Sights & Sounds of Angola: our Experiences of her Impressive Nature and Lively Rhythm

Sights & Sounds of Angola: our Experiences of her Impressive Nature and Lively Rhythm

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[00:00:14] André: Welcome back to Angola.

In the first episode three weeks ago, you met some of our tourism colleagues, and I told you about the history, the cultures, and the two largest cities in the country, Luanda and Lubango. Today we're going to chat about some of the places that we visited when we were there.

Until recently, there was very little information online, about things to see and do in Angola, simply because there was almost no tourism. This is slowly changing. You can find some blog entries from intrepid travelers, a few YouTube videos, and our guide and organiser on the ground, João, is putting more and more information online. It's his voice that you heard at the start today, you'll meet João a little bit later in the episode.

Fact is, Angola is for explorers and adventurers, those who want to discover a country that is still authentic and unspoiled.

In the previous episode, I asked two of my colleagues what their expectations of Angola were before they traveled. Let's hear what they had to say after their trip.

I asked Anke if there was anything that surprised her.

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To be honest, I didn't expect the country to have so many different facets.

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[00:02:01] Frank: I'll sum it up in adjectives. Angola was surprising, exciting, pleasant, very friendly and welcoming. Simply beautiful. It was just a great trip.

My first highlight, was the two cities of Luanda and Lubango. Both large, both very different in their own way. Secondly, it was the nature; the landscapes, and especially the waterfalls, which are really impressive.

And last but not least, and perhaps it should have been in first place, were the people we met. Open, friendly, peaceful, unbiased, and sorry for pointing this out, but not yet spoiled by tourism. This means that you can walk around the streets normally, and are not looked on as a stranger.

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First off, the Serra da Leba Mountain Pass.

For that, we need to go straight back to the second largest city in Angola: Lubango. It's located about 180 kilometers inland, in the south of the country.

If you were to drive to Lubango from the beach, about 40 kilometers before you reach the city, you would snake up the escarpment of the Serra da Leba mountain rage, on a very impressive road, that would not be out of place in Switzerland.

With its famous hairpin bends, twisting dramatically up the cliffs, this mountain pass offers jaw dropping views of valleys and mountains, that stretch as far as the eye can see.

la province, climbing to over: 1800

Fun fact: the road is also featured on the 2000 Kwanza Bank note. In fact, Angola's bank notes double as a sightseeing checklist, if you will. They feature several must-see spots, including Tundavala and Pedras Negras. So technically, every time you pay for lunch, you're holding a little travel brochure in your hands.

And, while we're talking about roads, I was really pleasantly surprised. For some reason I thought the roads would not be good. And yes, we did have some very bumpy stretches, but that was mainly when we were driving on the temporary road next to a new wider road being built. Generally speaking, the roads were good.

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When I was preparing for this trip, one destination that kept coming up in YouTube videos and some articles, was the "Fenda Tundavala" or the Tundavala Gorge, which is about 20 kilometers outside of Lubango.

The photos I kept seeing, showed a gap in the rocks at the edge of an escarpment, with a view into the distance below.

I'll be honest, I was not convinced. What's so special about a gap in a rock? Even when we were already arriving at the viewpoint, my inner skeptic kept asking me, "why is this such an important spot to visit"?

But, wow, was I wrong. It didn't take long for my jaw to drop, and for me to understand, just how much photos don't do it justice. Cannot do it justice.

Imagine standing at the edge of a one kilometer high mountain, only a small stone wall between you and a sheer drop down into the valley. Below you are some shrubs growing out of the cliff. There's a town at the base of the mountain, and a view into the distance that just does not end.

On a clear day you can apparently see all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, we didn't get to see that though. It did remind me a little bit of being in Tanzania at the edge of the Great Rift Valley; the sheer drop, not the Atlantic Ocean, of course.

And that "gap in the rocks" that I kept seeing in the pictures? It's hard to describe how thrilling it was to finally stand on these big boulders, with trees growing alongside, and in between them, and having a huge gorge tapering off into the side of the mountain.

I think a few of my fellow travelers were a little worried about me bouncing from rock to rock with excitement, sorry about that guys.

This area of Tundavala, is home to the Muila tribe. We had the opportunity to buy homemade wooden spoons and woven baskets from them; because I really do prefer to bring back souvenirs that are locally made and have some sort of a purpose.

Suffice it to say, Tundavala was an unexpected highlight of the trip for me.

Third stop The Botanical Gardens.

Because we were on a tight six day schedule, we found ourselves driving longer distances in a day, than a regular visitor would, on a more leisurely holiday. One example of that is the day when we left Luanda and had to drive six hours to get to the Kalandula waterfalls, something I was really, really looking forward to seeing.

We had a police escort that day, not because it was dangerous or anything, but because the tourism ministry and the local governors were so happy for our visit, and wanted to make sure that everything was going well.

At the halfway mark, it was planned to visit the botanical garden in the town of N'Dalatando, which is the capital of the Cuanza Norte Province.

Again, I'd looked for information online, but didn't really find much about Angola's only botanical garden. I'll admit, it takes quite a lot for a botanical garden to excite me, so I was wondering whether this was actually all going to be worth it.

Short answer, yes.

Longer answer: it turned out well in the end.

Because, as we arrived in N'Dalatando, it was announced that the governor of the province wanted to meet us, to personally welcome us and then show us around the botanical garden.

We felt honored to be invited into his boardroom, and to be welcome to the province and the city.

My heart sank, though, when I heard that he was also inviting us to stay for lunch, because I really didn't want to miss seeing the waterfalls... and we still had a three hour drive... and it gets dark around six o'clock when we're nearish the equator.

An entourage of 12 vehicles then headed to the botanical garden: the governor's vehicle, his security detail, the press and our bus. And he walked us through the gardens with a translator telling us about his pride and joy.

These gardens really were completely different to what I expected. It's a huge piece of land with dense, tall vegetation lining the path from the entrance down to the river. Originally, it was established as a Portuguese research station. Today, they house an impressive collection of bamboo, rubber, fig trees, and other indigenous plants. Although the gardens could use some TLC, it plays a very important role in local and international science. And we were promised that our clients would soon be able to read the names of the plants on signs in English.

But the best part, was when we saw firsthand that the gardens are used by the general public as well. People come here with their friends and family, to play along the river. Or to take a loved one for a romantic picnic next to the big old trees.

At one point we heard the sound of a group of people singing, and then found ourselves in the middle of a group of young people worshiping, dancing in the gardens and singing out affirmations to each other.

That really was a beautiful moment, and despite my concern about whether we would make it to the waterfalls on time, I'm glad that we visited the gardens. The governor even found us some examples of the unique porcelain roses, that are endemic to this part of the country. Have a look in the show notes for a link to see these beautiful flowers.

The waterfall

Like I said, it all worked out well in the end, and we did make it to the waterfall in time to see them in daylight.

The Kalandula waterfalls are on the Lucala River, and are the second largest waterfall in Africa, after the Victoria Falls.

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So if you go there as a tourist, you can have it nearly for your own.

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But how else do the two falls differ? What I really like in Angola is that you can see the entire width of the waterfall from the viewing point.

The Victoria Falls plunge into a very narrow gorge with impressive force, and there is a winding path along the gorge, with great views onto parts of them. But you only really see the whole wall of water from a helicopter or an airplane.

Secondly, I like to describe the Kalandula falls as having more texture. It's not one flat wall of water coming down, but some bits are going faster, some more powerfully, and some bits of water seemingly hanging like threads from a small overhang. The area in front of the falls then opens up into a big space where the river gently flows away.

And lastly, it was so calm. The walk from the car to the edge of the falls, and the viewing point, takes you over boulders that separate small pools of water formed by the river.

As Susanne said, this is where the locals spend their Saturday afternoon with a beer to cool off, watching their children splash in the water and squeal with joy.

It was wonderful to see them enjoying the area around the falls, almost oblivious to the fact that this visitor was almost squealing with delight inside, at the chance to finally see the waterfall. Sadly, we didn't have time to walk down to the base with a local guide, but I do need to leave something for next time.

And sure, of course, we all want to have more tourists visiting Angola, and this waterfall in particular, and that will change some things. But I genuinely hope that any development will allow the local community to continue to enjoy their space there. We've seen the opposite happen too often around the world.

That evening, we stayed at a lodge about one hour away from the falls. There are not yet that many hotels or lodges in the area, but this one had lovely, spacious rooms and delicious food.

While we were at that hotel, I had a conversation with our guide, and co-organiser of the trip, João. He's passionate about making sure the world knows about Angola. Please meet João.

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[00:12:12] André: We are traveling as a group of German tour operators and travel agents. You are fluent in German, which is one of the reasons that you work closely with the German market. Tell us a little bit about your history, you living in Germany and coming back to start a tourism company.

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[00:12:44] André: What made you start a tourism company, when you came back here?

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So we started putting information about Angola on Facebook. It was more like as an information portal, you know. And then all of a sudden we were receiving requests on that website, and we were just like, damn, what's going on here? You know, people are really showing interest for our country. We just started the company actually, out of curiosity, and I. It became our business. Yeah.

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[00:13:59] João: Well, you know, talking about Angolan music, you're talking about our culture and we're expressing music as a way of our living.

Semba, if you put together Semba and Samba, they are all sounds similar. The way you dance Semba is almost the way you dance Samba. Just with a lot of vibe, but the expression of Semba, you get your partner dancing next to you, and you express the music through your soul, and through both of you guys.

Semba, you can learn everywhere, in the clubs, outside, in house parties, everywhere you can dance.

You have very easy access to learn; in Luanda, we have at the Marginal a place where you can learn to dance Kizomba, you know? And having a place like this, free of entrance for everyone, it's an amazing thing. A lot of people wants to learn it.

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Similar question to the music: how would I as a visitor to the country, experience the carnival?

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There is a similarity between the carnival in Angola and Carnival in Brazil. The color you see in Brazil is the same colors you see here. It's very bright, everyone is there. Everyone has positive vibe. That energy you have at that time, it's amazing. Everyone is bringing that positive energy in one spot.

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[00:15:54] João: Everywhere. Everywhere you look at, you'll see people bouncing and dancing.

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[00:16:02] João: A hundred percent, yes.

Since I'm doing these kind of tours, since we took Carnival into our agenda, we've never faced any rainy days on Carnival, to be honest.

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She fought against the Portuguese occupation at the time, and against slavery. What role does Queen Nzinga play in Angola, still now?

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The thing is, we have our mothers, as a big player role. We have our grandmoms as a big player role. Every kid, everyone, doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl, you know? If you have any issue, if you have any problem, you would definitely go first your mama, to your grandma. Because they're gonna solve the problem before, and then they're gonna ask you what happened?

And this is how we see the situation. We see her as the big mama, as the big role in our culture. She is so integrated in our culture.

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[00:17:25] João: Definitely, yes.

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[00:17:32] João: It's definitely a very bad question, because you're gonna bring me in trouble with other nice places, you know.

My favorite ones are, really, Baia dos Tigros and Pedras Negras de Pundo Andongo. Baia dos Tigros is because, mainly because of the way to get there. It's a unique feeling.

You know, once you know you are going, and you know where it is and how to get there, you get excited, man. It's like you have a little kid, tomorrow, you're gonna get candies, you know? Yeah.

It's amazing, the driving over there. You have the dunes on your left side, you have the Atlantic Ocean on your right side, and you have a small path that you have to go through, and sometimes the tides defines your way if you can go or not go, man, that's crazy.

That's amazing.

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[00:18:28] João: Definitely.

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[00:18:31] João: Exactly, yeah. That's uh, in Namibe in the southern area of Angola.

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[00:18:40] João: It's a place where I would say you put your soul together, you know.

Once I went there and I met choral ladies. They were up in the Pedras Negras, and they were singing. All the choral voices, you were very far away, and you could hear them, and I was curious. "What's that"? I was tired when I came "up there, and I sat down and I felt like, I'm in a dream or something.

I. I went there with a lady, that lady started to meditate. Same time we came up there, she started to meditate, and she told me, " João, those were the best 20 minutes ever of my life".

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[00:19:22] João: And that's crazy. When you do tours, when you do what we do here, having that feedback, that moment, it's like, you know, you made it. That's why we love it.

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[00:19:42] João: That's really mean, when you have so many good singers, and you are telling me to pick.

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[00:19:51] João: I, Okay. I love Paulo Flores and I love  Yuri da Cunha, you know, so definitely those are my favorite ones.

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João also mentioned the Pedras Negras, or the Black Rocks of Pungo Andongo, which is the last place I want to tell you about.

While we didn't have a choir singing when we were there, it was wonderful to visit these majestic boulders, some of them are as tall as 200 meters. We first saw them from a distance while we were on the main road, where they looked like a collection of big boulders placed in a line on the horizon.

But then our guide took us directly up to, and along the boulders, driving in between them into a clearing where there is a small village. And from there we walked up to the top of one of them, I think it took about 20 minutes or so.

While we were there, I took so many photos, to try and capture the view, the size of the boulders, the vegetation on them, and the black streaks where water flows down the sides, after the rains.

But eventually I put my camera away, sat down, and just soaked up the view and the silence. It was a spot where I felt I could recharge.

We spoke about Queen Nzinga in the last episode, and this is an area that was strategically important to her during her reign. There are even some footprints imprinted in the stone between the rocks, that have been attributed to Queen Nzinga and her father.

All in all, Angola really impressed me, the friendly people and the many things to see and do and the landscape. The vegetation is incredibly diverse, which is not really surprising, for a country of this size. Grasslands, dunes, jungle, beaches, and baobabs. So many baobabs.

I suggest that, at the moment, it is best to travel with a guide. They'll help you navigate the infrastructure. The signage in most museums, for example, is only in Portuguese, and some sights, like Pedras Negras, have no information boards at all yet.

We had several conversations with tourism decision makers, where we shared our professional input with them, on what we feel would help develop the needed infrastructure. And it's great to see how excited the Angolans are, to showcase their country to the world.

We chatted to the Minister of Tourism, Marcio Daniel, about his vision and plans for Angola. Our colleague, Hanna Kleber, of the Kleber Group, tells us what he had to say.

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Infrastructure is the key to our vision. We are prioritizing multilingual signage and accessibility. We are also expanding regional airports and upgrading key roads to tourist destinations.

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[00:22:55] Hanna: Our slogan, "The Rhythm of Life", sums up the fusion of African rhythm and Portuguese flavor, you won't find anywhere else in the world. Angola is for travelers who wants to explore, who are looking for something real, with depth.

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[00:23:15] Hanna: The sheer scale and power of the falls, surrounded by lush forest, are unforgettable. It's a place of peace and awe that still feels like a secret.

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I asked Susanne how she liked Angola as a travel destination.

I really like to travel in Angola. It's a very fascinating and beautiful country. I didn't know much about it, so it was very impressive, to see all the beautiful different landscapes. Waterfalls, high mountains, green landscapes with all kinds of fruits, and then all these nice people we met. And big cities and small towns.

And yeah, just to get an impression, what this country has to offer was for me, an adventure. I really love being there, and just see how the people live there ,and what they're doing in tourism now. They really want to get on with it.

Anke, added the following:

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Then you'll be completely surprised by the sounds, the stories, the colors, and also simply by the depth that the country has to offer.

Angola simply cannot be compared to other countries I have seen in Africa. Angola has its own DNA, its own rhythm in its blood, and the country is still so raw and unspoiled.

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[00:24:53] Frank: The best experiences were primarily the encounters with people. Some of our group ended up at a music festival in Lubango, late one evening, which wasn't planned.

And there we met some young Angolans modern, and not much different from young people in Europe. That was a great experience. As was a similar trip into Luanda's nightlife. Not the posh nightlife, but that of the more modest population, who also welcomed us warmly and without prejudice, and ended up dancing with us in the street.

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[00:25:29] Frank: Angola is, of course, a typical African country, yet it has its own character and differs from its neighbors in Southern Africa. For me, Angola is a sleeping giant, that is just beginning to awake. I see great potential in tourism, and I very much hope, that Angola will be able to preserve its authenticity, its originality, and its uncompromising openness.

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I admired it, I photographed it, but I didn't give it much more thought. Imagine my surprise then, when barely, two hours later, Irene, whom you met in episode one, gave me a gift of a small wooden version of the self same statue. She told us that it's called "O Pensador", which also means "The Thinker", and that it's actually a national symbol in Angola.

The statue originates from the Chokwe tribe in the northeast of present day Angola, and represents the figure of a wise elder, who can be male or female.

We were told that this symbol has become even more important after the end of the Civil War, to remind everyone that Angolans need wise and thoughtful leaders.

After this discussion, I started noticing them everywhere, including on the bank notes. The statues brought a smile to my face every time, just as the one we now have at home, does too.

And that brings me to the end of episode two of our Angola Adventure.

At this point, I want to say a big thank you to the Ministry of Tourism in Angola, the Kleber Group, the Tour operator DIAMIR, the ASR Association of Independent Travel Companies in Germany, and the local travel company, "Pure and Authentic Tourism Angola" for putting this wonderful, eye-opening trip together.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about the natural beauty, the music, culture, and the Pensador, and that you might consider including a visit to Angola in the future.

I know that each one of us is impressed, and looking forward to promoting travel to Angola.

You can find some photos of our trip on my Instagram page, Africa with Andre. I've put a link in the show notes and I look forward to your comments and questions.

Till the next time!