Congo - Namibia advice needed
 

We are travelling through Congo, DRC and Angola in the next couple of weeks. The plan is to travel from Gabon to Point Noire, on to Brazzaville, Kinshasa to Matadi and then straight through Angola to the Namibian border. Can anyone recommend cheap but safe places to stay? Any advice in general? Anything we shouldnt miss?
Thanks Jo

Try to get your visum for Angola in Libberville.

Cheap places I stayed was police check points that felt ok (If you feel it's allright it'll probably be allright, if you feel it's dodgy, better drive on cause you wan't sleep well anyway), a police driveway, and a mission in Pointe Noir. The missions in DRC where not cheap at all. In Angola I've been camping out in the bush all the time, which is secure as long as no one knows you're there. other places where in villages/communities, where people felt friendly. Asking around for a place to put you tent will generaly result in someone pointing out a suitable place, and something like 'social rules' will make sure you're ok.

Enjoy!

Rob

The route south...
 

Try get your Angolan visa in Libreville - that way you can request a multi entry visa and do the Cabinda route. Much easier than trying to get across to Brazzaville / Kinshasa.

As for places to stay, bush camping was the only real option for most of Angola. Its very safe with very few villages about - mainly due to the huge impact the war had.

Namibia will be Nirvana as you will cross the border and drive straight onto a paved road with proper shops, camp sites and huge costs!

What about landmines?
 

I'm gonna be travelling through Angola later in the year and one of my conserns has been having to bush camping and landmines. I guess you didn't get blown up as you've posted a message on here!!!

Do anyother people have conserns about the landmine issue in Angola when bushcamping?

Are areas marked as having landmines?

I really don't fancy getting blown up looking for a nice place to pitch camp!

Mines....
 

Yep.

I think chances of hitting a mine outside the indicated areas are slim.

When I was riding there I hoped that land mines don't see the difference between a land rover and a cow. So driving and camping where a hird of cows has passed, or where other vehicles drove before you is safe I think.

I never drove off completely in the bush.

;-)

Angola
 

Hi,

We have crossed Angola about 2 months ago. Roads South of Luanda are realy bad but the good thing that there are sufficient Katholic Mission along the way. If you do want to bushcamp (because of the mines) you can turn to the missions. We really enjoyed staying with them. In Tomboco and Lobito they were esppecialy friendly. And mostly for free ! But we choose to give donations (Euro 3,- per night) for the poor people who they ussually help out. In Luanda you can stay at the Club Navalle (first Marina on the Peninsula) Als in Point Noir you go to the local Yacht Club where you can stay on the beach but with military guards who watch the boats, and you, 24h/d. In DRC we also went tot the missions and they are not really cheap but if you take the Cabinda route (recommended) then you will only spent 2 nights in DRC (Muanda and maybe Matadi) Count on $10 per night. With all the missions it is not all that difficult but in Angola the missions are only in towns who are a bit bigger (with gas stations, on the map)

Cheers and good luck,

Noel

Congo brazzavile to Angola via DRC
 

i will be hoping to do this drive in a month's time anyone done it recently rather than hearing via others who have not done it that it is unsafe?
regards
Mark

I lived in Angola for three years in the late 80s - early 90s. Landmines were a huge concern then. I don't think there has been much progress made clearing them from 'non-productive land' since then.

Many of the combatants in the 20+ year Angolan conflict used landmines to intimidate the local population, and to try and confine them to their villages. For this reason, mines were sown in forested areas where women went to collect wood, and especially around river crossings and river banks.

I have set off a few mines myself, though fortunately always whilst inside an aircraft or a truck. If you wind up stepping on one, you're really going to be screwed, because health care is not readily available in Angola. The normal procedure for treating mine injuries is to go up the leg to the point where there is no more trauma, and make the amputation there.

I would be very, very wary of 'bush camping' in Angola. Far better, I think, to stick to the populated regions - do your overnighting in a village where there are lots of other people, and where there are unlikely to be residual mines remaining undetected.