EMPath2Cabinda is cut off from the rest of Angola by a strip of the DRC, so the way south is either through the DRC or on a boat. The crossing to Soyo takes about two hours. Getting our two motorcycles onto it took three days, and none of that was the paperwork's fault.
The part we thought would be hard
Cabinda sits north of the mouth of the Congo River, cut off from the rest of Angola by a strip of the DRC. You can ride around it through the DRC or you can put the bikes on a boat. We were in Cabinda for five days, and three of them went on the boat.
The first job was insurance for the two bikes, which happens at a mini mall about a hundred metres down the street from where we were staying. Not where either of us would have thought to look. It took an hour and a half to write two policies.
Then the ferry. We went in on a name a friend had given us rather than queueing, which is why the paperwork went as fast as it did. We paid the fare, paid the cargo fee for the bikes, and sat down while they finished writing it up. Staff had already warned us that the lifting equipment for motorcycles might not be available and sent us off to a restaurant nearby with instructions to come back at noon. When we came back, they told us the lift could not be got. They did not say why.
We walked back to the hotel and checked in again. The only good news was that it was not full.
Three check ins at the same reception desk
Nobody messaged us overnight. We checked out anyway and were back at the port by ten, and they made the call for the crane while we stood there. Ten minutes later it was not available. Nobody could explain that any better than the day before. We carried our bags back to the same desk for the second morning running.
We have no choice so we are staying here again.
There was a doctor staying at the hotel, working for the Angolan government, who wanted to know why we were still there when we had checked out the morning before. He was interested in the whole trip, gave us 5,000 kwanza for snacks, and told us to come and see his country, Tanzania, once we were finished with this one.
We also made a phone call. A friend of ours in Angola knew somebody in Cabinda, and that somebody spent Wednesday morning in a meeting with the ferry company and the port. When we turned up that afternoon and the terminal made the same call they had already made twice, the machine was available. We were loaded and off the quay by 13:30.
What it cost, in cash
They told us straight out that they only take cash, and the total is big enough that you want your kwanza sorted before you get anywhere near the terminal.
- Fare, 12,000 kwanza one way.
- Motorcycle as cargo, 342 kwanza per kilo. What you pay depends on what your bike weighs with everything still strapped to it.
- Port taxes, 12,000 kwanza.
- The lift in Cabinda, 11,400 kwanza.
- Taking the bikes back off in Soyo, around 6,600 kwanza for both.
The insurance is separate again, and worth doing in Cabinda while you are waiting rather than after you land.
About two hours of flat water
The crossing was the easiest part of the week. Flat sea, no rain, and a boat that was not crowded.
We were in Soyo at around a quarter to four and got off last. It is a clean port, and there the machine was not the problem at all. What took the time was finding straps to lift with. That came to around 6,600 kwanza for both bikes.
The hotel we had been recommended in Soyo was full when we got there, so we took a smaller room somewhere else, had dinner and stayed in.