We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there. - Pascal Mercier

10 June 2019, Barra do Kwanza to Luanda, 77,5km
Chez Amelia 13,942Kz (R621)

We had hoped for an easy ride, knowing that getting through Luanda itself would prove tiring and stressful. Had hoped for the sudden appearance of a flat coastal plain, an end to hills, but no such luck. The road hugged the coast more closely than since the short trip between Benguela and Lobito, but it still climbed and dipped between spurs. In addition, as we approached the capital, outlying towns busied up our ride with vehicles and vendors.
Early in the day we overtook a broken down truck on the side of the road. The Angolans have an interesting way of warning other motorists of an obstruction; they cut fresh branches from trees and bushes and lay several of them behind and in front the vehicles.
We took a quick break from our ride at a viewpoint overlooking the rock formations of the Miradouro da Lua (surface of the moon), created over thousands of years by rain, wind and erosion. But mainly put our heads down and headed for the city. Past wealthy housing estates built and being built, past quality date palm plantations, past dreams of success, failed…
We entered Luanda about 24km short of our AirBnB accommodation in the suburb of Maianga. Mainly we rode a continuation of the EN100, following its oddities, stopping regularly to consult Google Maps. We literally took not one wrong turn during our ride through the city. Except for the early stages, where the EN100 becomes for awhile an ordinary city street flooded with vendors and vehicles, it is essentially a national road weaving its way through town, the coming and going lanes separated by cement barriers, the traffic behaving much as one would expect traffic to behave in any western city. In general, we found it considerably less manic than, for example, Ho Chi Minh City.
We like the suburb in which Chez Amelia sits. Within easy walking distance are several mini mercados and restaurants. Tonight we dined at Cappriciosa Pizzaria, literally constructed by erecting a metal roof between the opposing walls of two apartment blocks.

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