The day started well and ended badly.
After an early breakfast, we left the Bom Bom hotel at 8:00 and arrived at the airport at 8:15 and all formalities were completed by 8:45 am. We were airborne five minutes early at 0855Z for the five hour flight to Luanda.
While clear at first, we soon ran into cumulus and altocumulus with TCUÂ around and for much of the next hour and a half, were IMC in light to moderate turbulence with the occasional bigger bump and rain. The stormscope lit up with lightning flashes, generally not too close. Phil flew this leg and much of this was hand flown. We were traversing the ITCZ.
Towards the Angolian border, the sky started to clear to more layer type cloud with much better visibility below than we have been used to for some time past. A hold was threatened but in the event not necessary.
The trouble started when we landed and asked about our prepaid fuel arranged by Sam Rutherford of Prepare2go. We were told it was not available because it was ‘out of date’. I will not narrate the detail of the events of the next several hours other than to say that it was very tedious. We ended up eventually in a real Fawlty Towers hotel!
Principe to Luanda: 746 nm in 5hr 20 min