Day 141-145

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ANG 20th - 24th April 2007, Angola

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Day 141 20/4. Bush camp, on the side of the road, half way from Sumbe to Lobito, Angola
11°49.73'S 13°56.57'E. Miles today 264, Total Miles 13007
Village near SumbeWell, we were most certainly not on the road by 6.30am but we did still manage to miss the most of it. Our hunt for a fuel station without a queue took some time but we found one on the road south. Oh my word, the cleanest toilets since the pizza joint in Ghana and a fully stocked shop with chips, beer, wine, chocolate and much, much more. Needless to say, more cheap Angolan beer was purchased and a mountain of crisps. Anything to ease the pain of these roads. Actually, we were spoilt today, as the road south to Sumbe is great. Smooth tarmac, with only the odd hint of a pothole. But of course, it does get pretty rough again. Have noticed that they are actually starting to grow crops here. Fields and fields of bananas and corn. And all the locals are actually all busy doing something. A lot different from the sleepy attitude in the north. We just camped on the side of the road with no problems, just a few noisy trucks racing by. A suprisingly nice chicken korma for tea. Straight out the tin, of course.
Day 142 21/4. Bush camp, on small track, south of Dombe Grande, Angola
13°11.34'S 12°59.33'E. Miles today 131, Total Miles 13138
sunriseNot much to report today, other than the road got horrendously worse but spirits were lifted by a quick tour of Shoprite in Lobita. (any South African will appreciate this) Just a reminder that civilisation is not far away. Lobita is actually just one huge market, with anything you could ever want for sale complete with loads of veggies We bought some bread, which took some time actually, something like this:
" Duas páo, por favor" (two breads please)
Blank look from salesperson….
"Duo páo"
More blank looks….
"Um…sandwich, baguette, you know páo!"
Nope, nudda
Frantic charade like actions, spreading bread with stuff, eating bread….anything.
"Páo!"
Nope, still nothing. Eventually grabbed the pot of margarine nearby…
" You know, you spread this on the páo."
" Aah, páo, si senora."
Two fresh breads are handed over. Go figure!
Day 143 22/4. Bush camp, on the side of the road, between Lucira and Bentiaba, Angola
14°04.90'S 12°24.33'E. Miles today 91, Total Miles 13229
serious deflation goat crossing you want me to go up that?
After camping on the side of the road with a far out view just south of Dombe Grande, we were up early and reached another challenge. A shallow, wide but sandy river crossing, which we duly got stuck in. (to much amusement of the ladies doing their laundry on the banks) At the same time, a couple of goat herders were trying desperately to get their goats across in the opposite direction, with not a lot of luck. They had tried the trick of carrying one over by his back leg, hoping the others would follow. No chance! After seriously deflating three of our tyres (as the fourth valve was underwater) in mid-river immersion, we were soon across the river. While Rob re-inflated the tyres, I ran back to the river to help them get their goats across. If you can just picture the sight, which made the woman laugh even more. Some crazy white Sénorita in pigtails running through the river, chasing a bunch of goats and shouting "Andelé, andelé. Hey, but it worked and they were all most grateful. We gave the small boy some chocolate biscuits and a packet of beans to a woman with the droopiest boobs I have ever seen, held down by a piece of string. She was so happy, she kept clapping her hands and saying "Ta" Oh, how very English, my dear. Our next challenge was a series of viciously steep and monstrously rocky climbs, which took a lot of boulder bridge building and flinches of terror as we bounced our way over them. After some serious awesome scenery and a full day of a lot more rocky climbs and descents and winding our way through the mountains, we passed through a gorge and popped out onto some incredibly contrasting flat grassy plains. After very long day of exhausting off-roading skills, we stopped on the side of the road and cooked up a storm. Actually, just yet another tin of curry complete with some Angolan bananas!
Day 144 23/4. Bush camp, on side track, south of Chibemba, Angola
15°45.54'S 14°05.33'W. Miles today 247, Total Miles 13476
steep pass long road southUp early but spent ages enjoying breakfast and ogling at the superb views. Back on the just bearably potholed road, we passed the town of Bentiaba and then suddenly were blessed with a smooth road which took us all way to the town of Lubango, complete with the most far out scenery. Watch out for crazy suicide bombers…small birds, who enjoy smacking into your windscreen. Don't half leave a mess hey. We had to climb up a very steep pass (thankfully also tarred) complete with switchback turns to a mere 2000m. Wonderful photo opportunities along the way but nothing at the top, so unfortunately our photos don't do it any justice. Lubango was a huge, crazy town but we managed to find our way out and pretty soon our wonderful road disintegrated into a sprinkling of tar and a pot-holed nightmare. We crawled on as far as we could and stopped on a side road just south of Chibemba. Uneventful tin of something for dinner and in bed early, as hoping to get an early start in the morning.
Day 145 24/4. Angola-Namibia border, Santa Clara, Angola
17°23.49'S 15°53.46'W. Miles today ?, Total Miles ???
The road continued to torture us beyond belief and we really struggled to maintain a sense of humour. Occasionally it improved a little but soon went back to its old tricks. There is noticeably a lot more Himba tribal folk (from northern Namibia) around. They have the most amazing skin, as the spread this weird butter, ochre and ash mixture on and the woman, who are always bare breasted (not always a pretty sight) are adorned in a lot of jewellery. Quite beautiful really but impossible to photograph here. The Chinese are apparently investing a lot of money into the infrastructure and this is evident just south of Xangongo, as it did get better and they are in the process of repairing it, so some of you future travellers may be lucky. Things were looking up and it looked like we might just make it across the border into Namibia today. We decided to top up with cheap fuel at the border town of Santa Clara, which turned into a nightmare. Firstly, being attacked by thousands of people selling stuff from dvd players to diesel money belts. Secondly, we had to queue for two hours for the diesel. Thirdly, we suffered some very offensive abusive from a very annoying man who was upset because we didn't want to buy his shoes and lastly, someone nicked Rob's phone off the dashboard while we were filling up! So all in all, a pretty grim departure from Angola. The border officials were great though and had we been in better spirits, perhaps we may have appreciated their humour more. Time was running out to cross into Namibia, as the border shuts at 6pm. The time now was 5.50pm. I don't think we could cope with one more night here right now………….
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