DRC / CABINDA / RC (3 countries in 10 days) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC of the CONGO (D.R.C.) making it over the border from angola into congo (D.R.C.) was a real deal! one of the busiest african borders we have seen so far. it wasnt difficult at all getting out of angola - but through nomansland, the way to the other border post of congo was an adventure in itself. about 1km of very bad gravel road FULL of people running, driving back and forth with their goods on their heads, bicycles, buggies was pure cinema for the two of us. we came to the border a bit too late and a truck full of goods fell on its side due to the bad road. we and another million people had to wait until they got the truck back on track. so it was night when we arrived at the congolese border post. other borders close at 3.30 p.m., we crossed this one around 8 p.m. in full darkness and got all the stamps we needed. so helpful the guys there! - bienvenue au congo, bienvenue le blancs! another great thing was the change of the vegetation. shortly before and ever after we came over the border, we have been driving through impressive jungle. we were aiming for matadi to get our cabinda (angola) transit visa. in this busy city there is a convent of catholic sisters we could sleep at. as there is a school at this institute, we were woken up by hundreds of kids on monday morning. another time to just sit and watch. :-) from matadi to the angolan border (cabinda) we had a stopover in Boma followed by some bad kilometers to the border. we arrived late again and stayed overnight at the border. ANGOLA CABINDA Cabinda wasnt on our plan but we heard of a very challenging road we wouldnt make with our van, so it was better to come through this bit of angola in order not to break our car. thats happening anyway, but we try to avoid as long as possible. we heard of this catholic mission in town where we finally slept and celebrated Fabis birthday with white wine and fondue. the next day we were off to to Pointe-Noire. REBUPLIC of the CONGO (R.C.) we arrived in Pointe-Noire without any big plans. there is an old yachtclub we could sleep at. so nice of the security guy to show us round in town a bit and he even managed that our gasbottle was filled again. we paid him with beers. so far we think that beer must be a currency on the westcoast as well. there is no place where u dont get plenty of beer. as our initial route didnt work we wanted to keep going towards Gabon as direct as possible. after a night in Dolisie we headed to the borderpost of Ngongo. we heard of the road to there and it wasnt supposed to be easy. locals tolds us it was tough but doable with our car. these were going to be the HARDEST 240km on our trip so far! it started well but got worse and worse. and a bit strange that not a single car, only trucks came from the other side... it was all clear when we saw the waterholes in front of us, getting deeper and deeper. we were close to roll over and our windscreen got washed several times. surprisingly we made the 240km in 9 hours and were warmly welcomed at the very relaxed borderpost in Ngongo in the evening. it was a hard day, but a nice one we will never forget! be good! Gianni & Fabi
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 20:07:36 +0000
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