Day 188 – Tues 6 April - 15,574 km, Junction to N’Gungo (just over 100km to Lobito), Angola

Our things may never have been so secure, but sharing a hot, mosquito infested dormitory with shift police officers coming on and off duty at all hours of the night, is certainly not conducive to a good night’s sleep and so we set off from the dusty old colonial seaside town of Sumbe at the crack of dawn this morning feeling more than a little bleary eyed and lazy. Given the similarities in climate and habitat, one can see why the Portuguese felt so at home here and it is good to see a much greater mixing of races than in other African countries thanks to the Portuguese colonials traditionally being encouraged to marry locals. Unfortunately there is quite a Western influence on the cuisine with roadside truck stops mainly serving up bbq meat and chips. I did however find some banana firewater, which at 100 kwanza (80p) for 330ml, is just about the first cheap product I’ve come across in Angola. Packing a punch at 43% and tasting more like meths, I was barely able to stomach a mouthful and the rest was put to good use by the village drunk making new imaginary friends. Thanks to an unbelievable run of luck and generosity from strangers, not to mention a fair amount of camping, I’ve just had to pay for my first accommodation since Gabon, at 2,000 kwanza it’s a bargain by Angolan standards, although situated off the back of a disco and also charging at an hourly rate, you can imagine what it’s primarily used for!