ADDENDUM TO DODDLE IN ANGOLA

We have taken a few days to digest everything we saw and did in Angola and want to add the following.

Thanks to our fellow-travellers who were easy-going and co-operative and adapted when things didn't go as planned. You added to the adventure and were easy to travel with. We have travelled with Antoinette and Willem and with Jan and Juanette before, but the others are now new friends. Thanks also to our guide, Danie (aka Jakkals), whose previous experience and knowledge of the area was put to good use.

We also got to know Matthew who assisted Jakkals and were impressed by his in-depth knowledge of just about anything. We could ask him anything from arachnids to engine adaptations. His big smile and knowledge of Portuguese also made him a very useful travel companion. Lukas travelled with Matthew and was also most helpful. He is Namibian and speaks various African languages as well as English and Afrikaans and was always able to communicate with the local people which was very useful.

Jakkals also had a guest travelling with him, Andrew Middleton, who is a journalist and photographer for SA 4X4 and will be publishing an article on this trip in the June or July issue. He was always hopping out of the lead vehicle to take photos of the convoy and then had to run to catch up again. Andrew is also very easy-going and companionable and responded to various names - Engelsman; Soutie; Andrew or Andries - depending on who was speaking to him. Good fun to have around and we look forward to reading your article and of course seeing your photos.

When we look back at our trip, we are firstly struck by how tough the driving and the terrain was. This was some rough driving! Our initiation into Angola was rough roads way off the beaten track. Judging by the bemused spectators, there are not that many tourists along the first part of the route. Our 'bush camps' were also really rough camping and we quickly understood why we had to take our own drinking and washing / shower water.

I also have a quick shudder about the snakes and scorpions we spotted and that were removed by Matthew - and of course those we never even saw! The big, pregnant female scorpion, which he caught and we photographed, was identified by an expert as an Articulated Scorpion and the expert had never seen such a big one. He reckoned that if she had stung anyone, they would have died within an hour. Rather scary stuff but thank goodness nothing like that happened!

Camping in the dunes was also quite a challenge. Apart from snakes and scorpions, the wind always seems to blow and at night it gets incredibly cold. Windy, cold and sandy is not exactly for the faint-hearted. Although the guides stretched out a wind-break between two vehicles for us to sit behind, dinner was quickly consumed and everyone ducked into their tents.

The dune driving and slip-faces were also quite a challenge for the driver and heart-attack-inducing for the passengers! Some enjoyable challenges on the way to some spectacular scenery. The 'Death Acre' driving was everything that was promised. One can just imagine how easily and quickly things can go wrong so you have to have confidence in your guide and of course keep an eye on what the locals are doing.

Driving through the cities was a challenge because they drive on the right, but was not really difficult apart from that. Lubango was well-developed and organised and interesting to see. The market in Namibe was also an education but really similar to many other African markets. There are some impressively big hotels in Lubango but we're not really sure who stays there. As in most parts of Africa, corruption is apparently rife in Angola so these 'projects' are not necessarily designed to meet an actual need or demand.

Once again the Leba Pass lived up to expectations. It is as beautiful and breath-taking as all the photo's promise. A seriously impressive piece of engineering and must had been an incredible challenge to actually build. At the viewpoint and restaurant at the top, we were hassled by children begging but that was one of the few tourist spots where this happened.

From there we travelled to the lookout at Fendas da Tundavala where you can just imagine the MPLA shoving their poor victims off the edge. Once again the locals were just curious and bemused when we set up camp there. We soon realised that this was a popular spot for a bit of romance amongst the locals so we were spoiling their fun somewhat. However they were amused and got their own back by photographing this group of nuts setting up their tents in the wind-blown open. It was indeed a miserable, cold and wind-battered group of people who left the next morning.

Overall our experience of Angola was of tough driving and camping, but of friendly and hospitable people. Unfortunately their bureaucracy (at the borders) is cumbersome as they seem to only speak Portuguese there, but once you are through that then travelling is not really a problem. There are many police checkpoints and road-blocks but they seem to have been told not to make trouble for the tourists so we managed that just fine.

If anyone is interested in going I'd certainly recommend travelling in Angola but you may like to stick to the roads for an easier journey, depending on where you'd like to go. A guide is extremely useful as the Country is not yet really geared for tourists so you'd need help communicating and understanding where to go.

Bon Voyage!