Tumbledown island Nampula is not coastal. It is a relatively large town, meaning running water, proper sugared ring doughnuts, and onward connections to Mozambique Island. A large minibus (capacity around 25, today’s capacity about 35) is almost ready to depart, for the morning’s journey. The poverty of the island –… Continue reading
Mbazwana is heaving when I leave the hotel at 9am: long Monday queues for cash machines, food-laden people pouring out of the supermarket, market stalls set up, the sellers busy attracting buyers. Its much easier then I imagined to get towards the South African border post at Kosi Bay. After… Continue reading
It’s an easy hour’s drive into South Africa through hills that look more like piles of boulders, the brown hues only broken by a strip of green along the Orange River (that acts as the border) where raisons and mangoes are grown. From the small mission town of Steinkopf I’m… Continue reading
Life’s a beach in Benguela Benguela’s coastal end of town is really rather delightful. Lovely tree- and palm-lined streets connecting clean planted squares that offer seating in the shade. However, there is no public transport between Benguela and the coastal town of Namibe, the hub being Lubango. So I must… Continue reading
When the taxi pulls into Monte Christo combi (minibus) depot all hell breaks loose. Its surrounded by touts: some get into the back, some open up the boot for my bag, others thrust themselves through the front windows. They are desperate for my custom to Oshataki, home of an Angolan… Continue reading
It feels like I should stay longer in Brazzaville. It calls to me – the European feel of the city. There is really nothing more to keep me. The only reason I can think of for not going to Kinshasa immediately is that it involves going to Kinshasa. Brazzaville’s port… Continue reading
The road to Congo is more like a country track, a little wider than a single lane, and composed of earth. At one of several Gabonese checkpoints a woman says to me: “And now you have to pay to cross the frontier”. “How much is it?” I ask, I’m not… Continue reading
The last sighting of 2011’s sun, Campo, Cameroon On January 1st, Campo’s bus station looked decidedly like the location of a good party the morning after, but I was assured transport would materialise, and it does so in the form of a Toyota pickup truck. Bags of yams are surprisingly… Continue reading
The road to Accra is as good as any I have travelled on. We kept bumping into the coast as we followed the road East, passing old haunts like Apam and dreamed of destinations like Elmina and Winneba. It takes 45 minutes in heavy slow moving traffic to get to… Continue reading
I can’t help thinking some simple timetabling should be put in place. We don’t leave Bo’s main lorry park until 12.30, I arrived at 8.30. The road as far as Bandajuma surprises me in being good level (boring) grey tarmac. Even when it becomes earth it is mostly drivable at… Continue reading
