Dag 12 en 13: Luanda

​​(English translation below)

​​Dag 12 en 13: Luanda

Die bande waavoor ons gehooop het in Luanda, is toe supersagte Enduro resiesbande wat nie 20km sal hou onder ons swaar fietse nie. Ná 'n rondgebellery en -geryery van bakboord na stuurboord, besluit ons om tóg ons bande uit Pretoria te laat courier. Point Noire toe. Point Noire is omtrent vyf of ses dae se ry, in die Republiek van die Kongo. Die slegte nuus? Dit kos R17000. En kan tussen 8 en 20 dae vat om daar aan te kom! Nietemin, ons is baie dankbaar vir Riaan en sy span by Trax Moto in Pretoria wat ons met raad en daad bystaan!
 
Elke rusdag word gebruik om die motorfietse te versorg. Ons het pre-lugfilters in ons motorfietse geïnstalleer ten einde die ergste stof uit te filtreer voordat die lug deur die eintlike lugfilters gaan. Sodoende hoop ons dat ons nooit die groot lugfilters hoef te vervang nie. Die pre-filters word uitgehaal, met paraffien en dan met seep gewas, buite gelos om droog te word, en dan met lugfilter-olie behandel voordat dit teruggesit word.
 
Ons is behoorlik getrakteer in Luanda deur kollegas van Fransie wat by die SA Ambassade werk. Hulle het ons voorgestel aan plaaslike kundiges op die gebied van watersuiwering, wie ons uitgenooi het om by die Luanda International School te gaan praat oor ons projek, asook om 'n omgekeerde osmose-fabriek buite Luanda te besoek. Wat 'n ervaring! Die skoolkinders is self by water-projekte in Luanda betrokke, en die fabriek, wat skoon water in die hele Luanda-gebied lewer, het ons koppe behoorlik aan die dink gesit. Een van hulle produkte is 'n 'Village Pump' wat water met sonkrag uit die rivier of put pomp, skoonmaak, en dan uittap in die hoeveelheid waarvoor mens betaal. Water verbind ons aan mekaar. En as ons die rojale gebruik daarvan as vanselfsprekend wil aanvaar, moet ons bereid wees om die gevolge te dra, of verlief neem met die feit dat ons kleinkinders ons gemors sal moet uitsorteer.
 
Nog een ding oor Luanda. Behalwe nou vir die Kaapstad-atmosfeer (beide die ryk Kaap en die arm Kaap), is die verkeer en die manier waarop mense ry iets wat nie in woorde besryf kan word nie. Dit vleg en toet en zoem en druk en swenk en slinger sonder dat iemand kwaad word. Toe die stomende maalkolk van metaal en teerpad ons uiteindelik lewendig uitspoeg aan die Noordekant van die stad, oppad Nzeto toe, moes ons stop om net seker te maak dis nog ons, in ons eie lywe, lewendig en in een stuk.
 
Luanda sal ons weer sien.
 
Day 12 and 13: Luanda
 
The tires we were hoping for in Luanda ended up being super-soft Enduro racing tires that wouldn't last 20km under our heavy bikes. After a lot of phoning and driving in a wild goose chase about town, we decided to have our tires couriered from Pretoria after all. To Point Noire. Point Noire is about five or six days' riding from Luanda, in the Republic of the Congo. The bad news? It costs R17000. And can take between 8 and 20 days to arrive! Nevertheless, we are very grateful to Riaan and his team at Trax Moto in Pretoria who assisted us with advice and action.
 
Every rest day is used to take care of the motorcycles. We had pre-air filters installed in our motorcycles to filter out the worst dust before the air passes through the actual air filters. In this way, we hope that we will never have to replace the large air filters. We took out the pre-filters, washed them with paraffin and then soap, left them outside to dry, and then treated them with air filter oil before putting them back in.
 
We were gracefully received in Luanda by colleagues of Fransie who work at the SA Embassy. They introduced us to local experts in the field of water purification, who invited us to speak at the Luanda International School about our project, as well as to visit a reverse osmosis factory outside Luanda. What an experience! The school children themselves are also involved in water projects in and around Luanda, and the factory, which supplies clean water to the entire Luanda area, really got our heads thinking. One of their products is a 'Village Pump' that pumps water with solar power from the river or well, cleans it, and then taps it out according to the amount one pays for. Water connects us to each other. And if we want to take its royal use for granted, we must be willing to bear the consequences, or accept the fact that our grandchildren will have to sort out our mess.
 
One more thing about Luanda. Apart from the Cape Town atmosphere (both the rich Cape and the poor Cape), the traffic and the way people drive is something that cannot be described in words. It weaves and honks and buzzes and pushes and swerves and swings without anyone getting angry. When the steaming maelstrom of metal and tar finally spit us out alive on the Northern side of the city, on the way to Nzeto, we had to stop to make sure it was still us, in our own bodies, alive and in one piece.
 
Luanda will see us again.

https://www.backabuddy.co.za/expedition-h2o-back-to-basics