We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey. - John Hope Franklin

8 January 2020, Boké to Dabiss, 53.6km
Private hut 80,000GNF (R119)

Africans are extraordinarily generous (not only with things, but with time and information) and so today we found ourselves fed and housed in the large village of Dabiss.
We arrived here along a slow dirt road, and tired, hoping there would be formal accommodation. We stopped outside a family shop, planning first to drink something sweet and then to enquire about a bed. The proprietor had nothing for us to drink, but provided wooden chairs for us to sit on and gestured for us to purchase drinks across the road. While we were sitting in his shade drinking our tepid and outrageously expensive Cokes, his wife began to feed the family a late lunch and next thing we knew we were in possession of a plate of rice with a peppery sauce containing fish and, unbelievably, large chunks of pumpkin. We have so seldom since entering Angola been served a veggie other than tomato, onion or cabbage, that we could not believe our luck or contain our excitement. Our host refused to take money for the food, and gestured that we should ask for accommodation at a restaurant we had passed entering town. There, two young men, after some discussion, said they could provide us with a bed and how much were we willing to pay. Both kind and innovative - just LOVE that they saw an opportunity both to help us and to make some money - a real win-win. And so we are sleeping in their hut and in their bed (we assume they share it, but could be wrong)…
The hut, like others in the village, is unfenced, and stands alone on swept earth. It is constructed of mud bricks with a thatch roof. Inside, the hut is divided into two rooms, the smaller all-purpose room has an earthen floor, the larger serves as a bedroom and has a cement floor. Two outer doors provide access and the only light source other than the light seeping in under the thatch. The hut was pleasantly cool, a dark, cool cave.
Our host walked me through the forest to show me in which part of the river we could safely bathe, and showed me the partially enclosed communal pit toilet. When we were ready to bathe, Charl in his cozzie, me in my sarong, we entered the path through the forest and ran into the village kids bringing home buckets of water from the river. Each child carried a full and heavy bucket on their head, the buckets held in place by arms stretched to full length, fingers hooked over the bucket rim. The buckets got bigger as the arms got longer. An amazing sight, the kids greeting us with surprise and pleasure.
When I had first been shown the bathing spot, before rounding the last corner, our host had called out “kong, kong”, the traditional African “knock, knock”. I used it too, to announce our arrival. A single man was rolling a cigarette under a tree, relaxing at the end of his day, but he offered to leave, providing Charl and I with some privacy. We bathed, as do the Africans, covered in fabric, sudsing and rinsing in the cool, clear water.
We dined on omelette and mayonnaise and sliced onion baguettes at the restaurant on the main road, returning later in the dark, past families gathered around open fires where women cooked dinner, and past fireflies glinting in the dark bushes. We were accosted by a military dude, who seemed to feel a need to check on our safety. We told him all was well and he went away smiling. Sitting later reading outside our hut we could hear the pounding of cassava in wooden mortars, and children’s voices raised in laughter or tears, and running feet, and now and then an autocycle engine. Wandering free were ducks and pigs and chickens.
We had a longish ride this morning through Boké before the turnoff to Dabiss and the border. We ate vetkoek (deep-fried dough balls) and drank coffee and bought red apples and juice for the road, the juice so cold, it was in fact frozen solid, and chocolates for after dinner.
It is cooler mornings and evenings and sometimes chilly at night, such a relief following moths of heat. We should cross into Guinea-Bissau tomorrow…

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