Gael warning in the Congo

This turned out to be the biggest riding day of the trip so far and the most strenuous. We had a relaxed start with breakfast on the terrace and a view of the drying fish before leaving Porto Amboim. The initial destination was a waterfall, which requires a significant detour. We debated whether to go there but in the end we went and were treated to wonderful views en route and the waterfall was amazing.
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We then continued past little villages with thatched huts and mud walls. Some might know the refrain going through my head as I viewed the huts "...and a small cabin build there of clay and wattles made..."
There were groups by the roadside selling vegetables and sugar cane. I overtook this complete family on their little bike and with luggage, and people say I overload my bikes.
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This ride was delivering on many levels, flames, an explosion, a baobab tree sheltering a family home and great scenery. The impending explosion due to road construction caused us a 30 minute delay and long queue.
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And in other, more prosaic news: the repaired (sole glued back) boot looks fine after a day's riding:
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This innocuous photo shows a flattish bit of gravel with Simon in front of the Toyota. This illustrates a scene to be repeated on the road from Sumbe to Lobito. The track was not always the flat gravel shown here but a mixture of rubble, old tarmac, the foundations of the original road and to my delight the occasional batches of sand. As many of will know I'm a tarmac rider and dislike gravel but on these off-road sections, gravel was my preferred surface in comparison to the rest.

In truth, riding 50km of these surfaces, following a disappearing GS, on a 125 road going Suzuki was never going to be easy, and so it proved. However, the only part of the Suzuki to touch the surface was the tyres and the only part of the rider to contact the ground was his boots. The bike did well and suffered no damage despite having an unprotected sump. I know this is Africa but am hoping for less challenging riding days ahead.

Now resting up in an excellent hotel to recharge the batteries, both electrical and human.
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A not unusual scene from my travels through Africa

Where is the chain?
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Superb pictures & write up boys as ever... :clap :clap :clap
 
Hi Simon,

Of the ninety or so counties I have visited, Namibia is my favourite. May I suggest a few diversions to make? Some of these may involve dirt roads, but the lack of rain and high quality maintenance of roads means they are generally in excellent condition. So from North to South.
1. Etosha would have been great, but not recommended as the lions would view someone on a bike as a Interesting new type of prey.
2. The white lady of Brandberg. An eminent French archaeologist in the 1940’s declared that this was painted by Phoenicians since he could not believe that local Bushmen painted this. Set in a splendid setting.
3. Swakopmund. A Bavarian town in the Namib desert on the cold Atlantic coast. This is a must to visit. Ignore Windhoek, the capital and overnight there.
4. Sossusvlei. Pass Oryx on your way to see the spectacular dunes of the Namib
5. Luderitz. Quite interesting, you pass a ghost town, but a long detour to get there and back.
6. Richtersveld world heritage site. Enter it from the SA side. Rugged mountains with unique fauna. Spectacular. Roads however are for four by fours and scramblers. Not sure a BMW can do it.
7. Down the West Coast in SA are lovely fishing villages. If you want to postpone the inevitable ending of the trip in Cape Town, deviate to Paarl, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. You can look Christopher up in Cape Town. He is working there now and I am sure would love to see you.
 
We continued our ride south through Angola today. Here a reminder of the civil war that wracked Angola
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A great 400km ride yesterday, climbing from sea level to 1750 meters(poor little Suzuki). A close shave with a thunderstorm. Write up to follow... A few photos for now.
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Oh, I'd better get this off my chest!. I put my hand into the jacket pocket yesterday, where I keep my Swiss Army knife and 3 came out. Maybe sometimes I can pack a little excessively!
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Thursday was a rest day and we made the most of it, staying a nice hotel and swimming in the pool and sea and getting sunburned. This set us up well for the next leg a 400km ride to Lubango on Friday. The road was good and lots of trees to see and we made good progress. What we had not fully realised is that we would climb as Lubango is at 1750 meters. This was a bit hard on Suzuki and rider but it coped well, but was a but used a bit more petrol. About 100km from our destination we stopped in a little village for a cold drink. Dark clouds were gathering and then we heard a clap of thunder. I had started giving out pens to the village kids but we got ready to go. As we left the village another bolt of lightening and we headed off. We got to Lubango as the rains came but did not get wet. Some more photos and comments below.

The Zaire boat is in Lobito and brought the first group of revolutionaries to Angola which let to independence. There were a number of great trees on this leg and cattle. The colourful ladies were in Lobito waiting to cross.
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Yesterday was a busy day which started with a visit to Tunda-Vale a breathtaking gorge or would be if not shrouded in mist and cloud. The top is at 2230 meters not bad for a little 125. Despite the mist it was still spectacular and the photos illustrate this. On the way up there was an interesting modern church and a well upholstered carriage standing by the side of the road.
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Part 2 of the day was a trip to view then ride, a great section of road on our way to the desert. The road plunges down the Serra de Leba escarpment. It was great to ride and the little bike was more fun than expected. It cornered well and disk brakes would have been good but it managed well. I decided not to wish to be on one of my faster bikes which are in UK but just enjoy the experience. As can be seen I gave the BMW a bit of a start. You'll notice I managed to overtake a bus.
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Once the decent was over we noticed the heat. We chatted and compared it to the crossing of the desert we shared, way back in 2017. Then we had temperatures over 41 for 5 hours riding. Today it felt close to that and we made sure to drink regularly. It felt like a proper desert. We stopped short of our destination, Namibe, for a cold drink. There was a little family there and I noticed the eldest had an English language book so we gave him an impromptu lesson. I dug out some pencils and Simon had some postcards. The kids were amused at Simon pouring water into his rucksac(which contained his Camelback). It proved a very enjoyable stop.
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