CONGO, CABINDA and DRC

The Good the Bad and the Ugly

The drive to the border of the Congo took us a few hours and we planned to bush camp somewhere near the border to get an early start the following morning. We stopped in Mouila, which is a busy town, and washed off the red dirt covering Proper Job that had accumulated from our trip from Loango on the coast of Gabon. We also filled up with diesel, replenished the water tank and bought some basic food items.

We found an excellent bush camp a couple of kilometres from the border town of Ndende and set up camp, cooked dinner and crashed for the night. Border crossings always take time, so we intended to be at the Gabon immigration at 7.30am so that we could cover as many kilometres as possible along the notorious rough Congo forest roads the following day.

The Gabon and Congo border crossings were very efficient and we were through within 90 minutes. We set off down the dirt track which was reasonable to start with, but got progressively worse. We knew that this road would be one of the roughest we would encounter and that we would need to bush camp for a couple of nights before we got to Pointe Noir on the Congo coast. The narrow road certainly lived up to its reputation and we had to be extremely vigilant when driving to ensure we did not do any damage. The rain forest did not seem as thick up in the north of Congo as it was in Gabon, although the area is sparsely populated. There were no signs of logging either, which was not surprising as if there the Chinese would be building a good road. We continued through the forest and hills until about 4pm when we started looking for a place to pull over and camp. Finding places to pull off along forest roads to camp is not as easy as it sounds. Eventually we found an earth quarry just past a village which was far enough from the road to avoid being seen by the rare passing vehicle and also to avoid the thick dust kicked up from those vehicles. The problem with this site was there was a large bush fire burning around the quarry. I checked it out carefully, and, as the prevailing wind was blowing it away from us, decided it was safe enough to camp......provided the wind didn’t change direction.

The people in the Congo are incredibly friendly and the children scream with enthusiasm as you pass by the villages. Within a few minutes of arrival a few kids from the local village came along to see what we were up to. They patiently sat there and watched our routine unfold. An elderly man came along with a cutlass and seeing ours was blunt he leant us his to cut some wood. As we were still out of gas, having resigned ourselves to replenishing it only in Namibia, we relied on a supply of wood for cooking. There was little readily available wood in the area as bush fires seem to have burnt most of it. One of the onlookers saw we were struggling so he went off and found a source for us. I was impressed with his foresight so made sure he got a bowl of food from our cooking pot. After dinner, and just before it got too dark, they all disappeared and we called it a night.

Our plan was to take a route, shown as a significant road on Tracks4Africa, off the north-south route to Dolisie. The turn off was approximately 100km before Dolisie. The following morning we left the camp and headed southwards towards the turn off. After about four hours driving we reached the turnoff and made our way to a police check point. We enquired whether this was a good road to Pointe Noir and were assured it was. As we drove down the road the alarm bells should have rung as I noticed a logging yard with some loaded trucks. We proceeded and after a twenty kilometres the road turned into a complete mess. This was the worst we had encountered on the trip so far and would have been unimaginable to drive along in the rainy season. The road seemed only to be used by logging trucks and the ruts and holes were huge. It was a hilly area and we wound away up and down through the forest, which strangely enough had become thicker. The forest however was coated in red and yellow dust and looked sick. We also noticed that there was very little bird life around which was probably due to the clouds of dust thrown up by the passing trucks. The worst thing about the road was the dust which reached a depth of four feet and hid numerous rocks. Driving through this was not much fun and Proper Job was covered, inside and outside. The dust filled craters were also potentially dangerous and I was concerned that we would do some major damage by hitting hidden rocks obscured by the thick dust. We persevered hoping that the conditions would improve. Alas it did not, and after 60 kilometres I decided the risk of damage was too high and decided to turn around and head back to the turnoff on the road to Dolisie. In hindsight, I should have made the decision 40 kilometres before and it was painful to retrace our steps. By the time we got back to the turnoff we had wasted three hours. I would strongly advise others to not take that route and Tracks4Africa should remove it or mark it as a minor road.

Once we reached the turnoff, we headed down the original dirt road that was, in comparison to what we had just been on, a pleasure to drive on. We knew that somewhere ahead the Chinese were working on the roads around Dolisie and after another two hours driving we started seeing signs of the works. They are working in multiple areas so you come across an improved section and then a poor section. The project is a big one and the Chinese are here in numbers. They are constructing numerous bridges, installing proper drainage systems and cutting their way through the forested hills in an effort to connect inland Congo to the coast. At first I was sceptical about the presence of the Chinese but have decided that at least they are doing something for the country.....whilst the West sits on the side lines. It is a bit surreal alternating from nicely graded modern road to the old national highway, which is just a single lane road with wooden bridges that seem hardly able to support your vehicle.

As we neared Dolisie we came across more and more road workings. It was getting to that 4pm trigger again, which is the time we start looking for a site to bush camp. After searching for almost an hour we found a fairly large cleared area that the Chinese had created right against the forest. It was not a perfect spot as it was quite exposed but it was away from the road. A couple of curious Chinese workers drove up and looked over Proper Job with some enthusiasm. They were friendly and wished us well on our travels. The road construction went on until about 9pm and it suddenly all went deathly quiet. Later that night the forest came to life and I personally find the cacophony of forest noise to be very relaxing.

The following morning we made our way westwards towards Pointe Noir along a mainly good quality graded road. We had a very busy day ahead of us in Pointe Noir as we needed to give Proper Job his 5000km service and then thoroughly clean inside and outside. Besides that, we needed to do a load of personal washing as after a few days of bush camping and driving on dusty dirt roads we were a sight for sore eyes. I wonder sometimes what the Africans think of travellers in such a state. We planned to camp at the Pointe Noir Yacht Club, which we found fairly easily. As we pulled in we met up with fellow Brits, David and Jane – of the ‘Lizzy Bus’ Land Rover - whom we had first met at the Angola Embassy in Abuja. We went to the Toyota garage and were warmly received by the manager Mr Paul. He gave us priority and within 90 minutes Proper Job was serviced and fully greased up. We then did our washing and, as this area has a reputation for poor security, paid a worker to keep an eye on it whilst it dried.

That evening we ate dinner at a Total affiliated restaurant just down the road from the yacht club. The food was excellent and the location provides a pleasing view of the harbour with all the lit up boats. We returned to the yacht club and made sure everything was packed away. Early the following morning at 3am the Lizzy Bus had some unwelcome visitors who clamoured on top to try and steal items. Luckily David woke up and scared them off. We were only a few yards away and worryingly heard nothing; I guess we were so tired from the strenuous past few days travel.

The following morning we left early and, although it was indicated that there was a charge for camping, no one came and requested any payment. Frankly with the poor security it would not be fair to charge anything. The Cabinda border crossing at Nzassi was about 50 km away and once we had left Pointe Noir we made good progress, arriving at the border at 8am. The Congo and Angola formalities were straightforward and efficient. The Congo border police were great guys and even arranged for a money changer to convert all my remaining CFA’s into Angolan Kwanza. The money changer couldn’t even think about ripping me off as he was surrounded by five police. Arriving at the Angolan side, I was surprised to see they had a passport scanner which was the first we had seen in any country so far.

We entered Cabinda with objectives; to get through as quickly as possible and fill up with cheap diesel. There were a lot of military on the roads but we were not stopped once. The people were all very friendly and the roads were excellent. We made good progress until we got to the city of Cabinda, where we hit traffic and were held up for an hour whilst filing up with cheap diesel. Once through Cabinda we shot to the border and exited into the DRC.

The DRC immigration was painfully slow and we were required to provide a passport photo for a lengthy fiche to be filled in. It seemed ironic as the DRC Embassy in Togo had issued the visa in an hour and yet it took us two hours to get through the DRC border. Once we entered the DRC we were confronted with a sandy track which led us to Muanda. The track was single lane and smooth with roller coaster undulations. It wound its way through a scenic savannah like landscape all the way to Muanda. Once we approached Muanda we came across a Toll Barrier where the charge for using the road was US$20. It seemed somewhat extortionate but no amount of arguing would change their minds. They even had an official form printed out which showed all the various charges. Anyway I paid up and got my official receipt, promising to report them to the next policeman I came across. This did not deter them and they were happy to give me all their personal details....so I guess it was legitimate

From Muanda the road took a turn for the worse and was a tough slog all the way to Boma. When we reached Boma the magnificent Congo River came into view. Boma itself is a hectic trading town and we were pleased to get through. We knew by now that we would not reach Matadi that afternoon so decided to push on until late afternoon. After another two hours driving along a mixture of rough dirt and broken tar roads we started looking for a camp site. Again we were surprised how few spots were around, but eventually found one that would do for the night. We gathered some fire wood, made dinner and went to bed early as we had another early start. We were still two hours from Matadi and had to get to the DRC/Angola border for 8am so we could give ourselves a chance of making it to Nzeto on the Angolan coast that same day.

We awoke at day break and after a quick cup of coffee hit the road again. The road continued to be poor but two hours later we arrived at Matadi and made the border post at 8.30am. The DRC immigration was open but the customs was not. Again the officials were very friendly but the processing of our papers was slow. When the customs official arrived the Carnet De Passage was done super quickly and after a small delay at the barrier we were let through into Angola. The Angolan officials in general seemed much more serious and there is noticeably a significant amount of military around its borders. I had started learning a few words of Portuguese but found surprisingly that many Angolans can speak some English. Both borders took us in total two hours to get across so we were pleased with our progress....and headed off towards Nzeto, which lay about 200km away.

GABON

A Land of Rain Forests - C'est Bon

As you cross over the bridge into Gabon there is a police barrier where you have to stop to get a travel permission document filled in so you can present it to the border immigration office which is 30km away in the town of Bitam. The form was filled in quickly by the officials and we were in Gabon.

Immediately you are struck by how immense and far reaching the rain forest is. The trees are huge and the bush is so thick it seems almost impenetrable. We had been told that the immigration official at Bitam was quite miserable and could demand all sorts of photo copies so we hoped we had everything covered. The Customs is the first building on the round-about as you get into Bitam. When we pulled over and enquired where the official was we were told he had not yet arrived. It was 10am and, after getting reassurance that he had been called, there was nothing we could do but wait. We passed the time chatting with two other Gabonese that were waiting and after about 45 minutes the official turned up. He promptly stamped the Carnet du Passage and we drove up to the immigration office. At the doorway stood a fairly stern looking woman who led us to her office with an American missionary in tow. She asked us for a copy of our passport, which we had, and a copy of our Gabon visa, which we didn’t have. We raced across the road to a photocopier and got the copies of the visa made and headed back to her office. I made polite conversation in very poor French and she seemed to mellow somewhat. Soon we had our passports back and headed southwards.

We planned to head north of Libreville to a place called Cape Esterias, a 30 minute drive northwards, which is where expats head to on weekends. We had heard that la Maree, a restaurant run by a French lady called Francoise, was a nice place to camp for a few days to re-energize. From here we would plan out the rest of our stay in Gabon.

There was no way we could make that journey in a day so we would have to bush camp somewhere en route through the rain forest. The road going southwards is in excellent condition but we knew there was a very bad stretch between Bengule and Bifoun. The rain forest was again quite awe inspiring and was picture perfect. This lulled us into a false sense of relaxation, which we were soon snapped out of when we came across the notorious bad stretch. Slowing down to about 20 km per hour we wound away around major potholes for a few hours. When 4pm came along we started to look for a suitable place to pull off the road and camp. Whilst looking it is noticeable how many logging tracks there are along this part of the road to Libreville. I hoped that behind the wall of trees that lined the roads there was not major de-forestation going on. It would not surprise me if it was though and the trees along the roads were left untouched to block what was going on behind. Maybe I am getting too sceptical.

We were now travelling along the massive Ogooue river flows from the rainforest through Lambrene and southwards of the Wonga Wangue Reserve. At 5pm I noticed a track that led towards the river so we followed that for a short way until we came to a railway bridge that crossed the river. We decided that it was a good place to camp for the night so we set up camp. We washed in the river and made dinner and enjoyed a cup of tea as the sun was setting. A short time later I heard some voices and saw a few men coming across the bridge. When they got near us I greeted them and went over for a chat. Over a few minutes conversation I heard them mention D’Or a few times, which I knew meant gold. I told them I was also in the mining business and they then showed me the fruits of their days labour. Not fruit of course......but gold. I could tell it was alluvial gold from a river and asked where it came from. They told me they were working in an area a long distance away in the forest. They were very friendly people and I wondered at the harshness of the life they led and the back breaking work they had to perform to win these few pieces of gold.

Later that evening, the stillness was broken by an approaching train that was carrying heavy machinery. The driver waved at us and I wondered if there was a major mining operation somewhere out there in the bush across the Ogooue River. I secretly hoped not although, who knows, there may well be major gold deposits to be discovered in these unchartered lands.

That evening, at around 1am another train came across the bridge and I looked out of the tent to find thick fog had descended. The train looked somewhat eerie coming over the bridge in the fog. Despite this interruption we slept well and were up early to continue our journey towards Libreville. We tried making a cup of coffee but had run out of gas. We were not too worried as we had noticed many gas bottles for sale at petrol stations. About an hour later after driving on more bad road and passing through some small villages we came to the town of Ndjole. Here the road improved considerably and we pulled over at the Total petrol station to change our gas. Unfortunately though the bottles are a different size and would not fit easily in the allotted place in Proper Job, We were told we could get the smaller bottles in Libreville so we decided to try our luck there. We were going to be doing a lot of bush camping between here and Namibia so we needed to get the bottle replaced or filled.

The road that leads into Libreville is also not that good, but was much better than we had just driven through. Along the way you pass through many villages that display their bush meat for sale along the roadway. The strangest bush meat we saw was a crocodile hanging on a pole.

When we arrived in Libreville we stopped at a large fuel station only to be told that you could not get these smaller gas bottles here and we needed to go to Owendo, 20km away to Petro Gabon’s facilities to get it filled. It was Sunday and it would not be open so we headed towards the coast. The GPS and Tracks4Africa showed us that the main route was straight through Libreville. After a few hundred metres I noticed that a minor road on the GPS was actually a major highway going northwards towards the airport. This was the direction we wanted to go so we did a quick and illegal u-turn and headed northwards.

After 30 minutes or so the highway ended and we were on a road rough dirt track that led to Cape Esterias. Eventually we found our way to La Maree which was full of expats and rich Gabonese enjoying wine with their lunch. The car park was full so we just hung out for a few hours on the beach. La Maree is situated right on the beach in a scenic setting. They are only open for lunch on Saturday and Sunday so by 5pm all the guest had gone and we had the place to ourselves. It was a bit surreal going from busy to tranquillity, but we definitely preferred the later. That evening I went for a swim and tried chatting with Francoise , who unfortunately does not speak English. She is very friendly and said we were welcome to camp and gave us access to a room so we could shower and re-charge batteries etc. Without any gas to cook, we went searching for dinner that evening only to find that all the restaurants in the area were closed. It appears that they are only open on the weekends. We did find one restaurant who kindly offered to make us a barbeque chicken sandwich. Beggars can’t be choosers, so we gobbled it up. During dinner we met an American contractor who was constructing a new US Embassy in Libreville. I mentioned that we had seen the bomb proof US Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, and he affirmed that all US Embassies were being made like that since the bombings in Kenya and Somalia.

That evening we were in the tent early and despite the noise from the generator I had a great sleep. The following day was a rest day and we would do a stock count, wash clothes and plan our next few days. Top of the agenda was trying to organise a visit to the famous reserve-on- the-beach called Loango. This is where you can see hippos in the surf and, since reading about it a few years ago in the National Geographic, it has been on my hit list. This reserve, like others in Gabon were established through the efforts of British explorer and biologist Michael Fay who did a 2000 km mega-transect by foot through the Congo and Gabon rainforests. He saw more primates than humans during the journey and when he arrived on the Gabon coast and saw the hippos in the surf he knew the area was special. He actually presented ten areas to be considered for protection, figuring he would count it as a success if such status was granted to just a few. He was stunned when the President of Gabon signed all of them into protected reserves.

In the morning we went for a long walk northwards along the coast. The beach is made up of fine muddy sand and is bordering on a mangrove environment. After a kilometre there are no more villages and one can walk for mile upon mile along a jungle fringed beach. There were no villages along the way and the only people we came across were ladies collecting razor shell fish. They would walk along until they saw water squirt out of a hole in the sand, at which point they would plunge a wire with a hook on the end into the hole and pull the shell out. I tried a couple of times but failed to hook one of them. Later that morning I managed to contact the folks at Loango Lodge and confirm GPS coordinates with them. They matched almost perfectly with the waypoint on Tracks4Africa. Further questioning established that whilst the route was sand and gravel it was mostly in good condition. They also were able to accommodate us as campers as the lodge was fully booked out.

That evening we went to an African restaurant next door where a new catch of Red Roman had just been landed. We enjoyed a tasty dish of fish and rice and confirmed we would come back again the following evening for more. The following day was a relax day and we spent some time cleaning Proper Job and doing general admin chores. Francoise was heading to market that day and asked us if we wanted anything. We thanked her for her offer and asked if she could bring a bottle of milk, fresh bread and tomatoes. She turned up a few hours later with more than what we had asked for and refused to take any payment for the items. I was surprised but it was refreshing to find such people still exist. La Maree is a lovely spot to spend a few days relaxing and Francoise is a super generous person. There are many varieties of birds in her garden and the walks along the beach are well worth the effort. You do need to plan long walks with tide times as it races in.

The following morning we bade farewell to Francoise and headed down to Owendo, the large port terminal, south of Libreville. This is the place we had been told we could fill our gas bottle up. However, I had my doubts as the connection on ours was different from the ones on the Gabonese bottles. Anyway, it was worth a try and if we failed we would keep trying all the way to South Africa. At the end of the day we could always make fires to cook and we had a Kelly Kettle which is an amazing gadget. When we arrived at Petro Gabo in Owendo, we discovered that indeed we could not have our bottle filled because of the connection. We didn’t waste any time and headed out of Libreville back towards the equator crossing for the third time in three days. We planned to get to Yambi where a turnoff from the main road leads to Loango. Somewhere along that road we would find a spot to wild camp.The road down to Yambi, once out of the Libreville area, was pretty good and after about seven hours we got to Yambi. We found the dirt road and headed into the rain forest. It was approaching 4.30pm so we started looking for a camp. Finding a place to pull off a road passing through the forest is not that easy except near villages. After 10 km into the rain forest we came across an old track cutting and went along it to investigate. It was perfect as it was cleared, far enough from the dirt road to avoid any vehicle dust and also trucked away so you couldn’t be seen from the road. We quickly set up camp and started a bonfire. As we settled down to have a cup of coffee there was a strange noise above and looking up we saw a squadron of noisy Black Casqued Hornbills flying over. After dinner we sat and listened to the sounds coming out of the forest. There is no light pollution out here so it is very black and still. It seemed that it would also be a hot night so for the first time we set up our portable fan in the tent. However, by 10pm it was quite cold so we switched off the fan and had a great sleep.

The following morning I was woken by the sounds of squadrons of Black Casqued Hornbills flying overhead, so got up and got the fire going for a cup of tea. At 8am we pulled out of the camp and headed along the road towards Loango Lodge. We were told the trip should take around 7 hours, but that would of course depend on the quality of the road. The road changed from red to yellow to a light sand color and we drove for hours through some amazing rain forest. We came across some red headed monkeys and saw some forest elephant tracks. We passed through a few villages and noticed they were all constructed from wood, which is quite unlike most other villages in other African countries which are mud block. One village had a ceremony going on where there were a number of ladies with painted white faces with red stripes. We didn’t stop but wondered if it was a sort of initiation ceremony. The road was newly graded and generally smooth and was in much better condition than we had expected. After almost three hours we came to the Shell Oil barrier at which point you sign in and wait to be escorted through their property. Maybe this is the reason the road so far had been in such good condition. The road continued through thick forest for another three hours and then the flora started to change somewhat as we approached the coast. The road here was a covered in a thick layer of fine white sand and dust and I imagine it would be almost impassable in the rainy season.

An hour later at around 4pm we reached our destination, Loango Lodge which is an up-market picturesque establishment located on a lagoon. We met the South African managers Natascha, Amon and Wynand who told us, as far as they knew, we were the first campers they had accommodated here. They gave us use of a room with facilities and showed us to a spot near to the swimming pool where we could set up camp. The rest of the afternoon we relaxed by lounging around the swimming pool. As evening approached flocks of African Grey parrots flew over and landed on the fringes of the surrounding forest. It was nice to see so many in the wild and not in cages. That evening we sat down for a three course dinner and met some of the other guests. We immediately hit it off with Arjen and Dianne, a Dutch/Gabon couple and arranged to join them on a day excursion to Akaba camp, which is deeper in the Loango reserve and accessible only by boat.

he following morning we departed on the 60km journey to Akaba through a series of lagoons and waterways lined with thick rain forest. The bird life was impressive and there we saw four different species of kingfishers as well as many other species such as the stunning Rosy Bee-eater. As we went through the narrower stretches the boat slowed and that signalled the arrival of swarms of Tsetse flies. We were constantly swatting and moving to minimise the chances of their ferocious bites but there was no escaping them until the boat sped up again. Akaba is a small tented camp with basic facilities, and it is here we stopped for lunch. We had not yet seen any forest elephants and we were hopeful that our luck would change in the afternoon. The lagoon on the coast that Michael Fay filmed the hippos in the surf is very remote and lay another 30 km away from Akaba. The only way to reach it was by foot and we were not able to do that trek on this trip. After lunch we headed up a narrow water channel weaving around semi submerged trees. The Tsetse flies were unrelenting and made photography and video recording quite a challenge. After a few kilometres the boat pulled over in an area where there were lots of monkeys and we went on a short hike through the bush following them. The silence in the forest always surprises me and except for the monkeys crashing through the tree tops it was pretty much silent. We walked along pathways worn by elephants and buffalo and saw some amazing trees with eerie vines and the setting would be perfect for a Tarzan movie. Eventually we came across a large Baie, a natural clearing in the forest, which is often where elephants and other mammals congregated. Alas there were none presently there so we made our way back to the boat. Strangely enough there were no Tsetse flies in the forest only on the waterways. The boat made its way back the way we came and within thirty minutes we came across our first forest elephant. We all jumped out of the boat and crept into the bush with the guide to take some pictures. These elephants are fairly small in comparison to their southern African relatives but they have large tusks which appear out of proportion to their size. We continued our journey back to Loango Lodge and came across a dozen more elephants close to the water’s edge. We saw some more hippos and many more birds. The rich wildlife in this area probably owes its existence to the remoteness of the area. At 6pm we arrived back at Loango Lodge and had a cold beer and another tasty dinner. After dinner we spent some time talking to Wynand who told us that the fishing in the lagoon and sea were excellent, although the fishing season had not yet started. He offered to take us out the next day so we called it a night and arranged to leave at 8am.

The following morning was another fine day, overcast with some sunshine and no rain. We met Wynand at the pier and sorted through the fishing gear. The boat journey to the mouth of the river took about 30 minutes and the area is quite stunning. We saw hippo and elephant tracks along the beach and lagoon and were told that here also they go into the ocean. The beach sand is white and contrasts strikingly with the verdant green forest and blue sea. We fished for a while around the mouth of the river but only caught one catfish. Later we pulled onto a bank to fish for barracuda with rapala’s and poppers. I made a few casts to no avail when suddenly a large barracuda launched itself vertically out of the water and hit my popper. It was a vicious strike and once I recovered from the ferociousness I started to battle the fish. Today was the fish’s day and within a short time the barracuda had cut the line on some nearby rocks and it was all over. The tide was falling rapidly by this time and we did not get any more strikes. Gabon has some world class sport fishing and the islands of Sao Tome and Principe are great places for sailfish, marlin etc. At certain times of the year massive tarpon move into the lagoons. The biggest caught was 150 kilogram (yes not pounds). Clearly these areas have huge potential for fly fishing.

We headed back to the lodge at 1pm and as we were planning to depart the following morning, we spent the afternoon working on Proper Job, writing Blogs, calling home and generally lazing around the pool. We were made very welcome by Amon, Natasha and Wynand and thank them for their kind hospitality. We were reluctant to move on from this slice of paradise but knew we needed to keep moving southwards. Ahead of us lie some of the worst roads we will encounter and it will take us some days to get through the Congo and into Angola.

The drive back through the rain forest towards the village of Yambi which lies on the main north-south road took us about six hours to complete. On the way we only saw five other cars all of which were transporting goods. We choose to camp at the same spot that we stayed at over night on the way to Loanga. When we arrived we quickly got the fire going, making it a smokey one to keep the midges and other biting insects at bay.

The following morning we plan to go to Mouila which lies on the main road, change the engine oil before and then head down to Ndende, where we intend to cross into the Congo