A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. - John Steinbeck

6 June 2019, Sumbe to Porto Amboim, 69,2km
Azevedos Hotel 8,000Kz (R356)

There is NOTHING like an ice cold Coke, NOTHING. We are both thrilled and impressed to find quite often ice cold soft drinks in the most basic of mud brick villages, even those without electricity. Today, from a small shop painted red, in a small mud brick village, we bought icy Coke and Fanta from a shopkeeper who was braiding a friend or client’s hair when we arrived, but stopped what she was doing to serve us. She had a chest freezer filled with ice and cold drinks. We assume the ice is delivered to her regularly, the market at work. We sat on her cement surround, our feet on a cement route marker lying flat and reading “292 Luanda”.
Finding our way out of Sumbe was easy enough despite roadworks and detours. Then up a steep climb taking us inland again from the coast. Part way up the first hill, I stopped to rest. While standing there, a woman coming up the hill, crossed the road toward me. On her head she carried a LARGE open basin filled with water. She seemed comfortable carrying this unwieldy weight, but I could not imagine how she had managed to lift it onto her head, nor keep it there without taking an unplanned shower. A little later, we saw another woman, small of stature, carrying a baby on her back, a canister of water in one hand, and a large sack of meal on her head. Her gait was hurried and intense, but despite her obvious discomfort, the adjective that came to mind when I saw her was “strong”.
Once up from the coast onto a plateau, the terrain was easier on a day still humid, but cooler under an overcast sky. We saw numerous dried fish stalls, most selling fish from Sumbe; and from one watermelon stall outside a modest home, we bought and consumed a melon. And on the road, we saw giant corn crickets, leggy and fast moving. We try to avoid them when still alive; when already dead, they crunch sometimes beneath our tyres.
In Porto Amboim, we enquired about a room at the Hotel Azevedos, only because it was the first hotel we saw. They quoted us 12,000Kz, but dropped to 8,000Kz when we said we were looking for something cheaper and turned to walk away to continue our search. For dinner, we took autocycle taxis to Restaurante Farol on the beach, a pretty place nearly empty. We asked our English-speaking waiter if the restaurant was usually devoid of customers. He said only in the cold months, “like now”. All of us were in shirt-sleeves!

For today's route see below photos
For overview route, click on ROUTE tab above…