Pelas terras por onde andámos . . .

Pelas terras por onde nós andámos . . ., nos dias de hoje, tudo está como se relata, nesta viagem destes dois motociclistas sul-africanos

We're back on the beach! We crossed into Angola at sunset, so we decided to spend the night at the tiny border town of Noqui, and camped on a sandy beach on the banks of the Congo River. Apart from the fact that the local kids clearly use the one rocky end as a toilet (and they have left every stone unturned…), it was an idyllic spot, with lights of the town twinkling and music from a local bar reaching us across the bay.

Some of us bravely took a dip and a wash in the river in the morning, then did our laundry alongside the locals doing theirs. (Bio-degradable soap is a must.) Day 50 had us heading for Nzeto, along a narrow track with thick vegetation on either side – this northern part of Angola is surprisingly green. Sometimes the forested canopy of trees closes overhead and there are plenty of baobabs. The road was red dirt, but it was good – until we reached Tomboco. Once, a very long time ago, this section was tarred. Now it's a nightmare of monster potholes linked by skinny ridges of tar.

We're also seeing plenty of evidence of the war here – rusted, mangled military vehicles on the roadside, blown-up bridges and a couple of de-mining camps, with cleared areas marked by red and white wooden stakes – but you never can be too sure. We're taking care to stay on the road, even for toilet stops; definitely no wandering off into the bush. We had another great beach camp at Nzeto – fairly dilapidated and shot up, but we arrived in the dark again. Our maximum speed for the day was just 58km/h, with an average of 28km/h.