I drove through Gabon,Congo,DRC, Angola in June-July with a fully loaded bike 1150GSA - here's a brief summary of the roads - this information refers to the Michelin 746 map. Hope this is helpful to other travelers. -Mike

Gabon Petrol 595/Liter Diesel 470/liter
Liberille->Lope Rough Piste but o.k
Lope -> Lastourville Piste much smoother o.k dry could be slippy in rain.
Latourville -> Moanda: smooth piste logging road.
Moanda -> Fanceville: smooth tar good.
Franceville -> Lekoni: smooth tard good.
Congo: Pterol ??
Lekoni -> Akou -> Edjoua: sand tough going on bike o.k with 4wd jeep.
Edjoua -> Okyo -> Boundji -> Obouya: sand very tough going easy with 4 w.d.
Obouya -> Oyo -> Olombo -> Gamboma -> Brazzaville: Good Tar road
DRC: Petrol 850/liter
Kinshasa -> Matadi: good tar road
Angola: Petrol 40 cents (US) /Liter Diesel 30 cents (U.S) /Liter
Crossed into Angola at Kwhlounhgongo (easy crossing 50KM before Matadi) Piste o.k
Kwhlounhgongo -> M'Basa Congo: good piste
M'Basa Congo -> Cumbi -> Xamindele -> Tomboco: Rough Piste slow going
Tomboco -> N'Zeto : rough piste corrugations broke tar
N'Zeto -> Mussera -> Ambriz -> Caxito: rough broken tar slow going
Caxito -> Cacuaco -> Luanda: Good tar
Luanda -> Porto Ambioim -> Sumbe -> Lobito -> Benguela: very good tar costal road nice.
Benguela -> Catengue: 1st 50 miles good new tar road.
Catengue -> Chongori -> Quilengues -> Cacula: rough piste corrugations, road construction ongoing.
Cacula -> Hoque -> Toco -> Lubango: rough piste corrugations,broke tar, road construction ongoing.
50 miles before Lubango: new tar road great.
Lubango -> Namibe: very good tar road.
Lubango -> Chibia -> Quihita -> Chibemba -> Chama -> Humbe -> Xangongo -> Ondjiva:
Rough piste, broken tar , corrugations, some 10 mile stretches new tar, road construction ongoing.

Ondjiva -> Oshikango Nice new tar road.
Namibia: Petrol 9.82 Rand / Liter Diesel 11.38 / Liter
good tar roads , good gravel roads very very easy!

Michaelo,

Great info. Seems it has improved only slightly since I was there in 2006.

Thanks!

Cheers,

Noel

Noel, I think very soon the roads in Angola will be much improved, based on the furious pace of road building that was going on when I passed thru there, it seems that a lot of the road building in going on in the south of the country, the north is still pretty much untouched, although I met a quiet a few Chinese engineers up north looking at damaged bridges. Donºt be surprized if in one more year the all major Angolan roads will be paved and then it will not be fun anymore! Mike

Mike,

I am surprised that they made so little progress because when we crossed Angola in March 2006, there were more than half a million Chinese working on the roads, particularly in the south as you say, Chinese everywhere. That is over 2 1/2 years ago!!!!

Cheers,

Noel

Hi Noel,

I made the same experience as Michaelo this year.

Still a lot of work to do for the Angolans...

But imagine how much time roadworks take back home in Europe. In Germany it basically takes forever to finish 5.000 m of road repair ;-)

In Angola they face 5.000 km.

Hi all,
does anyone know anything about a ferry from Cabinda to Soyo??
thanks
Milan

Hi Michaelo
I'm Peter from Denmark.
Hope you had a pleasant trip to Africa.
I'm planning to do the same route in the summer of 2010. How much time do you think I need to spend on the roads, before hitting Namibia (starting in Libreville). I want to do this part as quickly as possible.
What about security - I read about DRC and northern part of Angola being tough on the nerves.

Regards Peter