Days 201 to 210
Diary Index
Days 221 to 230
I woke at 05:30 to hear Paul set off down the road in the truck. I packed away my gear and as I had an audience, didn’t have breakfast and also started driving. It was not long before I court the truck up, as it was parked at the side of the road. I stopped and Paul was busy jacking up the rear axel, as both rear wheels on the left hand side had come off. We re-fitted the wheels and borrowed wheel nuts from the other wheels, so we had a nut on every other stud. It took us all day to drive to Luanda during which one of the rear tyres got a puncher and went flat. We arrived in Luanda around early evening and went on the hunt for a replacement tyre straight away. We soon found some guys selling and repairing tyres and after some negotiation agreed on a tyre to fit. Buy the time this was all finished it had been dark a couple of hours and we popped across the street and had some street food for dinner and to the bar next door for a coke. With the truck fixed and us fed, we set about looking for some where to sleep. It was not far down the road we found a private truck part, but they wanted stupid money and so we ended up kipping behind a near by Fuel station. Before going to sleep we sat on the pavement and drank a beer, looking like a couple tramps.
We woke at 05:30 and were soon asked to move on by some security guards. We then tried to get fuel at the station we had slept behind, but there was a big queue so we went down the road and got fuel there. We then drove through Luanda, stopped to get some bread and drove out toward Waku-Kungo. We spent all day driving along the bad roads and well into the evening. Only stopping for a quick lunch at the side of the road and to inspect the tyre we had fitted the night before which had also gone flat. We finally stopped for the night at the ferry crossing south east of Waku-Kungo. As it was late and the ferry would not cross until morning. There used to be a concrete bridge and they had even tried to join the pieces together with a Bally bridge. But the tangled mesh of metal gave the clue someone had got their sums wrong. So we parked up ready to drive on the ferry and had a quick dinner before going to bed.
We woke with the light and had a chilled out (cold morning) breakfast as the first ferry didn’t move until 07:30. After trying to bargain the price down unsuccessfully we paid the 10US Dollars for the Landy and the 30US Dollars for the truck. After crossing the river we continued on our way toward Huambo. Once in town we looked around for some where to change the truck tyre, again. We found a place on the outskirts of the town and once done continued on our way to and slightly past Caconda. The roads got very bad and we decided, whilst having dinner at the side of the road, we would have to keep driving until late to make some headway. We stopped driving after midnight, pulled off the road and went to sleep.
We woke with the light and were on the road at 06:00. We drove all day and again and well into the night, because the roads were so bad and slow going. During which one of the front airbags on the truck suspension exploded and it took us 4 hours to change it for a new one. Late evening I had to tow a small local truck that had broken down off a bridge we needed to cross, and not far down the road we had to change a tyre on the truck, which had gone flat and destroyed itself, for a slow leaking one. We finally stopped for the night at around midnight, a few miles out side of Lubango.
When we were up and about I filled my jerry cans from Paul’s extra tanks. We then sorted our money and gear out before saying our goodbyes, and driving into Lubango, as we had decided to part ways. This was because Paul wanted to stop and buy two new tyres and I wanted to keep going to the border, as we didn’t know the state of the road ahead. Along the route out of Lubango I found the road to be perfect tarmac, but this didn’t last and I was soon dodging pot holes again. On the way to Ondjiva, there was patches of good road and I managed to reach the town around late afternoon. I spent my last Angolan money of food and headed for the border. Once at the border the Angolan Police took ages over stamping my passport, but once done the rest of the border crossing went swiftly. In fact all the Namibian offices were in one building, including the counter to pay your Namibian road tax. It was early evening by the time I drove into Namibia, and I drove a few Km drove the road and found a spot to wild camp for the night. I had some dinner and spent the evening reading until going to sleep.
I was soon on the road driving toward Ondangwa. Once there I went in search of an ATM, got money out, Fuelled up and sorted out a SIM card for my mobile phone. I then went shopping and was overwhelmed with the choice. It was lunch time by the time I drove out of town toward Ruacana. It was a couple of hours drive along good tarmac road and along the way I stopped at a Land Rover Garage in Oshakati to arrange new dampers. Once at Ruacana, I carried on along the piste which followed the Kunene river. Around late afternoon I came across Kunene River Logde, which looked nice so I stopped to check the prices. It was the going rate for camping so I decided to stay. Once parked up in a nice spot, I set camp and quickly done some washing. This was the first properly equipped campsite I had stay on in months. As I was hanging out my washing I was approached buy a guy, who introduced him self and explained that he was cycling across Africa. He wanted to know if I knew what the road ahead was like. We chatted for a while and he explained where he had been so far and what his rough plans where. I then managed to borrow one of the kayaks at the lodge for free, and went for a short paddle up the river and back. Along the way I spotted a small crocodile, about 1 meter long on the river bank. On return I enjoyed a warm shower had dinner, and spent the evening reading whilst sipping a beer in the lodge.
After the normal getup routine I left Kunene River Lodge and drove the long way round to Epupa Falls. As reportable the shorter route, which follows the river is very rough in places and I didn’t think it a good idea with my nackered suspension. I arrived at Epupa Falls around lunch time and drove into the first campsite I came to. I then had a short walk around the place to check out the other campsites and village, and decided I was best of in the one I had parked in. I found a great spot right on the rivers edge, with a nice view.of the mountains. I then spent the rest of the afternoon reading and relaxing. I made dinner and afterwards put out my awning as it looked like it was going to rain. I spent the evening chatting to the few other campers before going to bed.
After a leisurely start to the day, I straightened the rear diff guard and fitted a couple of new bolts which were missing in the diff. I then checked allthe bolts around the transfer box, as it had started to leak form somewhere. After cleaning up, I had a early lunch and went off for a walk alone the river and over the surrounding hills. Along the river I saw some small monkeys, and the views from the hill tops where great. But it was tough walking on the hill tops as there was no paths and plenty of thorny bushings to avoid. On the way back to the camp I stopped at the local food store and enjoyed a well disserved coke. Once back at camp I had a shower made dinner and spent the evening enjoying a beer and chatting to a German couple around their fire, until in rained and I went to bed.
I spent the morning working of my website, as I was far behind because of all the hard driving and lack of internet cafes. I had some lunch and was not long back at work, when I heard a Land Rover pull up behind me. On turning round I saw it was the Dutch Courage Land Rover and Emile and Mirjam were walking toward me. With warm greetings all round I was introduced to Mirjams cousin Clint who had been travelling with them for the last few weeks. We where soon sat down enjoying a beer and catching up on each others adventures since the last time we saw one another. They told me all about South Africa and I explain which way I had come down the coast. We chatted all the afternoon and evening, during which we made dinner, and it was late by the time we went to bed.
Everyone was up early as Emile, Mirjam and Clint had arranged to go see a local Hiber village. I spent the couple of hours they where away working on website stuff. When they came back they said it was interesting but they where expecting more from the visit. But they did get some good photo’s. We then spent most of the day paying around on the laptops, swamping info and chatting. Around mid afternoon Mirjam and Clint went for a walk along the river and me and Emile stayed at camp. When everyone was back, we chatted and enjoyed a beer before Emile and Mirjam made dinner. We then spent the rest of the evening relaxing and chatting until late.
Days 201 to 210
Diary Index
Days 221 to 230