Angola

*Calandula Falls, second largest waterfall on the continent, after Victoria Falls.*

Angola felt like a refreshing and invigorating mountain breeze cooling our travel weary bodies. After months of battling the heat, Angola’s mountainous and coastal regions offered welcome relief from the humidity we had been experiencing. The country quickly became a West Africa highlight for us with its geological diversity and expansive remote areas which made wild camping easy. We slowed down and spent three weeks exploring vast desert landscapes, remote rain forest roads and magical rock formations.

We apologize upfront for the number of road photos in this blog page(!), but our experiences in Angola were centered around the amazing drives and scenery. We found the people to be culturally more reserved and introverted, not as eager to interact. We were facing a significant language barrier as our Portugese is limited to “bom dia” and “obrigado.” So we did not have as many opportunities to learn about the culture from the people. Tourism infrastructure was limited and haphazard.

The recent civil war in Angola (1975-2002) devastated the social fabric for the people, destroyed basic infrastructure and decimated the economy. A common story in the West African region, the war started when the foughtcountry to become independent from its colonizer, Portugal in 1975. Subsequently, diverse political philosophies, aligned along tribal lines, began fighting for power in the young nation. In a simplified version of events, the Soviet Union backed communist party MPLA (People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola) fought against the US backed democratic party UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) with Cuba and South Africa also aligning themselves in the fight on their respective sides of the Cold War divide. In the end the MPLA won but the cost to the country was huge.

A third of the poplaution - over four million people, were displaced. The country was riddled with live land mines and people lacked access to medical care and clean water. There was a massive exodus from rural areas to the urban centers as people sought basic humanitarian resources. This movement changed the cultural landscape as people were forced to abandon their rural villages and close knit communities. The economy has historically been tied to the oil industry so recent volatility in the market has left the country with high levels of poverty. The current national poverty rate in urban areas is 41% and an unimaginable 57% in rurual areas. Growth in agriculture, construction and services are starting to fill the gap but most of the jobs are informal and youth unemployment exceeds 50%.

All this to say the country is still in recovery mode. The MPLA won the most recent elections in 2022 with a slim margin of 51%. People are working to just get by and we are not surprised that they mostly left us alone. We are always very aware of our position as travelers in nations which are struggling. We are honored to explore what we can access and always try to respect peoples’ situations and needs and above all not cause any harm and try to do some good in small ways.

*Dirt road after entering Angola from the Democratic Republic of Congo*

*Although less people were approaching us to take pictures with them, these two gregarious gas station attendants were the exception*

*Our first night in Angola we met up with fellow overlanders 4x4 Electric, driving down the west coast from the Netherlands in an electric car*

Our entry into the main part of Angola was uneventful - just another border crossing, working through the process. We had taken care of the visas and vehicle permit in Cabinda when we were crossing the Democratic Republic of Congo. We met up with some fellow overlanders for an evening at an informal beach camp and then made our way to Luanda, the biggest city in Angola.

*At Kakuako Lodge, swapping stories with fellow travelers Alex and Sebastian from France, riding motorcycles and Renske and Maarten, 4x4 Electric, driving a electric car around the continent.*

We were welcomed at Kakuako Lodge, an overlanding camp on the outskirts of Luanda and had another great evening sharing travel adventures. We were all on a journey from Europe down to Cape Town and beyond.

As we have said, big cities generally make us grumpy so we focused on taking care of business (ATM, groceries, purchasing specialized oil for the next oil change for the truck and a new truck battery). Once again we were grateful for having a Toyota and being able to show up at the dealer in town and access what we needed. We were trying to delay buying a battery until South Africa, but after multiple mornings needing to jump start it we made us decide to just take care of it.

*Toyota dealership in Luanda - new battery and oil purchase. Wonderful staff wanted a picture with us.*

One night and two days of errands was enough for us so we started down the coast, first stopping at the beautiful Miradouro da Lua - “viewpoint of the moon,” which lived up to it’s name. It was a gorgeous canyon with formations that reminded us of Bryce Canyon back home.

As usual we opted to use iOverlander in Angola to find camping spots. We always like the security of knowing that others have camped in a place trouble free and it is a great platform for sharing information among fellow travelers. Since COVID had shut down travel for a time period, there is a big gap in information - not many entries for a couple of years. Many times we would take a leap of faith and camp in a place that no one had used in three years. But we saw an entry for a nearby wild camping spot that someone had used in 2023 and loved and decided to go for it.

*The track into the camping spot, we were not sure what to expect*

*And then, wow, one of our favorite spots. On the bluff with the view of the red rock canyons.*

After our bluff top paradise, we decided to check out Angola’s renowned national park and try to see some animals. Information was hard to come by, and we were not sure what we would find. The park was established in 1957 but was affected by wide scale poaching during the civil war. An Angolan we spoke to said that “When people are starving and there is a free butchery in your backyard, what do you expect?” Totally understandable. In 2001 there was a “Noah’s Ark” project to re-populate the park but with mixed success. So we decided to just go and see.

The entrance showed the disrepair that we would find. The guard told us we could drive through the park for the day but would have to leave by night. We paid a nominal fee and set off. It was a beautiful drive. Our animal sitings were limited to a few monkeys, a monitor lizard and some birds, but it was still an interesting adventure.

*And some not driveable, we turned back on this one*

*The lodge in the park was closed, tourist infrastructure slowly falling into disrepair*

We hope that efforts to continue to revive the park will pay off. It seems like an important opportunity to bring some tourism dollars into the area and provide some employment. Along the way in Angola we did see some cottage industry tourism businesses springing up and were happy to support it,

*Villages inside the park, homes of wood and clay*

*The beautiful valley of Quicama National Park*

We left the park before 3pm, as required and hit the road. Our “wild” camping spot for the night was an abandoned quarry left over from road building. We have actually found these sites to be one of our favorites, at least for an easy one night stop over. They are always level, hidden from the main road and no one feels ownership. Other overland travelers feel comfortable approaching the chief of a local village and asking for permission to sleep on nearby land. We are just too chicken hearted to do that so always try to find something which is more publically owned.

*Scenic abandoned quarry site, great spot for the night*

*Approaching Pungo Andongo, monolithic black rock formations that rise majestically out of the surrounding savannah.*

We had a great exploration at Pungo Andongo, the rocks are extraordinary. We had an odd experience with the nearby village though. It is understandable that villages next to these amazing sites that attract tourists find a way to get some money from it. We are supportive in theory but sometimes as things are starting up they are not implemented in a way that is comfortable for us. We were heading for a trail that was accessed through a village. There was a home made barrier erected and some clearly drunk men in non-official police gear stopped us and started asking for paperwork. They didn’t really know what they were asking for and didn’t recognize the copies of documents we gave them. The whole thing felt weird enough that we just turned around and left.

The next stop was an example of successful tourism at work, but unfortunately we were the only ones there to enjoy it. Calandula Falls were so beautiful and we had the opportunity to camp on the grounds of the lodge across from the falls. It was extraordinary to sit on our own and watch the mesmerizing water, and to be camped with a view from our window. The lodge had a set price for camping there ($10) and the friendly staff helped us fill our fresh water tank.

*Our private viewing of Calandula Falls.The earth has music for those who listen.*

*View from our camper in the parking area*

*Next morning, time to go watch the falls again, but first Dawn’s ritual of coffee in bed. Some things are sacred.*

With our water tank filled with fresh water, we said goodbye to the cool mist on our faces and set off across country again. A brief note on water, we have found it readily accessible across West Africa. Sometimes we fill the tank at a campground or gas station. We always purify it through our UV system just in case. This allows us to refill our Hydroflask water bottles daily with clean drinking water. We are happy to say that in six months in Africa we have never suffered any intestinal problems from bad food or water, but we have been careful. We treat our own water and mostly cook our own food.

*Beautiful villages, always made of the local clay with thatch or tin rooves. Inland, the houses were red, next to the coast more grey.*

*Yup, another abandoned quarry site for an overnight*

*So green, the scenery out our truck windows was always varied*

Our next stop was back on the coast, the port town of Lobito. We had heard that the architecture there, handed down from the Portugese colonization era, was beautiful. We opted to stay out in the old area, known as “the spit,” which accurately describes the geography. We found a beach side restaurant which allowed us to camp for free in agreement that we would eat dinner there.

*Andy eyeing the biggest hamburger he has ever seen, Alfa Bar, Lobito*

*Camped on the beach at Alfa Bar, Lobito, along with a couple of Swiss landrovers*

The architecture was appealing in Lobito but it was a weird experience walking by the homes out on the spit. As a contrast to other cities, no one was walking the streets. Store fronts were closed. The only people we saw were regularly spaced private security guards. The neighborhoods felt like ghost towns. We assumed that these well kept homes along the coast were probably summer homes for wealthy urban people and rarely actually lived in. The area did not appeal to us, it felt cold and dead, missing the vibrant community life we were used to in West African towns.

*Central square in Lobito with colonial Portugese architecture*

After Lobito, we headed to another geological phenomenon, Tundavala gap. An enormous fissure with spectacular views, we were thinking about camping in one of the wild spots nearby.

But on further review on our favorite resource, iOverlander, we read that there were problems in the area with armed daytime robberies against travelers. We arrived at the main parking area for the view points and parked with the security guards stationed there to protect tourists. It was hard to imagine armed robbers lurking around, but we read of someone setting up camp and being robbed in the mid afternoon just a few months before. We suppose that in an area close to a major urban center (Lubango) which attracted so many tourists with cash, phones, computers etc it would be easy for some local bad actors to prey on them. We decided to drive on.

*We found our own safe spot in the bush, far away from people*

*Driving the beautiful Serra da Leba pass, twisting down rocky cliff edges*

We crossed the gorgeous Serra de Leba pass and made our way out to the west coast again.

Because unlike big cities, we do not get tired of amazing natural sites, our next destination was Lago da Arco, natural arch formations around a dry lake.

*Road out to Lago da Arco, just some faint marks in the ground*

*The journey out to the arches was spectacular*

The village near the arches had figured out tourism. As you approached, you were stopped at the first building and with friendly gestures asked to park and follow a guide. We had read what the fee was (a few dollars a person) so handed over the cash and set out. We had no shared language but our guide still managed to point out and communicate about the fossils and other interesting features along the way.

For our final week in Angola, we decided to take on an off road challenge. We stocked up with food, water and gas in the town of Namibe and set off across the Namibe desert and down through Iona National Park. It was an extraordinary four days, covering 650 kilometers. We never saw another traveler, crossed through some of the most remote and scenic desert landscapes and passed through traditional Himba villages. The Himba tribal people live in southern Angola and northern Namibia. Their villages with round homes are typically protected by boma brambles. The women use braiding and red clay to create the most fabulous hair styles, complete with jewelry from natural sources. We wish we could have taken pictures but did not want to be rude.

*Sometimes the track was gravel (the story of the week , air up, air down)*

In some areas the only green were these odd wilting cactus plants which always look like they are dying, known as Welwitschia, they are only found in this region. Apparently these ancient plans only grow two leaves which just keep on growing - for up to 2,000 years.

*Extraordinary rock, rising like vertical crystals out of the sand*

*After a few days things start to green up*

*Wild camping pretty much anywhere you want to stop*

*Traditional Himba round building structure*

*We can tell we are starting to exit the desert*

*Had been thinking the roads would start to get better but they just changed from sand to rock*

Well it was a fascinating four days, we are glad we did it even though there were times after a few hours of bumping along at 10mph we wondered at our sanity. We were also worried about running out of fuel. We had used one of our Rotopaks, still had one to spare but didn’t want to get down to our last liter so stopped in the first town with infrastructure we had seen in a while to see what we could find. Andy went into a small store front and asked about petrol. An enterprising young man in the store who spoke some English said he would be right back. Five minutes later he pulled up on a motorbike with his friend and some bottles of gas. We were set.

*Our first time using bottled gas. It worked great. We filtered it.*

*Exiting the border from Angola to Namibia*

Well, we made it across Angola and hit another milestone in our journey, officially saying goodbye to West Africa. It was the journey of a lifetime and in six months we saw and learned so much. Even through the challenges, we would not take back a moment of it. Thank you for reading and coming along with us.

West Africa - Lessons Learned

Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo