Not content with surviving the 200+ km of mud on the road from Angola, we decided to detour off the black stuff again for another 100km, to visit the waterfalls of Zongo. There we met Dimitri and Marina who offered us a place to stay in Kinshasa. Lucky, as the cost of living in Kinshasa is almost as high as that of Luanda. In the DRC capital it’s not the oil hiking up the prices, but the presence of the UN. With almost 8 million inhabitants it’s the third largest city in Africa. It’s safe and definitely not as bad as many people image, but the dirty streets, traffic jams and associated smog, rank it low on our list of favourite cities.

All up we spent five days in Kinshasa, during which we picked up visas for the Congo and Gabon. On the last day we headed to the port (locally known as ‘The Beach’) to catch a ferry to neighbouring Brazzaville. We’d heard horror stories about this ferry crossing and the mafia that operate it. Well, it must have been their day off (or just the fact it was Saturday) as we were not besieged by ‘agents’ or scammed in any way. We dealt with just one official who handled all the paperwork and tickets. Handing back our passports he proudly announced “That will be a total of US$24. $15 for the bike plus rider and $12 for the pillion”. Figure that one out…???!!!

We were also spared the beatings of local security guys, who kept order by slapping, pushing and beating the locals as they boarded. All were ‘exporting’ goods of some kind to Brazzavile, with many using cripples to help cart their stuff because they don’t have to pay the ferry fee. It was all a bit of a circus which continued on the Brazzaville side and finally ended about 3 hours later.

Brazzaville is a total contrast to Kinshasa. With a population of around 1 million, it is clean organised and a lot less crowded. We are staying at a popular stop-over for overlanders called Hippocampe Hotel. The owner Olivier cycled around the world for 2 years and so understands the needs/budgets of long term travelers. All ‘tourists’ sleep for free. The 4×4 guys occupying the car park while we are crashing on the floor of the pool room

This morning we checked out a local market where you can buy overgrown rats and smoked monkey. We passed on both but still left with a funny taste in our mouths…

Tomorrow we head for Gabon.

P.S. We have updated the gallery with some pics from Namibia