Kinwica Lodge – Mangais Golf Estate (Day 27)

11 June 2019

Distance: 496km Distance to date: 5892km

Road Conditions: (out of 10)

Good tar all the way, heavy traffic going through Luanda

Eggs, Cheese, Ham, Bacon, Coffee, Tea

Snacks

Cheese Buns

Mom was the first one up this morning, and Dad slept in a little for once. We sat down to a decent breakfast in the restaurant, that they had prepared for us.

After packing up, we were ready to hit the road again and turned South.

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A strange rock formation we found on the road.

While driving, Dad spotted something we hadn’t seen on the way up: Oil pumps. We stopped and turned into the road to take some photos. This was the first time any of us had seen something like this. We followed the road and eventually came to a fenced off area where we greeted the security guards. They told us to wait, and went to fetch someone who speaks English.

This gentleman, George, was so great as to tell us more about the pumps and to also go and show us the pumps we had seen and to draw a little bit of oil from a small tap on the pump. He mentioned that there are 17 pumps in the area and they pump around 700 barrels of oil in a day. This means over 100 000 litres of oil a day!

We thanked George and went on our way.

We decided to travel along the coast and drive through Luanda instead of going around and using a more inland bypass. I’m not sure if that was a very good idea, because we spent around three hours travelling through the city because of traffic. What I saw of the city, it's relatively rundown with squatter camps and a lot of garbage. There was only one small part that I saw that truly looked like an urban city.

Coming into the city, the road is wide enough for at least four lanes, but there are no lines and, this being Africa, the drivers made their own lanes as well.

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We eventually got to Mangais Golf Estate and after speaking to another lady that was sitting by the otherwise deserted reception, were surprised to hear that Mr. Francisco was at the Golf Estate. Dad hopped in his Jimny and Mr. Francisco showed him where we could camp for the night.

We set up close by the swimming pool and what used to be a spa, in between some bungalows that they probably rent out to non-residents. At least we have a toilet and some showers, although no hot water.

We were all too tired to prepare a big dinner, so Mom made us some buns with cheese and we had some tea. I have a good feeling we’ll do some exploring tomorrow, because Mom and Dad were in this area in 2014 and I think they’ll want to see if some of the places that they visited are still up and running.