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.