Tuesday - April 10, 2018

Tuesday – April 10, 2018

Today we arrived in Luanda, Angola. We have a tour of old and new Luanda this afternoon, but this morning we are walking. At the exit of the port a local market of hard goods has been set up. We will visit it on our way back. A prominent feature here is the Marginal. This is a pedestrian walkway that runs along the waterfront to an historic fort 3 miles away. Our tour will take us there so we only went half way on our walk.

We had been warned to be alert to our surroundings, and to mind our stuff. We were also told not to drink the water, eat anything washed like salads, and not to wash our hands. The water supply is iffy, and the poverty level is conducive to petty crime. We took water from the ship because bottled water sold is sometimes counterfeit. They fill bottles with tap water, and reseal them to look like new.

Our walk was uneventful until we encountered an overzealous passenger. As we walked, there were small fish jumping near the shore. At the edge of the walkway was a painted yellow line where concrete changed to pavers that sloped down to the water at a significant angle. This passenger, who was older than we are, (yes that is possible on this cruise) decided to go to the water’s edge. As he started down the embankment, a police officer started yelling for him to stop. He and his friends apparently had hearing problems. He continued. We yelled for him to stop to no avail. The policeman finally reached him. He scolded him soundly and sent him on his way.

This was alarming because we had also been warned to avoid doing anything that might arouse officials. This included a warning not to photograph government buildings, military personnel and policemen. We were to always ask permission before photographing people.

Our walk was pleasant, but it was very hot. We decided to turn back when we got half way to the fort. This allowed us to walk through the market at the port. The artworks, carvings, fabrics and clothing were beautiful. We did a quick walk-through because our tour was to allow time for shopping.

We did not take our cameras the walk in heed of the dire security warnings we had been given. This was too bad because we were never felt threatened in any way.

Our tour, The Changing Face of Luanda, departed after lunch. It made several stops. 

The first stop was at another steel house supposedly designed by Eiffel. He got around.

The most impressive old location was the fort. Its position overlooking the bay offered us marvelous views of the city and Marginal Bay. Our guide, who spoke excellent English, insisted that we go into one of the rooms with him before we walked the parapet for photos. This room was astounding. All of the walls were covered with Portuguese tiles in blue white. These told various stories and were very beautiful. The workmanship was excellent. This was not obvious from the outside, and many people never enter this series of rooms. Andres. Our guide, did us a great service. We talked to passengers who got to the fort on their own and did not know about the tiles.

Some views from the fort.

The newest site we visited was the Mausoleum of the first president of Angola, Agostinho Neto. He was dearly loved by the people as the magnitude of this monument suggests. From there we saw the Presidential Palace, House of Parliament, and other government buildings. All of these are new and are painted the same rose color.

As we toured the city we saw many rehabilitated buildings. Angola just achieved independence in 1975. A long and devastating Civil War followed with much self-inflicted harm. Luanda is striving to rebuild, but it has been a slow process. Just a few blocks from the main street one finds buildings in ill repair and people living in squalor. As has been the case in many of the ports we have visited, new construction funded by the Chinese is all around. Here we counted 7 tower cranes near the city center. None of them were working. Andres answered my question, telling us that they were idle because funding had dried up. The loans were in default. Current returns did not support the debt. They are waiting for the government to step in.

Our tour was thorough, but it did run long. While that was a benefit, we did suffer a loss because we could not shop the market before all aboard. We were told that similar markets will be available in Banjul and Dakar. Prices may also be lower there.

We enjoyed this stop very much. It is touching to learn the plight of these countries. The determination and ambition of the population are encouraging. To think that they only became independent 40 years ago gives pause to consider what it must have been like for the American colonies 240 years ago.

Sailing out of Luanda was bittersweet.