MODERNO TROPICAL AND AFRICAN REVOLUTIONARIES

August 01 ⇾ August 12

In addition to our regular group departures, we also offer Angola Tours for private travel parties and lone wolves alike. As a traveller-oriented boutique operator, tailored trips and bespoke adventures are our bread and butter. Get in touch for more info on our customised journeys to Angola!

DAY 1 TO DAY 3 - Luanda

Meet-and-greet at Luanda International Airport, transfer to our hotel of choice and introductory briefing about the region, the route and the set of rules to observe while travelling in Angola.
Three-day architectural and cultural sightseeing in and around Luanda, the ever-changing groovy capital of Angola:

o The North-Korean-built Agostinho Neto Mausoleum and the Soviet-style planned neighbourhood of Prenda with its high-rise concrete blocks and Eastern-Bloc flair;

o The thriving musseque (working-class hood) of Sambizanga (markets, music and the real rough-and-ready face of Luanda), the saudade atmospheres along the Ilha de Luanda and the dystopian sceneries of Karl Marx Beach, a long sandy stretch of Atlantic coast dotted with an unimaginably large number of rusty shipwrecks;

o A vast plethora of modernist architectural gems, Portuguese-suave edifices the 60-70s, fading colonial vestiges, and socialist-era monuments and memorials such as the Monument to the Angolan Heroines, the 4th-February Memorial and the Kifangondo Landmark;

Overnights in Luanda.

DAY 4 TO DAY 6 - Cuanza Sul AND Benguela

After an early-morning visit to the essential Slavery Museum, we’ll head south for the colonial port of Lobito, driving down a scenic coastal road that runs along the wild and wide Atlantic shores.
The list of stops en route will include: Miradouro da Lua (viewpoint over a lunar landscape of sandstone pillars), Caboledo (scenically secluded cove and little-know surfing paradise), Port Amboim, home to one of the largest fish markets in southern Africa, and Sumbe, the capital of Cuanza Sul Province: tropical-modernist Portuguese architecture and a must-visit socialist-era model neighbourhood, the Bairro E-15, built by the Cubans back in the 80s.
We’ll eventually arrive in Lobito in the late evening and then devote the following two days to the architectonic and cultural richness of Benguela Province: the modernist gems scattered around Lobito and Benguela city, the old Catumbela railway, the informal African markets of Lobito’s western outskirts, the saudade-filled town of Dombe Grande and the pristine Atlantic beaches of Baia Farta and Caota.
Overnights in Lobito.

DAY 7 to DAY 8 - Huambo Province

From Lobito we’ll head for the vast interior of the country: the Huambo Province is up next!
The province saw some of the bloodiest battles during the 30-year long civil war that ravaged Angola and the traces of the conflict are visible everywhere, especially in the provincial capital Huambo, once known as Novo Lisboa (New Lisbon).
The five-to-six-hour drive from Lobito to Huambo will take us across a landscape of traditional villages, small colonial towns, thriving agricultural land, lush vegetation and solitary rock formations.
We’ll then devote the following day to Huambo exploring the scarred urban landscape and the resilient humanity characterising this city of glorious and troubled past.
Overnights in Huambo.

DAY 9 - Huíla Province

We’ll leave Huambo in the early morning and head for Lubango, a pleasant provincial capital built by the Portuguese on the wind-blessed high grounds of the Huíla Plateau.
Along the road from Huambo to Lubango we’ll stop at the pretty colonial towns of Caluquembe and Cacula and then head for the traditional market town of Chibia where we will able to meet with members of the Mwila, a traditional indigenous tribe tribe shunning modern comforts and polyester clothes.
Please Note: we neither practice nor support tribal tourism as we consider it a voyeuristic practice fuelled by Western-centric exoticism and neo-colonialist stereotypes doing more harm than good to the local population. Please never ever hand over money or candies to tribe members in order to get a nice posed shot of them. This common attitude among tourists have turned these once shy and proud tribes into photo-beggars. Your behaviour can make a difference. Be respectful, be discreet, don’t pay-and-shoot.
Around sunset time we’ll eventually reach the impressive Tundavala Gap, a much-photographed viewpoint in the rim of the great Serra da Leba escarpment: a romantic conclusion to our long day of travelling.
Overnight in Lubango.

DAY 10 - Namibe Province

From Lubango we’ll move further south to Namibe, a melancholic frontier town and the capital of the namesake province.
The relatively easy drive from Lubango to Namibe is filled with plenty of scenic panoramas and interesting roadside stops.
We’ll first visit the bustling bazaar at Humpata and then descend to the coastal plains via the gorgeous serpentine road crossing the Leba Pass.
Once in the flatlands, we’ll tour the tribal market at Mangueirinhas and the dystopian Mad-Max settlement of Caraculo, before eventually reaching Namibe in the afternoon and taking a short tour around town, including a visit to the Independecia Shipwreck.
Overnight in Namibe.

DAY 11 - Baía dos Tigres

Today we’ll head south towards the border with Namibia crossing the spectacular Angolan stretch of the Namib desert, one of the most arid region on Earth and the only true desert in southern Africa.
Our first stop will be the outlandish sandstone formations at the Colinas do Curoca and the lush green oasis of the Lagoa dos Arcos.
We’ll then visit the god-forsaken fishing hamlet of Rocha (straw huts and metal barracks lost amid the coastal dunes of the Namib desert) and the nearby Fish Factory Informal Settlement (basically an entire village built within the ruins of an abandoned fish-processing facility from the Portuguese-era).
From the Fish Factory we’ll continue on to the formerly prosperous town of Tombua stopping en route at the Senhora Dos Navegantes, a crumbling solitary modernist church built on top of a high cliff overlooking the entire coastal stretch north of Tombua.
After having toured Tombua and its fair-share of fading colonial glories and post-colonial despairs, we’ll enter the Iona National Park towards the final destination of our trip: Baía dos Tigres – a ghost town rising from the windswept sands of an island that was cut off from the rest of the country when the ocean broke through the tiny isthmus that used to connect it with the Angolan mainland.
Overnight in Baía dos Tigres.

Day 12 - FAREWELL TO ANGOLA

After enjoying a last Angolan meal together in Baía dos Tigres, we'll take care of your transfer to Namibe Regional Airport for your return flight via Luanda International Airport.
For those wishing to explore neighbouring Namibia: we can arrange bespoke tours to the country especially focusing - needless to say - on SWAPO history and monumentalism.
Possible tour extensions to this itinerary include: Red Africa and/or Centrafrique.
End of the tour.

4990 €

INCLUSIONS
Double/twin room accommodation (breakfast included), private ground transportation around Angola (jeep/minivan), entrance fees for the attractions listed in the itinerary, English-speaking guiding and translation service, 24/7 in situ and remote assistance.

EXCLUSIONS
Single supplement, international flights, lunches, dinners, drinks and tips, visas if required, entrance to attractions not listed in the itinerary, insurance.