Day 183 – Thurs 1 April - 15,218km, Mirador do Luo, Angola

Discovering this morning, after a 10 day wait, that the paperwork for my visa extension had been “lost” and the director was unreachable till after the Easter weekend, we decided that regardless of my “illegal” status, it was time to cut our losses and get back onto Bertha. I still hold out very faint hope that it can be processed and forwarded to me before I’m detained or am hit with astronomical fines, but judging by experience thus far, there is probably more chance of this year’s host winning the World Cup! Fortunately I now have Helen with me who, amongst her many talents, speaks fluent Portuguese and is primed to argue my cause. Given a private escort out of the city by our ever generous host Stuart, we joined the Easter weekend migration down the coast of Luanda’s elite, driving countless dark tinted high speed 4*4s. Taking advice from locals, we have been left with no choice but to camp in a compound under a telegraph mast with our very own human-contact-deprived, gun-toting, security guard called Carlos. Massive thanks again to Stuart, Geeta, Alex & Anna for making our protracted stay in Luanda such an enjoyable and memorable experience – your fridge is finally safe!