Day 175: Cabinda (Angola) – Songololo (DRC)

In Cabinda we quickly buy car insurance for Angola in the morning, four weeks for just under 7 euros. The Carte Brune applied to the Ecowas states, the Carte Rose also applied to Cameroon and Congo.

Then we go to the border of the DRC, the second Congo, Congo-Kinshasa. Somehow hardly anyone travels here (high crime rate) and we only have to cross the country at a narrow part. Motorcyclists usually save themselves the crossing and thus the visa costs and take a ferry from Cabinda.

The first part of the path behind the border is a constantly changing sandy track. So we follow the tracks or the locals and keep asking “à Muanda?” – nodding, that’s the right way.

After Muanda the road is good, the landscape is fantastic, just like in the Republic of Congo. 

We cross the Congo river, the second major African river on our trip, at Matadi. The place is wonderful. However, the main road is narrow, the traffic is dominated by trucks – we are on the main route to Kinshasa.

We want to use the border to Angola at Luvo a little further east – it should be easier and the road across the border in Angola better. Was that a good decision?  

Shortly after Matadi stop and go begins. Walking pace. Standstill. We see a line of trucks winding up the mountain. Damn. They say the route is blocked. 

All of this is due to construction work, a single-lane route and no regulation as to who can drive in which direction and when. Chaos. We are wedged between trucks, some of which are still attempting crazy maneuvers to get past each other or broken down vehicles. It's getting dark. We're stuck and at least have enough water, even if we don't really have anything to eat. We keep the windows open and regularly spray mosquito spray. 

Every now and then things progress a bit. At some point we are on the “new track” and at some point we have to get back down to the “old track”. A drop of around 20 cm or more. Watch out for the differential! Brigitte gets out and checks where we can get down best. She is almost run over by a truck that doesn't want to or can't brake. First there was outrage from the other drivers, then a shrug of the shoulders – that's Africa... What are we actually doing here in the middle of the night in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

It takes us 6 hours from Matadi to Songolovo and we arrive there at one in the morning. Pounding on the metal gate of a guesthouse – we would like to be off the street and in a parking. Two police officers help by banging and shouting and ultimately the sleepy night watchman lets us in, but only because we assure that we don't want anything other than to park. No effort for him.

We sleep for a few hours, even though the trucks pass by outside as if we were at a German motorway service station.

We later hear from a Swiss couple that it took them ten hours... a nightmare.