Luanda, Angola

December 21^st, 2024

When I looked out the window this morning, there was a very strange looking vessel there.

However, we had moved on before I could take a closer look with the binoculars.

Once we were in the port the view from our suite was interesting. There was beautiful wall art brightening up a very dark, soggy day.

Looking the other way there was a large wheat mill.

By the gangway there was a group in brightly colored costumes singing and dancing and playing the drums in the rain. What a nice, but wet, way to welcome us to Angola.

We were yet again in an active cargo port, so we had to take the shuttle bus to meet our tour bus at a market just beyond the port gates. There has been a bit of confusion about what time we were meant to meet – our friends had all been told different times anywhere between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM. It was beginning to rain again and there was no bus in sight, so we were getting a bit annoyed, but eventually our bus and our guide Ivone did arrive and off we set in the now pouring rain.

Luanda was nothing like I imagined it would be. Angola has a long history of civil wars and internal conflicts, and I had assumed Luanda would look like a war-ravaged city. It may have looked that way in the past, but it certainly looks amazing today. We drove along Avenida 4 de Fevereiro with the beautiful waterfront on one side

And skyscrapers and attractive buildings on the other,

We were heading towards the Agostinho Neto Mausoleum. Agostino Neto was the leader of the liberation struggle and first president of Angola. My first thought was that it looked like a rocket. Sure enough, it is apparently called the rocket.

We had hoped to go inside, but it was not open. Apparently when there is a lot of rain, people often don’t come to work, and there was a lot of rain today.

We walked around the grounds, admiring the statues, especially the one of an elephant. Dr Neto’s favorite animal was the elephant. He certainly had his faults, but his choice of animals is to be admired.

Then we drove around the Cidade Alta neighborhood which is where the government buildings are situated.

The treelined streets were very pretty and there wasn’t a scrap of litter to be seen anywhere. I was most impressed.

However, when we left the Cidade Alta neighborhood, we saw a different side of Luanda. It started to look a lot like other African cities we have visited. Clearly all the riches that the country has due to its significant oil reserves haven’t helped everyone.

We drove out of town along the coast road.

Our destination was Miradouro da Lua, viewpoint of the moon. By now we were certainly in the middle of a tropical downpour, and when we reached our destination the parking lot was flooded, and we splashed along the muddy path in the pouring rain to see the rock formations.

Getting drenched was well worth it. The landscape was amazing. I would not call it lunar, but it was certainly otherworldly. Maybe more like Mars.

Erosion from wind and rain over thousands of years has carved canyons and ridges out of weathered rock, with different colored strata of rock that extend for many miles. It was spectacular.

The local vegetation was also otherworldly. There were palm trees that looked like they were straight out of a Dr Seuss book.

The baobab trees were also interesting.

It continued to rain, and by now there was a little river running alongside the road.

Then the river became our road. Fingers crossed that our little bus was going to get through without the engine dying.

We left the bus again and braved the waterlogged pathway and pouring rain to see the Capela da Casa Grande, part of the National Slavery Museum.

We were unable to really see the main exhibit room as the power was off which happens every time there is heavy rain. We used the torch from our phones to try to see the exhibits. It was a bit of a challenge.

Next we visited the National Museum of Military History in the fortress of Sao Miguel overlooking the city.

Unlike in other post-colonial cities we have visited where statues of the colonial founding fathers have been removed and destroyed, the statues of the Portuguese explorers are proudly displayed here.

The most amazing part of the museum is the room where the walls are completely covered with Portuguese blue tiles which tell the history of the area, along with the natural wonders. It is stunning.

I loved the cannons

I also loved the presidential “yacht”. Not quite the Royal Yacht Britannia, but then I suppose Angola is a communist/socialist state.

There was a great view of the city from the fort. We could see both the modern affluent section, and the not so affluent neighborhood.

On our way to our next stop, we passed the memorial to the unknown soldier which we had seen earlier from the fort.

Our last stop was at the bright yellow Palacio de Ferro, Iron Palace.  It is believed to have been designed and built by Gustave Eiffel. The history of the structure is shrouded in mystery since no official record of it exists. It was most likely built in the 1890s in France for the World’s Fair. It was later dismantled and put on a boat headed for Madagascar. It never reached Madagascar. Instead, the building ended up in Angola’s Skeleton Coast after the ship carrying it was grounded by the notorious Benguela Current, which incidentally we ourselves will experience in a few days’ time.

The Portuguese rulers of the colony then claimed the ship along with all its contents, including the palace. So, it was salvaged and built again in Luanda. It is now used as a cultural center and exhibition hall. It is a truly amazing building, and quite out of place among the skyscrapers of downtown Luanda.

Then it was time to head back to the ship. The bus driver was supposed to drop us off at the market by the port gates and we would then take the shuttle to the ship as you are not allowed to walk in the port.

The driver was feeling lucky, so he decided to brave the guards at the gate and insist that he had to take us back to the ship. His powers of persuasion worked, and we were able to go directly to the ship without having to stand around waiting for the shuttle bus. It wasn’t raining anymore but we were all soaking wet, and eager to get into dry clothes.

When we arrived back at the ship, we were surrounded by birds, making it feel like something out of the Hitchcock movie “The Birds”. Well, not really, but there were a lot there.

They were possibly attracted to leaked contents of the bags from the nearby mill.

It was time to get back on board, dry off, and get ready for the sail away.

We were at a hosted table again tonight, hosted by Kerry, the lead singer for the Seabourn Six, and Amber, the singer from Amber and the Band.

We had a really great evening learning all about the ups and downs of being an entertainer on a Seabourn ship. It sounds like a fun career, but a lot of work!

We were treated to another fabulous performer by Panos Karan tonight – he played pieces from all around the world. Some were familiar and some I heard some for the first time. It was an excellent program. I feel very privileged to have been able to hear him perform.

We decided to stop by the Club for a night cap. We would usually stop by the Commodore Club after the show when on Cunard ships, and I do miss this. It was very quiet in the Club, but Amber and the Band were performing so it was nice to sit back and listen to them. The musicians really work so hard on board. Amber and the Band performed at the sail away, then Amber had to host a dinner, and now she was singing late in the evening in the Club. However, as always, they were great, and it was the perfect way to end a wonderful day.

After years of hearing about all of the conflicts and strife in Angola, it was amazing to actually visit the country for ourselves. The torrential rain really didn’t diminish our enjoyment of our visit at all. It all adds to the adventure. That’s what travel is all about.