15 december

ARRIVAL IN LUANDA

The day begins with African rhythms, very slow, I wake up as always at six, prepare my luggage and load the bike, shower and then we all have breakfast together. We leave around noon, there is the sun and it is very hot. Along the road that leads us to Luanda, even if paved every now and then there are big holes, just a little attention. When the road approaches the ocean it is a real spectacle, miles and miles of sand, fishing boats and small markets for selling fish. We also do some stretches of dirt road and I take this opportunity to arrive almost to the sea. In a distributor we meet two friends of Carlos, motorcyclists who are also all together and then we stop in a beautiful place on the banks of the Cuanza river, one of the most important in Africa. Another spectacle that nature gives me, palm trees, water lilies and aquatic plants, so much vegetation, and then many macaques. Carlos, who is chairman of the Angola motorcycle group, takes me to a racetrack where they are doing tests for racing cars and tells me that he was once reserved only for the police, then abandoned and recovered by some motorcycle and car groups and today it lives again. We arrive a little later at Carlos’s house. A large house, with a pool and three gigantic Great Danes. I settle in a room dedicated to travelers and on the wall I also find, among others, the message of Franco Ballatore who gave me the reference to Carlos. Before leaving, I will also leave a note of my passage. It is nice to meet people who help you and make you feel at home, who welcome you into their family as if they have always known you, open their home and give you everything you need.

mappa