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We spend a year traveling through the African continent. Morocco is our first country on this fascinating continent. With a modified 2x4 Ford Transit, that we called HIDALGO, we faced the challenge of our lifetime. He was our home and transportation via Western Sahara, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger, Lac Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo I & II Angola till Namibia. Central Africa and the both Congos have been the most challenging and interesting countries. Angola was the big positive surprise. Ok! They have the most heavy potholes roads in Africa but you are rewarded with lovely people and landscapes hard to imagine.

It took us months to organize the trip. First we had to select the car. A modiefied Ford Transit is the best for our budget. Many 4x4 freaks and others mentioned:
"You never even pass Mauritania!"
We did!
"But you get stuck in Mali!"
We even visited the fascinating Dogon People behind their Sand Dunes.
"But Lake Chad is too much!"
Ok guys right! We would never do it again with a 2x4. But we also manged these 570 Kilometers of Sanddunes. It took us 16 days and we digged a lot? An adventure of its own!
Surprise, surprise! Then nobody complained any more...
In Namibia we met a german guy. He told us:
"When I saw your car I thought: Which kind of experiment is that??? But you are here!
Was not so easy *gggg*

We experienced a lot.
In Congo-Brazzaville the Police Nationale tortured our Captain Henry Delmotte.
They shot twice close over our heads, captured us for almost 24 hours and robbed money from everybody except us. Why?

Why?
They where frightened, because they expected us to have a sat phone. We found a way to report everything to the president of Congo Brazzaville, because our foreign ministry did nothing at all.

We helped Captain Henri, our friend as good as possible. We gave him drops against the pain and the shock. It helped.
We will never will forget his eyes, when the brought him back aftr the torture. Check out at the whole Story at our homepage http://www.weltleben.at (follow the instructions for translation) REISEBERICHTE (Travel Stories) -> UEBERFALL IM CONGO (Mugging in Congo)

At the end Ruediger got a cerebral (Brain) Malaria tropica. Fever up to 40,3 degrees in the middle of nowhere in Angola. But within 3 days he recovered very fast. The doctor in NAMIBE at the coast of ANGOLA said: You are the first white with Malaria Plasmodium Falsiparum, whom we don't have to carry in and give immediately an infusion!
Check out at the whole Story at our homepage http://www.weltleben.at (follow the instructions for translation) REISEBERICHTE (Travel Stories) --> Malaria tropica

We started on January 1st 2005 in Austria - Europe and left Namibia December 20th 2005. HIDALGO, our bus is waiting at a farm close to the Waterberg Plateau...

Angola was the great positive surprise. But they also have some really bad stories. At Tundavala, a fascinating valley close to LUBANGO where the HORROR happened. The MPLA government party killed there in the early 90th their foes. They collected the UNITA sympathizers at Lubango with a big truck. At the 560m high wall they threw everybody down and killed within the last years almost all the witnesses.
Check out at the whole Story at our homepage http://www.weltleben.at (follow the instructions for translation) REISEBERICHTE (Travel Stories) --> Todesabyss (deathabyss)