls were getting the dinner sorted. They had set up the tables in a part of the garage that was free for them to use.

There was a cold water shower in their room. They all showered there and set up for bed. The mattress was a bit thin and the bed creaked at every toss and turn. But then things went quiet and they managed some sleep. That night it poured quite a bit. When they started packing in the morning, it was still dripping a bit.

She chose to drive to Pointe Noire. This is a new road, a few deviations around the bridges and some road works and land slides but otherwise great surface. It goes up into the Mayombe and down again to the coast, thus it is a winding road and they could not do too much speed on this one either.

Road works in the mountains

The scenery was interesting. The Chinese have cut through the mountains to make the roads. They were still clearing some places of the trees there. Logging trucks were seen on that road that morning. At the rate this is going, they thought they have to absorb as much of these views as possible because it will change drastically in the next few years.

Driving through market

It was Sunday and Pointe Noire was a hive of activity. They took the difficult road into town, they only wanted to fill the cars, get some supplies and head for the border the same day. But they found themselves in a very busy market suburb and finally, with the help of a policeman walking in front of the cars and her hooting at every turn, they managed to get onto a main road into town. The town roads are not very good – some potholes and broken in parts.

There, they filled the cars and got some supplies and headed out of town. The road further south is good and they made it to the border it was after noon. The procedure on the Congo side was quite simple but not quick. There she sat in the heat of the car and watched the comings and goings. The customs officer at the border was quite good at giving people a hard time and then he collects something out of the barrow of some vendor passing through. Then comes the handicapped on their wheelchairs full of provisions – there is an agreement that the handicapped can cross borders in these parts without paying taxes.