20241221 Seabourn Sojourn Grand Africa Cruise Day 26/96 - Luanda, Africa

Grand Africa Cruise Trip Day 26/96 - Luanda, Angola - ♪ I bless the rains down in Africa ♫

We awoke this morning, already docked in Luanda, Angola, on Africa's southwest coast. We spent the day in our 92nd country, touring the area and attempting rather unsuccessfully to dodge raindrops.

Even though the port was seriously smelly, it was nicely decorated

Dancers greeted us as we departed from the ship

The shuttle bus dropped us just outside the port

It was here that we met our Viator tour operator - we were struck with how much more modern Luanda was than the other cities we have visited in Africa so far

We boarded our small bus. Nine of us independently booked the same tour so it was a nice-sized group. We made the short drive to our first stop, the Dr. António Agostinho Neto Memorial (MAAN) , also known as the Foguetão.

The former USSR designed and built this Mausoleum to house the President's remains after his passing in 1979

It wasn't completed until 2011

The Soviet design aesthetic is obvious

You can also see the Parliament dome from here

The statue shows President Neto and another person representing Angolan youth

We drove past the Angonal Parliament building.

There are decidedly modern buildings in Luanda

The money here comes from minerals and oil. All the major petroleum players are here and they're are multiple refineries here. It has had a positive impact on gas prices. In the other countries we have visited, gas has been around $5 per gallon. Here, gas was 300 Kwanza and diesel was 200 Kwanza per liter. At 3.785 liters per gallon and 918 Kwanza per $1US, that comes to about $1.24 per gallon of gas and $0.82 per gallon of diesel. Of course, you have to keep in mind that the minimum wage in Angola is the equivalent of $50 per month. Still, gas is much more affordable here than in other African countries.

And then, there are these...

And this...

National Bank of Angola

Currency Museum of Luanda associated with the National Bank

Monument to the Unknown Soldier

A glimpse of Fortress of São Miguel - we'll see more later

These blue/white vans were everywhere - they are a form of bus system with defined routes - you flag one down and hop on/off

Coastline driving

The National Press

A large hospital

Our next stop was interesting. We drove south for about an hour. 

A water park along the way

In the rain. For an hour. What could be so interesting? Our guide, Ivone, described it as Angola's answer to Bryce Canyon. That was interesting to us since we were in Bryce Canyon just a few months ago. We arrived...in the rain. Lots of rain. The parking lot and walkway were not paved, so that meant mud...lots of mud. But, we didn't sit in a bus for an hour to not take a look. Here's what we found.

This roughly translates to, "Come now, I'm on the Moon"

We were surprised to see what resembled hoodoos from Bryce Canyon

Did I mention that it was raining?

This very much resembles the American West.

There were lots of beautiful flowering trees - Delonix regia 

With the nine of us several stages wetter than when we stepped off the bus, we stepped back on for the drive to our next stop, the National Slavery Museum.

The museum has exhibits that highlight the slave trade that occurred here - nearly half of the slaves traded came from this area

Slaves were baptised to appease the church while gaining approval for the business

Nearly 5M of the 10M slaves came through this geography

These bugs were all over the place

The puddle between us and the bus

Wait - water! Arlona had to touch it...

By the time we were done here, we all felt like we had lived the Toto song, Africa: 

♪ I bless the rains down in Africa ♫

The passengers voted unanimously to skip a visit to the outdoor craft market in the rain

Trying to sell various wares to drivers at stop lights

More glimpses of our next destination, the Fortress of São Miguel - it had not rained in the city

The fortress was built by the Portuguese in 1576

Entering the fort compound

Lots of vehicles were on display

The exit

The entry to the interior of the fort

Presidential vehicles

Portuguese who helped with the creation of Angola

Interesting Portuguese tiles set flush into the plaster

WWI machine gun

All these tiles were removed a few years ago, sent to Portugal for restoration, returned, and reinstalled

The view from the top of the fort

The Angolan flag

The Unknown Soldier Memorial

The exit

Parliament to the left, the Neto Memorial to the right

Very basic housing was nearby

If you look closely, you can see that very basic housing, and privileged housing is separated by a street

We saw Christmas trees along the road - this one was made from soda pop bottles

Our next stop was Palácio de Ferro - the Iron Palace. This building is thought to have been designed by Gustave Eiffel. It is believed to have been assembled in France before being disassembled and placed on a ship destined for Madagascar. As it sailed near Luanda, a storm sunk the ship and its contents. Salvagers retrieved the pieces and then built in here in Luanda. 

The flooring created quite an optical illusion of depth

Interesting art

More interesting art on our ride back toward the port

Another view of the Unknown Soldier Memorial

We made a final photo stop at the I Love Luanda sign 

We returned to the ship to dry out and get a nice, warm shower before heading upstairs for the sail-away. It was a little tough outside. I mentioned above that the port was stinky. Captain Hamish explained this afternoon that the odor comes from a wheat processing plant in the port.

We sailed past petroleum plants and storage tanks but this wall was much more photogenic

Farewell Luanda

After a nice hosted dinner by Cruise Director, Nick and his lovely wife, Ola, who is sailing with him until we reach Cape Town, we returned to the suite. Tomorrow, we will dock in Lobito, Angola. All we plan to do is to take the shuttle and do a little walking. We're hoping for a dryer day.