Greetings from Luanda, Angola. We’re now in a nation where cruise ships seldom call and only the hardiest tourists consider when planning their vacations, and that makes it perfect for me. One of my biggest goals for this trip was to go places, see things, and have experiences that are different and likely outside my comfort zone, and west Africa is certainly checking that box.
Angola is much more heavily populated than Namibia, where we last stopped. In fact, Luanda’s 2.8 million residents outnumber the entire population of Namibia. Oil and diamonds account for 60 percent of Angola’s rapidly growing economy, but most of the country’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people. Forty years of war have also left their mark, and inequality, poverty, and low life expectancy are widespread. Fortunately Angola’s war for independence against Portugal (1961-1975) and subsequent civil war (1975-2002) are behind it, and today the country is peaceful and stable.
As I indicated in the first paragraph, they’re not used to having a large number of tourists descend on them here, and not everything on our planned excursion went as advertised, but we had a good time and saw some interesting sights. The first indication that things might be a little different here came right off the bat when the three buses on our itinerary were led away from the pier in a caravan, with a motorcycle policeman leading the way. Petty street crime is common here, as it is in other places we’ve been, but I was a bit surprised that someone thought we needed an escort to get to our first destination, especially since that destination was so close that I could see it from the upper decks of the ship.
That destination was Fortaleza de São Miguel, a Portuguese fortress overlooking the harbor and built in 1576. Today the fortress houses Angola’s Museum of the Armed Forces, and I found it truly interesting. The fortress itself is in excellent condition for its age, and the walkways along the high walls were lined with old cannons. Of more interest was the military hardware displayed inside the fort at ground level. There were two propeller driven fighter planes, along with lots of artillery, mortars, machine guns, trucks, and even a boat.
There were statues too, including Diogo Cão, the Portuguese sailor who “discovered” the harbor at what became Luanda, Vasco da Gama, better known as the first European to round Africa and continue on to Asia, and Antonio Agostinho Neto, the first president of Angola.
However, it was what was inside the main building that was most interesting. The walls were lined with gorgeous Portuguese blue ceramic tiles depicting Angolan history, animals and scenery. I haven’t been able to determine their age (Portugal ruled Luanda for hundreds of years between their arrival and Angola’s independence in 1975), but they are stunning. I could have spent an hour just examining them—they’re that good.
The building also houses several displays, including the tail of a South African plane shot down during their war for independence/civil war. Military history buffs like me could spend a day at the museum, but I doubt others would find it that interesting. At any rate, we were there for the better part of an hour before it was time to move on to what was supposed to be our second stop, the Agostinho Neto Mausoleum.
I mentioned earlier that Neto was the first president of Angola following its independence from Portugal in 1975, and though he only served for four years until his death in 1979, he’s considered quite a hero. His mausoleum is a 393 foot tall spaceship-like spire that dominates the skyline in the central part of the city, and it is a popular attraction with locals and visitors alike. I could see it clearly from the upper walls of the fortress, and was looking forward to seeing it up close, but it was not to be.
Despite the fact that a visit to the mausoleum was clearly part of our itinerary, it seems that a communications breakdown occurred somewhere between Royal Caribbean and our tour guides, because they knew nothing about it. Their bosses told them to take us directly from the fortress to the final stop on our itinerary, a beach club called Miami Beach, of all things. So, it was to Miami Beach that we went. Luanda has a nice beachfront that is seven kilometers long, and we saw quite a bit of it on our way. Most of it is open beach, though there are some small beach clubs like the one we visited. No big luxury hotels that I could see.
Now, while I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see the mausoleum, I have to admit that the two hours we spent at Miami Beach were pleasant enough. We got a nice table in the shade with friends from the ship, enjoyed free drinks that were included with the excursion, and passed the time solving the world’s problems. I tried the local beer, Cuca, and thought it was quite drinkable. Michele and one of our friends went down to the water and got wet, but I was quite happy to just enjoy the view and nurse my Cuca.
So while it wasn’t entirely the excursion we booked, it wasn’t bad, and we did get to see some of Luanda, which is one of Africa’s largest cities. Angola isn’t a tourist destination, at least not yet, and having more than 700 tourists come ashore all at once is surely an unusual occurrence, one they probably weren’t fully prepared for. We all agreed that they’re trying, and hopefully things will improve as they grow their tourism industry.
Our day wasn’t done, though. Back at the ship we had lunch with the same friends, and four of us decided to go back out on our own and visit the local craft market that had sprung up just outside the entrance to the pier. Like many ports we’ve visited on this cruise, Luanda doesn’t have a dedicated cruise terminal, and the pier is strictly commercial. As such, it makes sense that they don’t want cruise passengers roaming around the cargo and heavy machinery, so we walked off the ship and directly onto a shuttle that delivered us safely to the gate marking the entrance to the pier.
The craft market consisted of around three dozen pop ups, where vendors were selling clothes, jewelry, carvings, and all sorts of small knickknacks. There was quite a bit of security around, which led me to believe that petty crime is probably pretty common here. I also got the impression, as I have in a number of other ports, that the local authorities are taking good care of us. There was a camera crew interviewing passengers outside the ship, and our arrival in Luanda has probably been deemed newsworthy.
In any case, we poked around for quite a while and contributed a little to the local economy, as I bought (what else) another hat and Michele bought some material and a magnet that we will probably repurpose as a Christmas ornament. The sun was taking its toll by this point, and we were happy to reboard the air conditioned shuttle and return to the ship after what now felt like a reasonably full day in Angola.
As I finish this post we’re back at sea, continuing north toward the equator, which we’ll cross for the sixth and final time on our way to our next port of call, Takoradi, Ghana. We’ll get there on Wednesday, and we’ve scheduled an excursion that will take us deep into the history of the slave trade. I’m really looking forward to it, perhaps surprisingly. I doubt it will be much fun, at least in the manner that we usually define fun, but it’s important, and I want to see and hear about it from the African perspective. I’ll be back to tell you all about it, so stay tuned.
As we got off the ship we were welcomed by dancers in traditional Angolan dress.
On our way to our first stop, the Fortaleza de São Miguel. That’s it at the top of the hill.
The gateway to the Fortaleza. The artwork, which is clearly in the Soviet/communist style, is made up of tiny tiles. Very well done.
World War II era Angolan fighter aircraft.
Standing near the gateway is Njinga Mbandi, an early Angolan hero. She is holding an ngola, a weapon and symbol of authority that gave Angola its name.
Artillery on display.
More heavy weaponry on display.
Diogo Cão, the first European to lay eyes on the harbor that became Luanda.
Older weapons on display.
Inside the main building. I was blown away by the blue Portuguese ceramic tiles.
A closeup of one of the images, depicting the arrival of the Portuguese in Luanda.
The tail of a South African plane shot down during Angola’s long struggle for independence.
Inside the museum. I could have spent a lot more time here examining the displays, which were very well done.
Back outside, we climbed the walls and found out how well armed the Fortaleza was back in the day.
The Fortaleza has a commanding view of the city and harbor.
The spire in the background is the Agostinho Neto Mausoleum. Unfortunately, this was as close as we got. At least we saw it.
Looking down from the Fortaleza’s walls at Angolan housing. Note all the satellite dishes.
On our way out I stopped for a photo with Antonio Agostinho Neto, Angola’s first president.
On our way to the beach club. Luanda has a beachfront that is seven kilometers long, and even so often we passed a pop up like this, with a vendor selling beachwear.
Many beachgoers set up in the shade of the few trees along the way.
We spent a pleasant couple hours at Miami Beach, one of several small beach clubs we saw along Luanda’s seven kilometers of beachfront.
Plenty of beach chairs and umbrellas lining the beach.
I was happy to stay in the shade and enjoy the local brew, Cuca.
Our guide donned the Angolan flag, like a cape.
On our way back to the ship. This is the Angolan National Bank.
Angola’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, another site I would have liked to visit.
Typical building we passed on our way back to the ship.
At the craft market outside the entrance to the port.
Michele examining some brightly colored cloth at the craft market.
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