We ride past many red & white painted posts with PEREGIO MINA (DANGER MINES) ontop of a skull & cross bone sign. I retell myself that I must stay on the roads when passing through Angola as the country is littered with landmines .... Warned not to even put one foot off the road to take a leak cos it could be fatal.

Opps, Rob with a nasty stack in northern AngolaThe roads get worse to bad, so badly that the road has been completely washed away from the rains creating valleys and gully that are storeys high. The only relief is a narrow goat track off to the sides. We round one corner where Rob's picked a skinny track, as its gets narrower and narrower, he's pannier clips the edge of the hard wall sending him flying far over a washed out section. Rob's lying on the ground & I panic as he has no movement. A few seconds later, he moves with great relief but hence we now have a bike stuck in an arkward position. It takes a mighty weight lifting effort from the both of us with everything off to get the mothership back upright again....pheww These are some of the worst roads I have ever seen!!

We are all extremely exhausted from the heat & tough riding, why didnt we go the Matadi way? Rob's feeling a bit worst for wear but we all are, so we motor on. As we get to a northern town, Rob is no better. He weak, exhausted & develops a fever, on top of not knowing where to sleep for the night. We result to the local police station, getting there just in time as it starts to pour with torrential rain, couldn't come at a worst time.

I awake one morning frightened to hear an Angolan police officer beating the crap out of a pleading prisoner right next to me and I realise I dont know where I am. I lay there a still as a stunned mullet until Rob comes and fetches me and it sinks in I'm in Angola. 4 days we spent in a dark, dingy floor of an Angolan police station as Rob has confirmed Malaria. The roof was riveted with gaping holes so when it poured with rain we had to sleep beside filling buckets & wet floors. Poor Rob is shivering & all i want is a nice bed for him. Luckily we met an italian doctor who came regularly to check on our Rob

Sudoku here? small angolan town

After recuperation Rob is back on his feet, we ride through gorgeous green rolling hills & pass through old run down portugese colonial towns. I'm amazed at how lush the land is but they dont grow much except maize and potatoes (lucky if you find tomatoes)

Lucky Rob with 2 naked women