My Mom sent me a link to Ricardo Freire’s writings about his trip to Luanda. Although I was born in Angola, I left at a very young age and have no memories of Africa whatsoever. Constant wars destroyed the infrastructure and economy of the country; Angola hasn’t been in particularly good shape since it’s liberation in 1975 (not that Portuguese rule was all roses, but it was probably slightly better than civil war).
Ricardo was in Luanda just over a month ago; it’s interesting to see the pictures and read the Brazilian’s perspective on Angola. Here’s my translation of one of his posts:
There’s no tourism in Angola — the vast majority of foreigners that are here didn’t come to sightsee. If I called the hotel receptionist to ask for a taxi to go to the beach, she’d think I was joking. But once the minimal infrastructure is in place (within three, five, ten years?), I have no doubt that the tourists will start to show up.
Luanda’s location is wonderful: the city sits on the shores of a beach that looks more like a lagoon, protected from the open seas by a long and straight peninsula the locals call “The Island of Luanda.” Along the bay runs a road which reminds me of Malecón de Havana, with very pretty colonial buildings and a fort set atop a hill (there is no Portuguese colonial town without such a hill).
The area around the Island is the city’s playground, with extensive public beaches and — I need to make it clear that I adored this — small private beaches, served by well-run restaurants frequented by the Angolan elite and the “expatriates,” which is what they call the gringos (Portuguese included) around here.
Much like Brazil, the poverty is far too evident — outside of the central core, the city turns into an endless musseke, the Kimbundo term for Favela [the Brazilian term for shantytown -- Fil] …
I’d like to visit Angola some day. It’s nothing like the country my parents grew up in, but it’s an interesting glimpse at what my life could have been had my family stayed.
