To add to our grief the Angolan customs chap refused to sign out our carnet on the basis that ‘Angola is not part of this treaty!’. When I pointed out to him that it had already been signed three times by Angolan officials (twice in Cabinda and once on entry to Angola proper) he helpfully suggested we head back up to Luvo, our point of entry 5 days drive away and ask them to sign it for me. Hopefully the AA will be understanding.

Namibian border formalities were pain free although it took a while for the border guards to understand why as South Africans entering from Angola we didn’t have Namibian exit stamps in our passports.

Night one was spent at Ondangwa Rest Camp where we enjoyed rump steaks and Tafel lagers before being lulled to sleep by the locals playing “Delarey” till 2 in the morning. Welkom tuis.

Due to time constraints we spent only a night in Etosha at Okaukuejo. Its a phenomenal game reserve.. lots of game, excellent infrastructure and great service. The camps were also completely chocka with Saffers with new Prados and double story tents on top of their trailers enjoying the extended school holidays and we started to miss the delapidated, shot out, disorganised and deserted West African parks.

On day 3 the Engen diesel began to kick in and we hit 100km for the first time in a while so our scheduled stop at Toyota was cancelled and we headed into the Waterberg instead. We camped at one of the three secluded sites at ‘Anderson camping’, definitely the nicest camp site of the trip, ably assisted by some good South African wine and Namibian steak on the braai. Throughout Namibia we were impressed with the quality of the accommodation at all levels which I suspect surpasses even the high South African standards.

After a night with very hospitable friends in Windhoek we collected my brother and niece at the airport and headed west to the Skeleton coast. Xaragu made a fantastic relaxed 2 night stopover with petrified forests, ancient rock engravings and lots more to keep us entertained. From there we moved into the heart of the Skeleton coast and stayed at Terrace Bay. The scenery was epic and the dunes as impressive as anything we had seen in Morocco.

On the way back to Windhoek we enjoyed Cape Cross (home to 200 000 seals), Swakopmund and a fantastic farmhouse at Etusus Lodge. In Windhoek we were reunited with Chippy who had taken the easy route down from Morocco. We spent our last night of the trip on the banks of the Orange river with South Africa squarely in sight.

We covered the next 100km to the first major Nigerian town, Abeokuta, in 3 hours due to 12 police, army and customs checkpoints en route (‘please park very well next to the road and come with me’ said the large Nigerian wielding a Kalshnikov, fortunately just another police checkpoint!).

Arriving late in Abeokuta we treated ourselves to the ’presidential suite’ at the Mokland hotel. As you might imagine the chocolates on the pillows and a few other niceties such as running water were absent, but the price was right after we had split it between the 7 of us that crammed into it so no complaints.

17 April- We had hoped to make the 600km to Abuja despite the potholed roads but hadn’t counted on 80% of the rest of the traffic comprising slow moving petrol trucks, so we settled for half that distance to Jebba.

18 to 20 April- One of the advantages of travelling through post-colonial Africa has been that we have often been able to make use of great (if somewhat past their prime ) clubs, hotels and resorts, often at no cost and almost always with no one else to compete with for service from the bar. The staff at these places are mostly just happy to see a few customers, even if they turn down the rooms in favour of putting up tents in the hotel courtyard.
Abuja is not a city that fits into that mould. Having been built as the country’s new capital using oil revenues it is neither post-colonial, and its hotels struggle to attract guests. Despite this, and we are still not sure why, the Abuja Sheraton allows overlanders to camp within its grounds. No complaints.
Its a modern city with good infrastructure that contrasts starkly with the decrepit state of its neighbouring African capitals, as does its citizens obvious wealth with the poverty of the majority of Nigerians.

21 April and 22 April – Two day trek to Calabar to check out the town which is well known as being one of the nicest in Nigeria, as well as to get our Cameroonian visas. Tracks 4 Africa took us to Le Chateau, where the owner was so excited to be the only hotel in town on the GPS that she put us up for the night and also very kindly took us on a tour of the town the following day.

23 April – Obtained Cameroonian visas in Calabar and headed back up to Ikom, a small town near the Cameroonian border. We had dinner with two bikers also heading to SA, which is the final destination of almost all overlanders we meet these days.

Blogs are by their nature retrospective. For a change we thought we’d offer you a glimpse of what lies ahead..

In a few days we head into Cameroon and onto ‘the worst road in Africa’. Check out the video clip ‘Cameroon impassable’ to get an idea of what we’re in for..