Day 165: Djoum (Kamerun) – Sembe (Kongo Brazzaville)

Sometimes we're happy not to sleep in stuffy rooms but in the car! Your own bed linen, your own mosquito net – the rooms often don't have one at all.

We're heading towards the Congo. The road is tarred, there is not much traffic, we are driving relaxed through the landscape and are already at the border at noon. 

In between we refuel and with the 20 liter canister we got yesterday in Djoum we should now be able to get to Brazzaville, even if we don't get refueled in between.

Carl just manages to catch us – he will stay in Ntam the night and we will drive across the border today. 

Sunday always has the advantage that there is not so much traffic and both clocking out and clocking in goes quickly and smoothly. And yes: we get an exit stamp for Cameroon in our passport and hereby were officially there :-)

Buying a SIM card fails because we want 5 GB for 2 weeks or a month, but the guys only offer us something for a week – we've had that before and then the SIM expired, not just the credit...

In the Congo (Republic of the Congo or Congo-Brazzaville) the vegetation is denser and the trees are even better than in Cameroon. The fact that the road is in good condition is also fun because you can look around the area in a more relaxed manner. 

The villages stretch along the road, and every now and then the narrowest paths lead into the jungle. Exciting. And poor. And often “bushmeat” on the side of the road, here it usually means monkeys.

We can't make it to Ouesso anymore and stop off in Sembé. The “La Brise Auberge” belongs to the run down category. The room has a concrete corner for a bucket shower, the toilet is a more or less public stall with a hole in the floor. Due to a lack of alternatives, we stay here, but “only” pay 5,000 Cefa instead of the required 10,000 – which is still too much.

Since there is nothing left to eat in town (tout fini), we cook ourselves.