I am glad to see that I can finally connect to GS. The connection is extreeeemeelyyyy slow but I still can post some updates on my journal.

After a long 8 hrs 1/2 flight Paris-Luanda I arrived in the Angolan capital at 5.30 am. Nothing changed much in the way you travel to Angola.

The plane is still full of drunken Britts/Scotts and Yankees on their way to the offshore platforms (where they will have to bear with 6 weeks of sobriety ... just enough to punish them for waking me up every 5 minutes to let them go to the toilet to evacuate the tremendous amount of beer they've been ingurgitating in the AF salon!!!)

After landing the plane goes on for a long taxi (about 20 minutes) then stops in the middle of the parking area. As the aircraft door opens a wave of humid hot air spreads inside. That's it. I am in Angola. A couple of buses are waiting near the plane. They stack as many passengers as they can in each one of them and then rush them accross the landing area to the arrival terminal.

Immigration is still as painful as it was. First you need to elbow your way to a "sanitary agent" in a whitish uniform who is checking your yellow fever booklet. You'd better be up to date with your yellow fever shots as if not you'll receive a free shot from the local authorities with a used syringe - you can negociate a clean sterilized one for about 50 USD.

After the sanitary expert you need to line up and wait for immigration check for about 40 minutes. Then you need to find your suitcase ... and prove it is yours with the receip you got from your checkin. There are always a few newcomers who've lost it and need to negociate their own suitcases from the guards in the luggage area - 20 USD can solve the problem.

As in any airport you then have to go to customs. Chose green or red ... you'll be searched either way. The custom officers are everytime more greedy. They usually like your sunglasses or CD player so much that they strongly advise you to give it to them. But unlike Nigeria, in Angola you can usually talk your way out by politely asserting that it will be part of your belongings for some more time.

Finally, 1hr 45 mns later ... I am out of the airport. The worst is over. Luanda, at 6.00 am is still an almost enjoyable place. But just in a few hours with the sun rising and the 4 million inhabitants getting out in the streets it will become one of the crowdiest and messiest places in Western Africa.