Staff Reporter
Windhoek-Raid Cacimbo, the oldest adventure tourism expedition in Angola, is on the road until this Sunday, August 6.
Since July 23, over 17 days, 30 participants and 12 cars will travel more than 4,000 kilometres through 58 municipalities in the 12 Angolan provinces of Luanda, Bengo, Kwanza Norte, Malange, Bié, Moxico, Kuando Kubango, Huíla, Huambo, Benguela, Namibe and Kwanza Sul.
This year Raid Cacimbo is a social team organization sponsored by one of the oldest brands in Angola, the Cuca beer, an alcoholic drink that was once a favourite beer in Namibia and after which many northern shebeens are named –‘cuca shop’.
Raid Cacimbo has more than 20 years of history, during which the 18 provinces of Angola and four African countries were explored, with participants travelling thousands of kilometres by main, secondary and tertiary routes, finding communities in places forgotten in time and beautiful and unusual African landscapes.
The Raid Cacimbo came into being in 1996 and has since become a prominent place on the calendar of national events. The initiative takes place annually, having been interrupted in the period 1998 to 2001 due to insecurity.
The number of participating vehicles varies annually between 10 and 15, a number limited according to the degree of difficulty of the route, whose range varies between 3,000 and 8,000 km. This route is done for two to three consecutive weeks through various Angolan provinces, having in some expeditions exceeded borders.
In the history of Raid Cacimbo two expeditions stand out: the first, in 1996, the most participated, with 33 TT vehicles, a motorcycle and 92 people; and 2009, the most extensive in terms of distance and time, with 7,800 km covered in 22 days.