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Adventures with Kingsley Holgate - Afrika Outside Edge 3

Adventures with Kingsley Holgate - Afrika Outside Edge 3

Author: Kinglsey Holgate
Date: 2017-05-05

Angola's edge although painfully scarred by years of tragic warfare is magnificently beautiful. Three Outside Edge Landies cross the magnificent plains of Iona, run the dangerous Baia dos Tigres Gap where if you're caught by the high tide between the Atlantic and the steep sided desert dunes, you're done for. We cross the mighty Congo with our Landies wedged one behind the other on an old plank-built boat, crossing into the Democratic Republic of the Congo - to the port of Banana. It is Independence Day and the Primus beer was flowing like water. With the help of 87 laughing, joking, singing and somewhat pissed Congolese, the three Landies roll onto terra firma over thick hardwood planks supported underneath by 210-litre drums. Closer to the equator the rainforests have become thicker and on the coast of Gabon we have our first sightings of forest- buffalo and elephant. Of course there are some hassles with stroppy officials which led me to scribble in the expedition journal....

We cross the wide Ntem River into Cameroon. It seems to have more of a buzz than Gabon, but oh my, we go straight into a very surly bunch of customs and immigration officials, which results in a definite first black mark on the sun visor. I decide to do a bit of addition. The score so far is: South Africa 0, Namibia 0, Angola 23, DRC 11, Cabinda 9, Congo-Brazzaville 16, Gabon 41 (because of the paranoia in the build-up to National Day), the paradises of São Tome and Principe 0 and now the scorecard has opened for Cameroon with 1. To get a black mark you have to be bad-tempered, arrogant, impolite, threatening or aggressive, demand a bribe, wave an AK-47 around and yes, being pissed also helps. We prefer friendly negotiation, with lots of smiles and backslapping.

Luckily there are plenty of polite, friendly types who might keep you chatting out of curiosity. The fact that we are a team of South Africans helping to fight malaria in their country wins us huge points and certainly gives the scorecard a favourable balance. There are always some great comments, like 'Tell Mandela that John from Cameroon sends his regards'; 'What's going on with Bafana Bafana A rich country like South Africa, and you can't play football and "Ah you come in British cars — Land Rovers. Very strong. My friend what have you got for me ' Africa — it's all good and all bad all at the same time. It's a challenging continent.