Cameroon - Congo border
 

I am planning a trip from Niger down to South Africa via Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo/Gabon, DRC, Angola/Zambia Namibia/Botswana and South Africa all on public transport having sold my 'bus' in Mali that wouldn't have made it down that far anyway.
I plan to get Angolan and Cameroon visas in Abuja in Nigeria as apparentley this is the best place....I was wondering if anyone knew whether the Cameroon - Congo border is open and passable allowing me to avoid Gabon and another expensive visa.
Also is the idea of going from Kinshasa to Zambia via Ilebo and Lumbumbashi in DRC ridiculous??
I've read of a few people making it last year but think Angola may be a more realistic option....anyone done either recently.
Any advice welcome...
many thanks

Congo Cameroon Border
 

That road is open but in terrible state, the logging companies are using it. We met some people in the Congo a month ago who went that way.

The north of Angola you might have to wait a day or 2 for a lift, it's really wild and not much vehicles, in fact we didn't encounter any traffic for 2 full days after the border.

Hey there,

we did the route through cameroon/gabun/congo/cabinda/drc/angola a few weeks ago. here some facts that might help.

Bypassing gabun you might save some money, but transportwise it might be much easier, as there's some kind of public transport going all the way down as far as Ndende. That means you'll get to the congolese boarder from where, if there isn't too much water or too many lorries stuck in the road, you'll be able to hitch a ride at least as far as Nyanga. From there you there's Trucks going to Miamia, Pointe-Noire, Brazza...

What i've heard from poeple who traveled the cameroon/congo-route by bike recently, it seems to be almost impossible by car...so there might be less ways to travel for you there.
When getting an angolan Visa in Abuja, make sure they give you double-entry. They might say no first, but that way you can keep the possibility of going the coastal route through cabinda open - for the same price!

Whatever route you take, enjoy! ;-)
robin

Congo border is open but it like a remote and it impossible at the time of rainy season. But still if you want to carry on then travel south to Sokamba, where you can catch a ferry and then onwords it will be easy for you to reach your place.

Sangmelima to the border is very remote, you'll have have to wait around a lot or pay for a private vehicle. It's fine up to Souanke, but the next 100k are in a terrible terrible state and very muddy. Even the Chinese go to Souanke via Cameroon. You'd have to rent a guy with a bike to carry you.

I have heard from people going further east inside Cameroon and then crossing to Ouesso by boat:
My trip from Yaounde (Cameroon) to Ouesso (Republic of Congo border) - Lonely Planet travel forum

Julian