Hi Guys!!!

We’re currently in Congo-Brazzaville! Only here for a day, & tomorrow we attempt to cross the Mighty Congo River to that intrepid city – KINSHASA!!! We’re hoping to get through the border & make our way down to Matadi & the Angolan Border. Please keep your fingers crossed for us!

We have just spent a few days on the road, bush-camping where we can! Gabon continued to impress with its stunning jungle roads, & as for Congo – well its proved to be one of the spectacular highlights of the trip! The people are incredibly friendly, & the children are sweet & very energetically entertaining! We never knew such dance moves existed!!! As for the countryside, we don’t know where to start with the explanation, needless to say it was awe-inspiring!!!

Must awy for now, but will be in contact again once we hit Windhoek, Namibia!

Love to You All, & Miss You even MORE!!!

Just a brief message to say that we have a good couple of weeks of long drive days ahead. We may not be able to have internet access for some time but please don’t worry we will be keeping you up-to-date whenever possible. We are chillin’ for a couple of days in the expensive capital of Gabon – Libreville, which offers beautiful views on the water front; night entertainment and pricey food and drinks. It is still possible to buy affordable street food and chilled drinks; one just has to stay away from the supermarkets! While I have been frying in the sun in the centre of the city Kelvin has been doing some more apprentice work with Jay on the truck. I’ve tanned naturally, Kelvin on the other hand has used truck dirt to go a tone, or rather two, darker!

Sorry, this entry is only available in Polski.

How are you all?! Awaiting our next installment with eager anticipation??? We’ll see if it will deliver….

Well, I can tell you we both were successful in our attempt to climb Mt. Cameroon! It was a real test, but satisfaction was found in all facets of the journey!

We started our first day with an early morning tropical storm at the campsite, which threatened to flood our tent, at about 4.40am! This was enough for us to realise we needed to wake up, and prepare for the MOUNTAIN! Some quick breakfast, and we jumped a bushtaxi to take us to our departure point for the trek. Once we had organised ourselves & our porters, we headed off. We had 2 guides, and a porter each. As we ascended, we were told various things about the fauna & floral of the area. We were also informed about the ‘Race of Hope’, which is run every year from the stadium in the town of Buea to the summit, and back again. A round journey of 38kms in distance & 3.5kms in height, which the fastest runner will do in about 4 & a half hours!!! One of our porters (Francis) is running the race this year, actually this Saturday, & his fastest time is 5hrs 30mins. It’s an incredible feat, especially when you consider the steepness of the gradient! Going up is tough, by running down, now that’s EXTREME!!!

Anyway, we ascended to 1800m for lunch at Hut 1, at a relatively easy pace, where it proceeded to pour down with rain! After a 2 hour stop we continued onto the ‘Magic Tree’ and Hut 2 where we stayed for the night. Squeezed into a small room in the Hut. About 7 of us slept on a raised deck, while our porters slept underneath! Talk about a nice warm cosy room!!! The morning greeted us with a few sore muscles, and the anticipation of reaching the summit! We left just before 7am, climbing another steep section to Hut 3, where another much deserved break was required. However we were soon back on track – ‘Onwards & Upwards’ the call! The summit was beckoning us, and we successfully reached it by 10:30am! A quick celebration & photo session was had, before escaping the Cold Blustery Gale that swamped the peak! We had completed the ascent to 4095m, and our muscles proved it!!! However, if we thought up was tough, little did we expect down to prove tougher!!!

The first part of the descent was FUN!!! We gleefully ran down, (well, some of us), a rather steep slope which was made of small bits of lava gravel. Over 800m was covered in as little as 30mins!!! What True Exhileration that was! We stopped for lunch, before walking over a large lava field created during one of the eruptions. The vista was amazing, especially when glancing back to the lofty heights from which we’d come. And if we thought that was stunning, we were in for a treat! Beyond the lava field, was a beautiful savannah, which almost defied the fact we were on a Volcanic Mountain. Images flooded the mind encouraging us to continue, even though the body was beginning to ache from the exertion! We were taken to the craters made in the 1999 eruptions, and shown the vast lava flows they created, reminding us of the powerful destructive force within these breath-taking surroundings! Forcing ourselves onwards, muscles crying to stop, we pushed ahead to Mann’s Spring where we camped the night. A peaceful sleep was had by most, especially after an enlightening conversation around the campfire with our guides & porters!

Day 3 welcomed us with encouraging arms, and despite the fact that we felt as though our leg muscles had doubled in size, we were all eagerly looking forward to the final descent. The Mountain continued to deliver us stunning vistas, as we walked over new lush savannahs, with the occasional dried lava flow! We soon descended back into the jungle, which presented us with all it’s exciting sounds & smells! Our last few hours were spent negotiating this jungle path, while on the lookout for ants with an appetite for human leg!!!

Needless to say, we all had a throughly enjoyable experience, or that’s how we believe we should remember it! We’re glad we accomplished one of the highest African peaks, and were pleasantly surprised with the rewards of gorgeous scenery!

The next day in Limbe was a rather relaxed affair, not only considering the climb, but also for the fact that we had celebrated our acheivement with a Cocktail Night at our Favourite Limbe Hang-out – ARNE!!! We actually celebrated 4 things that night – Kate’s (our Oasis Tour Leader) B’Day, 100 days of the trip, the CLIMB, and sadly to say the final night of Josh & Rachel on the trip. Mind you, it was a Fabulous Night, where much was drunk! Thanks to Ryan & Erika (Owners of ARNE) for looking after us all so well!!! Ania & I, along with Lindsey from our trip, spent a lovely afternoon at ARNE with Francis (the porter who’s running the Race of Hope) & Jeremy (who worked at the place we were staying). We had a great send-off there, endulging in Fantastic Coffee & not to mention the dish of the day “Bunny Chow Deluxe”!!!

Well, that’s probably more than enough from me! Sorry if the story did not meet expectations. I’ll try better next time! We are currently in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, awaiting our Gabon & DRC visas. We’ll hopefully be heading off to the beach resort of Kribi sometime next week! So until after some seaside R & R……….

Well, we’ve arrived in Limbe pretty unscathed! The jungle road was kind to us, and we had less of a muddy dirt track to deal with than we had anticipated! We did however have some hairy moments, but Nala (our truck) & Jay (our driver) got us through! Some photographic evidence we’ll hope to post on the Web-Blog!

However, after leaving Calabar, we visited the Afi Mountain Drill Ranch in Nigeria, who look after and number of Drill Monkies & Chimpanzees. We were allowed to enter the project and visit with these amazing animals! The Drill Monkies are one of the most endangered species of primates in the world. The normally live in big family groups of anywhere between 50-100 monkies. There is generally only 1 dominant (alpha) male, who controls the group. The males are rather big, and are distinctive by their, quite colourful, bottoms!!! The Chimps were very inquisitive & interactive. To the point where the dominant male (named Mofi) would throw things at you! We pretty much spent all day at the ranch. It’s definitely a big highlight of the trip so far! We were also able to indulge in a swim at a small waterhole, which was a true blessing considering the temperatures we’re experiencing! We’ll try and post some photos of our visit on the Blog, but if you’re interested the web address of the Drill Ranch is below!

http://www.pandrillus.org/projects/drill-ranch/visitor-information/

After the Drill Ranch we made our way to the Cameroonian border and the much anticipated “Jungle Roads”! What an initial surprise we had when no sooner than entering Cameroon the fun started! There were no warm up potholes, it was straight into the Big Boys!!! We were lucky it had not been raining, otherwise our 30kms in 4 hours could have been a lot longer! We bush-camped in a clearing, of which there weren’t many, and ended up enjoying our first tropical storm! It didn’t last long, but I throughly enjoyed a bracing shower under the cool tropical rain – Extremely Refreshing!!! Our only concern was how that would affect the roads the next day! As it turned out, not much! The roads had started to improve as it had appeared that a grader had tidied up most of the major bog & pot-holes. I spent the day in the cab with Jay making notes and directing where we needed to go. It was a load of fun. You get a very different view from the cab, & you appreciated the day to day duties our Oasis Crew have to do. We covered over 170kms on our second day on the jungle roads, and ended up camping next to a viaduct & a beautiful waterfall! Our third day started with a swim in that very same waterfall. A few of us got up early to take a 10 minute trek through forest to arrive at a lovely pool with the waterfall cascading down from a height of about 300m! After a swim & some breakfast we were back on the road to Limbe! We had a minor truck problem early on, then we had to wait while a logging truck was dug out of a stream. Nala needed very little assitance, and we were back on our way!

We are now in Limbe, enjoying the cool sea breezes, and contemplating the height of Mt. Cameroon! It rises from sea level to a height of 4095m, and it’s most recent eruption was only a few years ago!!! However it is calling us, and many of us will heed that call! We will set off on the 14th February for a 2 night, 3 day trek reaching the summit on the morning of the second day! I think there are a few of us debating our fitness levels, however when will we be likely to be back in Cameroon! For now though we will rest & relax and begin to psych ourselves for the ascent!!!

After Limbe we are looking to travel down to Douala for a few hours, before heading onto Yaounde – the capital – where we have to apply for more visas.

For now my avid readers, I must leave you! Until next time, when the Adventure Continues…. Love To You All!!!

Sorry, this entry is only available in Polski.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Polski.

Sorry if it seems we’ve been a bit behind with updates recently! It’s sometimes a cross between internet that is slower than a snail, or none at all! But as I’m sure you’ll understand – TIA!!!

We’re currently in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria! Today we have had a very successful day! We have succeeded in our application for an Angolan Visa, and Ania has also gained an advance-entry visa for Namibia! All around GREAT news! We celebrated by going off to see “Madagascar 2″ at a lovely air-conditioned cinema, which was bliss considering temperatures are up easily in the mid-30s with pretty high humidity!

Tomorrow we leave Abuja for Yankari National Park, & Wiki Warm Springs. It’ll be a relief to get back on the road again after a few days in a city. Although it has to be said we’ve had a darn good time here. We have been camping in the back carpark of the Sheraton Hotel, and believe it or not we’ve been well looked after. We have had access to most of the facilities, and as a special treat the Head of Engineering & Maintenance organised a Fantastic Braai (BBQ) for us! He is South African, and has only worked here for 4 months, so was glad of some different company. We were all Flabbergasted at his generosity, but in true overland style, we made the most of it! We have organised a special gift from all of us to thank him!

The journey is about to head into the hardest section. We are heading south in a few days for Calabar & the Cameroonian Border. Once there, we will be travelling the south road – when I say road I mean dirt track that resembles the worst farm road imaginable! The description we’ve heard is that “expect to travel a few kms a day” if we’re lucky! Bring it ON!!! This is what overlanding is all about!

Recently we have finished our travels in Ghana, & have travelled through Togo and Benin. Both the later countries provided exquisite looks into the voodoo world. We stopped in Ouidah, Benin the capital of VooDoo! We visited the Sacred Forest, passed the Chief of Voodoo’s house, and entered the Temple of Serpants where we were allowed to hold the sacred pythons!!! We also visited Ganvie the stilted city, which was built by the locals many years ago to escape the slave traders. Lome, the capital of Togo provided one of the best markets for fruit & vege we’ve seen so far, not to mention Kloto the mountain hideaway! Togoville has definitely seen better days, but you can still see the evidence of German colonialism, but it no longer has the vibrancy that once made it the capital of Togoland.

This Is Africa. A few blog entries have been lost due to the unpredictable nature of computers and african internet connection. If we have some time and opportunity to re-write them we’ll try. Right now however just a quick update on our current situation. We’re in the made-to-order capital city of Nigeria - Abuja. Tourist guides advise that apart from ‘visa shopping’ there’s not much to see and do here. Abuja homes many foreign embassies and high commissions. It is here that we’re hoping to get our visas to Angola and my (Ania’s) visa to Namibia. Being the only passanger from our group in need of a Namibian visa endorssed in my passport prior to border crossing means Kelvin and I may need to stay behind to get it. We’ve been in contact with the Namibian High Commission and are deeply hoping that they will go the extra mile to help me. Normally the visa would take 10 working days to be processed and we’re hoping we may get it during ‘out of office’ hours and on the spot. Let’s see what tomorrow brings?! Anyhow, we’re all extremely excited and hopeful about obtaining our Angolan visas as these have seemed to be very difficult to get in the past. In case we didn’t get them we would need to interrupt our over-landing and catch a flight to Namibia or South Africa. Things are never too easy and now with the prospect of getting the Angolan visas (things went smooth when we applied for them yesterday) we are facing up to yet another problem – DRC visas. Apparently there has been an outbreak of Ebola in DRC and some offices have stopped issuing visas temporarily. We should be safe transitting through the west part of DRC as the outbreak has been reported in the eastern parts only, but who knows how strict the officials are going to be with us? Fingers crossed we won’t need to fly! Our aim is to travel overland all the way through!