angola

Luanda (2025)

Rua Lourenço Mendes Conceição. My friend lived nearby here this street, which was a great location tbh. Genuinely 'downtown' - close to schools/colleges/bars/restaurants/etc., but far removed from the skyscrapers in the CBD and therefore far more authentic in its feel. I spent my first afternoon in the city walking my friend's dog around these streets, which was hella fun (visible foreigner walking giant dog he'd just met - Angolans are terrified of dogs...) and scoping out local vibes. After a fun night at a local bar meeting friends of my friend, I spent the next day doing some #touristing in the city. Took an Uber over to the waterfront - known here as 'Marginal' - and got dropped off by the National Bank. Marginal. Within two minutes of crossing over to this side, I was being followed and harassed by a fairly obnoxious kid. I never felt threatened at any stage - it's about as public as you can get in this city, though surprisingly quiet at this time (late morning) - but I was grateful when another guy came over, gave the kid his marching orders, and escorted me up the waterfront for a little while. A monument to fallen heroes, I believe. Surrounded by various important-ish buildings. The contrast between the CBD and the rest of the city sprawl is... stark, to say the least. It was a curious feeling to be walking here. Not really safe, not entirely dangerous either. Street smarts necessary. The only major 'sight' that I intended to tick off in Luanda was this: the Fortress of São Miguel. São Miguel is a 450-year-old fortress, built by the Portuguese, which today holds a military museum. The staff here had no idea what to do with a foreign visitor, and their ticketing system still requires scrawling a name on a piece of paper. A remarkably novel throwback, on multiple fronts. One thing the fortress does offer is some very cool views of the city. IIRC the 'museum' was barely curated at all, and a number of buildings were closed off for some reason, so I spent a lot of time just wandering around the fortress and letting my imagination run wild. A slum district visible from the fortress, IIRC. There are some old cannons and stuff, which is cool. Same view as earlier but less foliage-blocking and more water. One last look at the fortress + the only other tourists in the city (99% of other visitors to Angola are Portuguese, which makes sense). From here I wandered over to the city's only vegan restaurant on its 'Ilha' (a spit off the shore). It was about a 30-45 min walk from the fortress IIRC, and took me through some pretty dodgy areas. I was followed multiple times during the walk, but luckily I have eyes on the back of my head and was smart enough to keep myself close to main roads and visibly-populated areas at all times until I was able to shake each guy off. Eventually made it to vegan food in one piece! After lunch, and not wanting to run into potential muggers again, I decided to take an Uber back to the city centre. That was an experience in its own right - the (friendly) driver ended up getting stopped by the police when doing a u-turn, but the police ended up letting him go after seeing a foreigner in the backseat. I was told cops were notoriously corrupt here, but these guys were super amiable with me for some reason! Anyway, here's the 'old town', which I think they call Baixa de Luanda. Some colourful streets around here. These streets felt safer than my walk along Marginal and the Ilha, but I was getting a LOT of attention which was slightly uncomfortable. I later learned that most expats/foreigners don't casually walk around solo here. They get driven around or escorted on guided tours. I was kinda proud that my friend trusted my instincts enough to let me go it alone! wiki: "The Church of Our Lady of Remedies is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Luanda, Angola. It was built in 1628 and is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Luanda." After finding myself a little overwhelmed by the old town crowds/staring, I decided to wander back to my friend's house. I figured a 45 min walk through the heart of the city would give me a better understanding of the place. Largo da Mutamba. A public square, and also a bus terminal. (Never tried one of the city buses while here, not sure it would have been wise.) Apparently I was on a street called Largo Irene Cohen (thank you phone for recording my precise locations) and this caught my eye. No idea why. More typically Luandan streets. I found the architecture fascinating. Sometimes ramshackle, often time-worn, but somehow functional in spite of everything and peculiarly captivating to the eye. This was on a street called Avenida Comandante Che Guevara, to boot! After safely reaching my friend's house following my day's adventures, I rested up for an hour or so before curiosity got the better of me. I went out into the city again, but this time in the opposite direction. Came across Alto das Cruzes cemetery, which was closing just as I arrived (5pm). What I was trying to find was an abandoned cinema (Miramar) that I'd read about in my friend's Lonely Planet. The cinema was closed off, but I found this abandoned train instead which was quite the treat! This was situated right in the relatively fancy 'embassy' district, and there were security guards aplenty in the vicinity so I wasn't too concerned about jumping the (flimsy) barrier and exploring this random sight! Never did figure out why this train was here, but it made for a great photoshoot. Moreover, it offered a fairly cool view of the city's port from afar. This was my first (lame) attempt to get a pic with the train. With no one else in immediate range, I had to selfie it... :/ Decided to try a detour on my return to my friend's house, which took me through some interesting residential blocks. Sadly, this is far too common a sight in the city. Back in the hood which I had now embraced as my own! Did one last mini-excursion round the corner before retiring for the evening. This building has caught my eye on day one whilst walking the dog. See what I mean about the architecture? After retiring from #touristing, we hit up some bars and got a little taste of Luandan nightlife before resting up for the next day's excursion. This was a fun day out! My friend's housemate drove us out to the ferry terminal where we caught a boat over to the Mussulo peninsula/islands. The beach here was DESERTED! Sadly, the rubbish from the nearby metropolis was voluminous, though there were still plenty of stretches of pristine sand. Wonderful friends, without whom I'd have been totally lost, and to whom I oh a massive debt! After a chill day of sunbathing and a nice beach-shack lunch (I had beans and chips, and it was here that I was introduced to 'gindungo'- the local chilli sauce to which I developed an affinity that constantly astounded the locals) we headed back into the city for late afternoon. But me being a photo whore, I asked them to do a quick stop at that abandoned train on the way home so I could finally grab a decent shot LOL. Anyway, I believe the following evening involved dinner, an introduction to my travel buddies for the next few days, and a full-on streetside RASTA PARTY in a tent by the local rubbish bins. It was everything it sounds like and then some. So the next morning, I got picked up by two Portuguese friends of my friend, who just so happened to be visiting Angola at the same time as me and were going to do a self-driven road trip down to the southern coast. They were willing to let me tag along for part of the journey, which worked out great as it allowed me to see much more of the country than I otherwise would have done. The poor guys also had to function as my 24/7 interpreters, but they were great sports and we got on famously. Here was the first 'stop' on our adventure: Miradouro da Lua. Miradouro da Lua (Viewpoint of the Moon in English) is a series of crazy, multicoloured rock formations on the cliffs outside Luanda. It's also supposedly the number one tourist attraction in the entire country! Feels appropriately otherworldly. And here's me looking bizarrely alien-like to complement the scene.

Cuanza Sul Province (2025)

Had a quick lunch stop at a lodge in Belas, where there were warning signs about crocs in the river... Always fun! Made it to the Carpe Diem resort in Cabo Ledo, a popular beach vacay spot a couple of hours from Luanda. Was pretty wild to be in a country like Angola but vacationing in a fancy resort with Angolan elites, but I'd been in similar situations before elsewhere so rode with it. The resort was nice enough, though had seen better days. I never *don't* enjoy beach time, especially when the beach is as quiet as this. Obligatory sunset pic (tho just missed the sun). After this we had dinner and drinks at the fairly quiet restaurant (it was busier earlier in the day as the resort's more popular with day-trippers than overnighters) before retiring for the night in our rather crammed three-person cabin! FWIW, resorts like Carpe Diem are often manned by those experiencing very visible hardship. Here's the neighbouring settlement, literally right outside a resort populated by the wealthier classes and dumb tourists like myself. Angola a country of infuriatingly visible inequality. After checking out the next morning, we drove a little further down the coast to Praia dos Surfistas - a surfer's beach in days of yore, but all we found was an abandoned/closed resort and a deserted stretch of beach. Angola's beaches have SO. MUCH. potential. And you can literally see how money was invested into them during the first oil boom by the presence of all the abandoned hotels/infrastructure/resort. It's precisely that abandonment which tells the current tale, however. On the plus side, it was thrilling to have such places entirely to ourselves. (Actually there was a small group of Angolan influencers that turned up for a photoshoot, but living in China + me being me = no right to judge.) Next stop along the coast was Porto Amboim, where we had lunch. A port town, like the name suggests, but also a place that had clearly once attempted to invest in tourism only to now find most of its hospitality industry in decay. There's also some dilapidated colonial architecture around here. Took a wander while the guys were chilling in the restaurant, but the constant attention from street kids soon saw me retreat back to the safety of our lunch spot. Sadly, visible foreigner = obvious target for beggars. Sad not because of what we have to face as privileged tourists, but the fact that there's a need for anyone to beg at all. Our main destination for the day was this: Binga Waterfalls! It was a fun drive through some dirt roads and backwaters to get here. A glimpse of the real Angola for many. We were the only visitors around at this time. There were a couple of guys manning the entrance, but they weren't at all concerned with our antics. The falls are incredibly beautiful and were a thrill to witness, though they were actually a compromise as the guys were unable to get to the more renowned Kalandula Falls during my stay. (They visited later in their trip, after I'd left for Cape Town, and their pics were jawdropping.) One last peek at the falls before heading off... The countryside around the waterfalls. More rural scenery from Quilunda, nearby the falls. The roads road here made for neverending adventure. We spent the evening in the nearest major town, Sumbe, where I vaguely recall staying in a hotel that hadn't seen a fresh lick of paint since the 1970s. Scenes from our onward journey the next morning. Sumbe town. More scenes from around Sumbe. So many people live in conditions like these. Honestly, the majority of this road trip was me feeling totally humbled by my surroundings. Rio Quicombo. A river where there have been numerous crocodile-related fatalities over the years. Yet locals come here to swim and wash and clean regardless. I couldn't quite believe my eyes, but what do I understand about the necessity of courting danger? Rio Cubal Canyon, just upstream from the previous pic. Tried my best to capture some of the more common scenes whilst on the road instead of the more 'obvious' attractions. Scenes like this are being included to remind me of what my eyes really saw during this drive. This taken not far from a place near Canjala.

Benguela Province (2025)

Here's a fairly random excursion: Praia Egito, a small village run by a chief to whom we had to pay tribute (via the gifts of copious amounts of booze and soft drinks IIRC) before being allowed access to its natural beauty. It really was beautiful here though. 'Praia Egito' translates as 'Egypt Beach', named as such due to its supposed resemblance to Egyptian beaches... (I wouldn't know). Life here was rustic. A small community subsisting mainly on whatever they can catch from the sea. Naturally, there were lots of photo ops with fishing boats... Couldn't get enough of them! We stayed here for a good couple of hours iirc, and it was amazing how unfazed the locals were as we wandered around, observing their everyday lives (they're pulling in a fishing net in the distance there while another group is about to head out to sea). The community's situated at the mouth of the Balombo River, pictured here. Capturing them fishing vessels again. And once more, this time with seabird thrown in for good measure. Such a beautiful landscape to call one's home. This was the *actual* village, a little inland from the coast. It felt parched, though perhaps a little more liveable than some of the slums that we'd seen in Luanda and elsewhere. There was certainly a strong sense of community here. There's village squares, a school, a couple of basic stores. Most supplies have to be driven in as the community's a little isolated. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there weren't too many people outside under the baking afternoon sun. LOVE this shot of the village with a goat strolling past. And here's me with my awesome travel buddies Simon and João, without whom I'd have been totally lost in Angola. They were busy chatting away to some of the villagers cos, y'know, they can speak Portuguese unlike me... Anyway, people seemed very hospitable! Much more so than I would be if some random foreigners turned up to my underprivileged village and asked to nose around. An old fortress that overlooks the village IIRC. The fortress is on a hilltop that offers some cool views. Idyllic, no? Hoping for the best for these villagers in years to come. Colonial-era cannon. One last look at the abandoned fortress. What an incredible day out. Would *never* have had the audacity to visit a place like this by myself. A) I'd never have heard about it; B) I would've been unable to reach it seeing as I don't drive. Was very grateful to have attached myself to Simon and João's road trip after this. Our stop for the night was Lobito. Another beach destination - its 'Restinga' is effectively a long sandspit in the ocean. Spent a lot of time in Angola chasing beach sunsets. If the government got its act together, they could really do something with the tourism industry here. Alas... We had dinner at a fancy restaurant (called Batuk) on the Restinga. Good service. I was pretty much subsisting on beans/rice/omelettes/whatever vegetables I could get, but it was manageable thanks to the guys translating for me. Did a little wandering the next morning. It's surprising how so many of these destinations felt so deserted during the daytime. Not sure why. I guess the heat? Took ourselves back to the Restinga for lunch and afternoon beers. Couldn't resist this photo op at one of the beachfront eateries... Some colonial-era architecture from Lobito, on our way out of the city. This is/was the post office. And here's the old casino! Final stop for me was Benguela, Angola's second largest city. The downtown has a few old colonial buildings, like this gorgeous old church. Some more old buildings in Benguela city centre. The modern, very snazzy-looking city cathedral. Angolans are fairly into their religion and this was a very crowded spot during late afternoon. Urban life in Benguela. Second largest city in the country but feels light years removed from Luanda. A building that caught my eye close to the waterfront. We hung out around here for a while before checking into the nicest hotel of the trip by a mile... ...whose parking lot is pictured here! Quite the epic post-dusk colours. From here we went into town for dinner and drinks at a local bar, where I probably had one too many as I ended up nearly missing my 7:30am bus back to Luanda the next morning. :/ This was actually taken in Sumbe on the bus back to my friend's place in Luanda. As much as I'd have loved to continue onwards with my new pals, I had time constraints that necessitated my backtracking while they continued onwards to some epic scenes down in the Namib desert. Was incredible to experience Angola alongside them for a little while tho. What a country. My fave trip of 2025.

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