Savannah Grace

ANGOLA Photo Essay

Angola was one of our shorter visits in Africa. That was not due to lack of interest, but lack of approved visas. We were travelling with three privately owned (one self-built) overland vehicles, and twelve dirty travellers from six different countries on four continents. We were disappointed in Democratic Republic of Congo when we were unable to attain more than a five day transit visa for Angola…. It was a nearly impossible feat to cover the distance necessary to drive from D.R.C. to Namibia in that time frame. But we had no choice but to try, because Angola laid between us and our goal of circumnavigating Africa!

Angola

Angola

Beauty all around to behold in Angola

Angola

Bumpy, dirt “highways” are common throughout Angola

Angola

A broken tank from the recent war in Angola

Angola

A very quiet market stall to buy lunch

Angola

Happy, cheerful faces always there to greet us.

Angola

Mortar potholes from the recent war in Angola make it so much more real!

Angola

Within seconds of stopping we caused a traffic jam.

Angola

African watering hole

Angola

Slightly unexpected and calming.

Angola

Carrying loads on their heads is the norm in Africa.

Angola

Our campsite view at Luanda’s harbour.

Angola

More great scenery on our hasty journey.

Angola

Gorgeous Angola countryside

BNA Luanda, Angola

Angola Reserve Bank (BNA) Luanda.

Angola

Angolan villages and views as we cross the country.

Angola

A beautiful misty morning in Angola.

Angola

Our little group with our surprise arrivals always caused quite a stir in the small towns.

Angola

Wash day by the river.

Angola

This is why I love overland trips… you get to see all of the beauty.

Angola

There were many scary bridges to cross throughout Angola and Africa.

Angola

Lovely ladies carrying their loads.

Angola

You have to love the colour of the ground and those little cuties.

Angola

Yes that is a fire inside the truck. Everything is possible in Africa.

Angola

Back view of Kees’ truck. Always curious faces to greet us when we stop.

Angola

Bags of peat moss for sale.

Angola

Luanda, the capital city of Angola

Angola

Village life.

Angola

This young man would rather carry his shoes than wear them, surprisingly a common sight in Africa.

Angola

Learning at a young age to carry very heavy loads.

Angola

Our flooded camping area.

In just five LONG days, we covered 2,000km in a big yellow truck with a max-out speed of 90km/hr on some of the worst roads in Africa. The roads were often so full of crater-sized potholes that we resorted to driving on the side of the road through the dirt and bushes instead! When we reached Namibia, still in one piece after the long haul, we rejoiced with sand-filled smiles!

Namibia

The Dirty Dozen!!! Happy to finally arrive in NAMIBIA!

Stay tuned for more #FridayFotos. Next week is ARMENIA.

Savannah Grace

View more photos of Angola here.

For more of my travel photography, check out my Instagram account! See you there!

Savannah

 

 

7 replies »

  1. See, nothing in those pictures changes my opinion of the country, although I’ll concede my “dark tourism” bent is intrigued by the tank. That’s nothing against Angola specifically, just that it looks similar to other countries that are much easier to get to (I understand that these days it’s even harder to get a visa for Angola than it was).

    Nice roads, btw 🙂 Interesting as they are, I would imagine they’d become frustrating after a couple of … hours?!

    • More than frustrating, and I don’t think I would ever RECOMMEND Angola as a tourist destination… you’re right, there’s almost no reason to go, when there are so many other great African countries that are easier to get to, easier to travel in, easier to get visas for….etc etc. So aren’t you glad I went through the pain and suffering so you could enjoy the nice photos 🙂

  2. What a crazy place to have visited, but maybe not one I’m going to try and follow your footsteps towards. Sounds like a bit of a bureaucratic nightmare, but then that seems to be the way many adventures start. Amazing photos as always!

    • Haha, yeah, I don’t know that I would push travellers to make it their lifelong travel destination. Lol. But glad to have gone through the bum/back/neck ache to share the photos so you don’t have to go, haha. But it was an adventure 🙂

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