We managed to secure the last spot for our truck and tents in the park, which allowed us to camp and explore the national park for a three days. Arriving around noon there was plenty of time to do some laundry and then walk the five kilometers over to the Sesriem Canyon. From the viewpoint on...Read More
Having crossed over from Angola we were now in what can be called “Africa Light”, or Africa with Shoprite supermarkets in every small town. People spoke english and there were again more tourists around. We were planning on staying three nights in Etosha National Park, but as all of the campsites were full we only...Read More
Angola is in an economical crisis at the moment. The inflation rate is high and expats are no longer allowed to bring the local currency out of the country. Therefore there is a huge black market for currency where people would pay four times the official rate for dollars and euros. We used that to...Read More
Having driven for almost two weeks straight, mainly bushcamping without showers or much rest, it was time to put on the breaks as we reached Angola. At the border, the bridge between DRC and Angola was being repaired so there was also nothing else to do than to relax and spend the night between the...Read More
In a group of fifteen people there will always be different opinions. My opinion was that it would be better to stay shorter at the beaches to be able to see more of cultural and natural sights, but already after a few days in Lobito I appreciated the majority of the group voting for staying...Read More
Even though we were just crossing the Democratic Republic of Congo as quickly as possible, before our Angola visas expired, it has been some of the most interesting driving days of our whole Trans- Africa trip. This is where our four wheel drive, ex military Bedford truck got to show what it was built for,...Read More
The Republic of Congo is a prime example of oil money gone wrong. Over 90% of the country’s export comes from oil, so with fluctuating oil prices the government budget can be high or low. In times when the oil price has been high, Brazzaville has hosted expensive events and festivals and undertaken big projects...Read More
Gabon is a country that has well exploited it’s oil reserves and is now about to run out of what has been it’s main export since the sixties. The father of the Ali Bongo, Omar, was Africa’s longest serving president for a whopping 47 years during which loads of over priced railways, and fancy buildings...Read More
Staying at a Presbyterian church for a week while waiting for our visas might sound like the safest and most boring part of our trip through West Africa, but in fact it was some of the most crazy days. From the days before one girl had caught a worm in her foot, one guy had...Read More
What I think are the most pretty African cities, are the ones where colonial buildings are still present, perhaps by some river or in another natural setting or just a city where people seem to have slowed down and enjoy their lives. Douala was none of those things. It was just a massive, busy business...Read More
Kribi is on the South West coast of Cameron and is a popular stop for people travelog through the country. Not only does it have Cameroons best beaches, but it also boasts of having Africa’s Only waterfall that runs straight into the ocean. We stayed at Tara plage, right on the beach and could walk...Read More
The road on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon were by far the worst roads we had encountered on our trip. Some places there was a meter of water, there were potholes everywhere and one place there were tens of trucks and cars waiting to pass stretches of muddy roads where people had been getting...Read More
On the way to Calabar we had some days driving from early morning to late evenings, only stopping at the police and military checkpoints where they had made it impossible to drive past and for quick pee breaks. All nights were spent right by the roads, except for one night where we were camping inside...Read More
We had all been expecting the worst when it came to corruption and hustling in Nigeria, which is why we chose to cross into the country at a tiny and peaceful border town called Ilawa. There were not even a customs office at the border so we had to drive into a Nigerian town to...Read More
If you want to learn about Beninese history, the former capital of Abome is a good place to start. The Dahomey Kingdom, which it was called at the time, used to be huge stretching far through West Africa and Abomey was where the King had his palaces. We visited two of these, which now makes...Read More
During the 18th century when Europeans were buying slaves from Benin to use overseas, some peaple escaped to the lakes. The animist beliefs of the Beninese king at the time dictated that anyone who were living on these sacred waters should be spared so people went by the thousands and a stilt village was created....Read More
Cotonou was noones favorite city. Streets were much more busy than Togos biggest city Lomé and options for camping were almost non existent. The city center was a huge roundabout with a red star and monument in the middle. The cool thing though was the super cheap motorcycle taxis that were practically everywhere and the...Read More
Deep in the heart of West Africa, Vodoun, or more familiarly, Voodoo is not only alive and well, but it is thriving. Togo’s capital city of Lomé is the birthplace of the largest Voodoo market in the world – a kind of super supply store for fetishes, charms and anything else one might need for...Read More
