I frequently saw large turtles in the shallows and the beach was white and clean with the occasional fisherman passing by.
After the chaos of the immigration office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), it was great to roll into Angola's calm, orderly border post. Air-conditioned offices! Computers! No more big, black ledgers!
Just over a week ago I'd driven through Cabinda, the Angolan enclave within the DRC, so I'd technically already been in Angola.This made the formalities straightforward: I had to get a new printout made of my TIP (Temporary Import Permit) and some fresh stamps added to other documents.
On the overlander WhatsApp groups, people often remarked that once you'd made it through the DRC and entered Angola, you were back in "easy" Africa. Not many overlanders take the West African route as I had done, because it's known for poor road conditions, sometimes chaotic border crossings, corruption and a bureaucratic tangle of visas and permits. But I'd conquered all that and I was looking forward to relaxing a bit after some stressful weeks.
The tar road from the border was decent and I followed it south-east towards M'banza-Kongo (164 km). Along the way, I received a message from a Spanish overlanding family who'd been following my journey. They had also recently crossed into Angola and we agreed to meet up in M'banza-Kongo.
There had been no diesel available in Cabinda and reports were that it would be scarce in northern Angola, too. I felt it prudent to be prepared, so I'd spent the last of my Congolese francs on fuel in the DRC, filling up my jerry cans despite the fuel there being the most expensive of my trip (US$1,23/litre).
I had hoped to top up my half-full tank in M'banza-Kongo, but I couldn't find any diesel. I decided to wait at one of the fuel stations for the arrival of the Spanish family.
I parked in the shade next to one of the
