Planning a road trip here has a few additional steps as we do not own a car nor are we licensed to drive in Angola (Jonah plans to start the process once he meets the minimum residency requirement of six months). However, the school has cars we can sign out and drivers we may hire for personal trips. So when it was pretty clear that we would not have our passports in time to book flights to South Africa, we reserved a car and made arrangements with a driver familiar with the area in which we were headed. And at the crack of dawn Monday morning, we were off to see some of the country beyond Luanda and its suburbs.
In typical "new to living in Africa" style, we totally underestimated travel times and how rough the roads would be; such is the interesting part of being a tourist in a country that does not really have a tourism industry. This map shows an misleadingly linear route of our trip:
And for all the hours on bumpy roads and transitions in landscape and climate along the way, it felt as though we must have nearly circumnavigated the country. But Angola is huge. Looking at a map from a broader scope reveals that we barely covered a speck of this place:
For further reference (or just for fun), here is Angola compared to the USA:
At 6:00am, ready to hit the road in a trusty Ford Ranger:
For most of the six-ish hours to our first stop, the road was like this:
And by early afternoon, we arrived at Kalandula Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in Africa:
After taking in the falls and a picnic lunch, we continued on to Pedras Negras (Black Rocks):
As the sun got closer to the horizon, we scrambled to the top for a late afternoon view from above:
The village down below is where we camped for the night:
The next morning, we woke up to drizzle and dense fog enshrouding the rocks:
The caretaker of the village church, who sleeps in a tent inside. She kept an eye on us and we shared our meals with her.
As we packed up camp, the kids climbed on the playground in front of the school, which seemed to have not been in session for quite some time:
On the second day of driving, we gained elevation on the road up to a coffee growing region and the town of Cabuta. No pavement and lots of potholes.
Finally, after what felt like a hundred hours in the car, we made it to the farm where we would stay two nights. Here is the reception/dining area:
Lots of space to roam and stretch our legs in cool temperatures:
We had two of these little cottages and there were many others that were vacant. Not many travelers around here.
We woke up to rain the next day, took more walks and a short drive into town:
The health clinic where a nurse is on staff all day. He has been working there for about fifteen years and says that he mostly sees fevers and stomach problems, about 20 patients a day. No fee is charged for his services. No one was there when we dropped by, but when we drove past on our way out of town early the next morning, there were at least twenty people - mostly women and children - lined up outside.
The pharmacy (across the street from the clinic) has a window where customers can chat with the clerk:
All that was for sale inside:
Day four - back on the road! Sometimes, the road was like a dry river bed, descending from the hills back to the river valley:
I regret not taking more photos of the villages we passed - a priority for next time. Most houses were made of mud brick with thatched roofs.
Back at the Kwanza River:
We made a short detour to check out the small town of Muxima. Here, the boys bask in the breeze coming off the river, happy to be out of the car.
This 16th century church overlooks the Kwanza River in the center of town. According to our guide book (and Wikipedia), Muxima was a key stop for slave trafficking and the church played an important role, being the place where slaves were baptized before being deported.
We arrived at our destination - Kwanza Lodge - in the late afternoon, with enough daylight for the boys to swim in the (much anticipated) pool and run around the docks in search of fish and crabs (so many crabs!):
Just before the sun sunk below the horizon, we cut across to the ocean side of the property and enjoyed a chilled, local brew in honor of the last night of our trip:
And rehashed the previous few days while drawing a map in the sand of our sometimes circuitous route:
Sunset over the dining area of Kwanza Lodge:
For the final adventure of the week, a Friday morning safari at Kissama National Park. The entrance is about fifteen minutes from Kwanza Lodge and once inside the park, we drove another 45 minutes to the starting point of the safari.
From this viewpoint, the two hour safari begins:
Piled into this not-so-stealth vehicle, we made our way closer to the river in search of animals:
Kudu!
Giraffe!
Wildebeest!
Sadly no elephants were out and about on this day, but we were happy with what we did see and the two hour ride around the park was totally enjoyable.
Post-safari, we returned to Kwanza Lodge for a late lunch. Some fancy people rolled through the dining area soon after we arrived, and they caught our attention since no one else was there except for the staff and us. Turns out they were there to film a music video.
We heard the song "Amores" about fifty times while watching the artists lip-sync and dance their way around the dock. Will be sure to track down the finished video, which we were told would be released in December. An interesting and unexpected experience to conclude our road trip.
Our first three months in Angola have been full of pleasant surprises and we eagerly look forward to what lies ahead.
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