I already know I'm gonna get into trouble for this......but all the stuff I've found is from last year or earlier. I'm in Libreville and need to end up in Kinshasa at some point. I hear the road from Lambarene via Ndende and Nyanga to Dolisie is practically impossible since it's started raining in the south. Does anyone have recent experience on an alternate route? Is Lope-Franceville ok? And then do I head south from there or go east into Congo? I'm driving a Land Cruiser. Is there somebody in front of me that I could get into contact with? Also, I wasn't aware of the fact that the Angola visa is such a hassle, anyone have an idea if Libreville, Brazzaville or Kinshasa is the best place for it? I've had such a great trip from Europe and nothing but lovely experiences and suddenly everything looks like it's suddenly becoming really complicated. I have time but I don't want to get completely stuck for visa or mud reasons. Thanks so much for your help! And, please don't yell at me, I'm brand new to the Hubb. So long, and happy travels to all of you! rg

Hey Raidergirl,

Welcome to HU

In regards to the route south, the most recent and reliable info might be on the ground from truckers and buses coming up from the south unless there is indeed an overlander that has just come through there.

In regards to the route east through Franceville, the road all the way to the border with Congo-Brazzaville is either paved or all season gravel. On the Congo-Brazzaville side it is sandy for roughly 75km and then loamy for about 75km.

When I went through last year on a bike, I would guess that it was passable in wet and dry season. I also met a couple in a Land Rover in Luanda that had come through there in March/April so roughly the same time as you are intending.

The one thing that they noted was that in the loamy part of the road, there are deep, deep ruts from the large trucks that ply this route and two foot deep ruts on either side mean that you will be dragging your skid plate for long periods of time. On a bike, it means a lot focus to not pinball off the wall on ether side of the rut.

As for visas, friends of mine that I met up with in Matadi, had attempted to get their Angolan visas in Kinshasa for a bit and then moved onto Matadi where they eventually got them. By the sounds of things, both places are fairly unreliable and time consuming so you can get more news when you get close and pick one based on which you believe will be the easiest.

From there, the best border crossing is back at Songolo where the road on the Angolan side is much better than if you cross at Matadi.

As you pointed out, information get dated pretty quickly and even though info from last year may seem like a long time ago, for parts of West Africa that is actually pretty recent. I'm sure it would be invaluable for others if you were to post your experiences coming down as the most current source of information for coming from the north is...you!

Happy travelling.

Thanks a lot, MountainMan! I really appreciate it. So, this road is the one that goes east? Lekoni crossing?

It is indeed.

If you can't find any details about the condition of the Dolisie road from vehicles heading north, you could try Olivier at the Hippocampe hotel in Brazzaville. Most overlanders arriving in Brazza end up at his restaurant / hotel, so he should have a good idea of the current state of the road.

Normally the heavier rain starts in March, so you might still have a window of time to get through before the Dolisie road becomes a complete bog. I got through in early March last year without too many problems, although it hadn't started raining too heavily then.

Thanks a lot! Do you happen to have any contact for Olivier at Hippocampe? Sorry, never mind! found it!!!! thanks lots!

Raidergirl,

We did the route east of Franceville (in to Congo @ Leconi) about this time last year. 1st 100km or so has some challenging driving in places (sand with very high central mound in the tracks that drags your underbelly) but perfectly do-able, certainly in the dry. Harder in the wet (rains should start end Mar/Apr) but still possible. You can follow our route here:

Africa Overland - Driving trip - EveryTrail

Enjoy!

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Thanks a lot, really appreciate all you guys helping us out! Tanya: awesome itchy-feet site!

Cheers Raidergirl.

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