Day 120 :Into Congo
Soutpiel Safari
John & Jenny
Fri 4 Mar 2011 18:25
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Day 120: Friday 4 March 2011. Bush camp south of
Nyanga, Congo. S03 00.269 E011 58.907 Distance driven 146 km. Total
distance 18,648 km
Here we are, 7pm and it is dark outside, the bugs have
driven us into the car and we are sitting here running the aircon!
Having thought about the potential wheel bearing problem
during the night, I replaced the bearing this morning before we left and we then
motored on a good dirt road about 80 km to the Congo border. As usual, the
border formalities were spread out over about 50 km but it was all very friendly
and informal with no touts and no hassle. The road across the border
was very low-key with practically no traffic, considering that it is one of the
two main routes between Congo and Gabon. On the Congolese side we had to
attend at no less than 12 official posts for police, frontier guard,
immigration, gendarmerie and customs spread over 30 km. According to our
Tracks 4 Africa map, we crossed and re-crossed the border about 5
times!
At the frontier we caught up with one of the overland
trucks that we keep coming across. This one is Africa Tours and is run by
Farron and Leigh and they are headed the same route as we are to
Namibia.
Once into Congo the road deteriorated very badly and for
25 km was one of the worst we have encountered, with very deep ruts and potholes
all full of rain water. For a while we were behind the Afritours truck and
watched it wallow through the holes listing heavily and with the back wheels
becoming airborne as it went into the holes! Jenny took some great photos
of it plunging through a waterlogged section.
On the Congolese side it was very noticeable how much
more populated it is than Gabon, even in these remote rural areas. There
is just a continuous string of little villages with lots of people, mainly
sitting around drinking beer, but perhaps that's because it is Friday
afternoon?
During the day we called Travelex on the Sat Phone and
arranged for money to be transferred to us at Pointe Noire by Western
Union. If successful, we'll treat ourselves to a good meal out, maybe a
hotel and certainly a car wash!
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