I returned to the Angolan embassy, fingers and toes crossed. I hung about for an hour or so before somebody came to help me. I was taken into the back room again and – miracle of miracles – was given my passport back with a shiny new ANGOLAN VISA IN IT.

Woooooooooooo!!!

It was only a transit visa, and I had only been given five days, but my word THEY SAID IT COULDN’T BE DONE. But someone up there likes me. I headed back over to MSF HQ waving my golden ticket around like Charlie Bucket. I’m sure everybody was duly impressed.

The bus to the border leaves very early, so I missed the one for that day. No worries – Alex, Michael and I headed out for a meal (we found a great little Chinese restaurant – mmm… I haven’t had Chinese food for months!) and a few drinks, which Alex shouted us for – what a guy! Later, I said my goodbyes to Michael (and his excellent, excellent DVD collection) and headed back to Alex’s for some shut-eye. Alex arranged for an MSF 4×4 to pick me up in the morning – I’d be leaving on the first bus at 5am.