2024-07-20, 09:44 AM
I spent much of this month in Africa. Specifically, in Sao Tome (which has a second large island called Principe) and Angola, both of which are former Portuguese colonies (independent since the 1970s). This trip also completed my visitation to all of the former Portuguese African colonies (Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome & Angola).
Angola & Sao Tome are far off most people's radar. Sao Tome is a small archipelago about 150 miles west of Gabon, sitting in the Atlantic. Angola is far south, north of Namibia and south of "the Congo" (DRC). Getting to both of them was not an enjoyable experience. Sao Tome required over 24 hours of flying, and Angola is only connected to Sao Tome by a twice/week flight in a prop plane operated by Angola's TAAG airline. That said, the trip went fairly smoothly, and it was a good overall experience.
Sao Tome is currently one of the world's leading growers of cacao (the beans used to make chocolate), but is otherwise a tropical, sleepy place. Angola has a booming oil & gas industry, but is still very much a developing country, with all the stereotypical problems (poor infrastructure, poverty, etc). I rented a car to get around Sao Tome, and it was very easy to navigate (the island is barely 30 miles at its widest point), with basically just 3 roads (one along the north coast, one along the south coast, and one running east/west across the middle). Angola is a different animal altogether, and I joined a group, as self driving there was not really feasible.
First Sao Tome:
North coast
more north coast
the only tunnel on the island
end of the south coast road, destroyed in a 2021 storm
South coast
down south
the island's iconic extinct volcanic plug
peaking through the clouds
lots of wild pigs
jungle trek in the center of the island
Angola is a very different place:
Tundavala, over 6500ft down
Sunset over Tundavala
Palm oil, its what's for dinner
village life
just a small baobab after 400 years
welwitscia in the Namib desert
abandoned
serra da leba, 6600 ft
when the chickens come home to roost at sunset
goat sunset
[/url]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2q59muR]village life
end of the day
the kwanza river in Muxima
For anyone wanting to read more of my words, a detailed, day by day trip report is available HERE. Way way more photos are posted HERE.
thanks for reading!
Angola & Sao Tome are far off most people's radar. Sao Tome is a small archipelago about 150 miles west of Gabon, sitting in the Atlantic. Angola is far south, north of Namibia and south of "the Congo" (DRC). Getting to both of them was not an enjoyable experience. Sao Tome required over 24 hours of flying, and Angola is only connected to Sao Tome by a twice/week flight in a prop plane operated by Angola's TAAG airline. That said, the trip went fairly smoothly, and it was a good overall experience.
Sao Tome is currently one of the world's leading growers of cacao (the beans used to make chocolate), but is otherwise a tropical, sleepy place. Angola has a booming oil & gas industry, but is still very much a developing country, with all the stereotypical problems (poor infrastructure, poverty, etc). I rented a car to get around Sao Tome, and it was very easy to navigate (the island is barely 30 miles at its widest point), with basically just 3 roads (one along the north coast, one along the south coast, and one running east/west across the middle). Angola is a different animal altogether, and I joined a group, as self driving there was not really feasible.
First Sao Tome:
North coast
more north coast
the only tunnel on the island
end of the south coast road, destroyed in a 2021 storm
South coast
down south
the island's iconic extinct volcanic plug
peaking through the clouds
lots of wild pigs
jungle trek in the center of the island
Angola is a very different place:
Tundavala, over 6500ft down
Sunset over Tundavala
Palm oil, its what's for dinner
village life
just a small baobab after 400 years
welwitscia in the Namib desert
abandoned
serra da leba, 6600 ft
when the chickens come home to roost at sunset
goat sunset
[/url]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2q59muR]village life
end of the day
the kwanza river in Muxima
For anyone wanting to read more of my words, a detailed, day by day trip report is available HERE. Way way more photos are posted HERE.
thanks for reading!