Day 84… Saturday 24th June
Drove into Luanda to find a working ATM and get local currency. Long queues and security guards directing people where to stand. Third attempt a success. Had a delicious breakfast cooked by Juliette (eggs, cheese, bread, sausages, watermelon, papaya and passion fruit – all homegrown and homemade) before setting off for Benguela 306 miles south. Long drive. Difficult to navigate out of Luanda where there are no lane markings and the road layout is confusing. Very slow lorries on the road and tricky to overtake them on blind bends. Watermelon being sold at the roadside. The landscape has become flatter and drier before a mountainous range. Although still humid (27degrees), the sunshine is not so intense due to cloud cover. Greta started to rattle 20 miles before our destination. She limped on but does not sound healthy. Just getting dark as we arrived. Relieved that there was no need to wild camp. The manager and staff were very friendly and generous with the drinks/food. Our bill came to 5,000 Kwanza /£5. Having already paid to put our roof-top tent in the car park, the manger offered us a room for a very reasonable rate. I think he was on a PR push but we happily accepted. Angola is very cheap. Filled up with fuel 60 litres for £9.
Allen’s perspective…
A rattle is an understatement, at first it sounded like a metal wire being thrashed around underneath the car, before turning into a sound like metal fragments being spun around. She was seriously unhealthy, but got us to our accommodation okay.