Miradouro Da Lua

It has been awhile!  We went home in late October for a few weeks.  Jason had to work in California so we took the opportunity to see Heather and Damon in the Bay Area and then headed to my mom's for some early Christmas time.  Jason spent the weekend then headed to work while my mom and I spent some quality time.  Once Jason was done with work we had the opportunity to see my sister, Leora, and her sister-in-law, Annie, in Palo Alto for a lovely day (and amazing Indian food!)  Then we headed to Texas to become citizens of the great state once again (and not pay LA income tax!) and do a stock up.

Nape wine tasting- day started here with my favorite

Ended here, we are too old for this anymore but it was well worth it!

First trip to Alcatraz Island - it was interesting

Got to shoot some guns 

I spent a beautiful day in Yosemite with my Aunt,  always awe-inspiring!

Before I left Luanda I had a few quick adventures.  One morning a group of use wanted some baskets so we took a trip down south toward the Kwansa River in search of the local basket sellers.  Took us a while to find the right seller but we found them and made their day with 3 of us all buying baskets- all the car could hold!  On the way we stopped at the natural "wonder" called Miradoura Da Lua which translate as Moon Vally View.  There used to be water covering this spot and overtime erosion has created these deep crevices in the soil.  This is considered one of the top tourist attractions in Angola...after seeing it I would disagree but then again there is not really anything to see here so I guess if you had to rate something?  But still not really, but it was pretty.  Our driver had never seen it and wanted his picture with it too which made me smile.

Miradouro Da Lua

Mucua - insides of the fruit of the Imbonerio (aka Baobab) tree

Looking toward the ocean

I also have been playing a little golf.  The course is pretty far- about 90 minutes south of the city (past the moon view) but I do have some time on my hands.  The course is really pretty and not too expensive.  There are interesting animals and birds and it is quiet- something you forget about living in a huge loud city.  On the course we have seen huge pigs, horses, kingfishers and the hint of crocodiles (just under the water, kinda shy things!).  It is a nice option to have a few times a month.  Being outside is something we miss.

Pigs on the edge of the course

Gold Course Fairway

Horses on the course from the nearby Polo field

We got back to Luanda 2 weeks ago and I have been sick with a cold and bronchitis, finally feeling better.  I think the malaria drugs make recovery harder...either that or I am getting old :(  

Onto paradise in Mozambique

Saturday morning after our city tour of Maputo we headed back to the airport to catch a 25 minute helicopter ride to the resort south of the city.  Jason and I have both ridden our fair share of helicopters so we were surprised when there was no safety briefing but when in Africa!  The helicopter ride took you over the river and the new bridge they are building and then over the elephant reserve.  As in Angola most game animals were killed during the civil war so they are slowly rebuilding their wildlife reserves.  They have roughly 6,000 animals now and have plans to bring in another 20,000 in the coming year.  We saw elephants from the helicopter!

Bridge linking the city and outskirts, only about one year worth of the construction- amazing progress for Africa

The resort is just 22 rooms in a spot that is pretty desolate which made it absolutely breathtaking.  The rooms all have 180 views of the ocean and private plunge pools on the deck.  It was a bit too cold for the pools since they were unheated and we are just coming out of winter.  Due to the timing, it was low season so the resort was empty - at one point there was only 1 other guest there - we were outnumbered by staff the entire time.  The resort caters to people (mostly Americans and Europeans) who want to tack on some beach time after a South African safari so most people only stay 2-3 days but we stayed 6 nights.  It rained for the first 2 days which was a bit chilly but kinda nice and relaxing, we haven't seen rain in awhile.  We did lots of reading, some spa time and played our new favorite game Tchadjj which the bartender taught us to play.  That bartender also served us hot chocolate with Amarula as a afternoon treat- we liked him!  The staff was really great, we had a butler which was fun.  They liked that we tired to speak some Portuguese to them and they taught us some of the native Bantu language.

View from the room

Local village children teaching me to dance

Tchadjj

Once the rain cleared we took part in some outdoor activities.  We walked the beach as often as we could looking for shells and enjoyed being outside (something we get very little of here in Angola).  The beach was amazing, nobody as far as the eye can see and beautiful.  The beach was wide, with great sand and very clean.  We also went on a horseback ride, Jason had not been on a horse since he was little and found out he was allergic.  We hopped him up on benadryl and tried it out (since it was free) and it was a success.  The horse guide was very nice, he lived part of his life in South Africa and spoke mostly Zulu and he taught himself English.

Getting ready to ride

We taught the resort how to make our favorite fruity umbrella drink

Part of the Mozambique draw is the ocean, they have untouched coasts so lots of marine life (dolphins, turtles) and humpback whale migration twice a year.  We didn't expect to see as much whale activity as we did.  You could see the whales surfacing to breath from the beach and our room and they would breach which was visible all day - it was truly spectacular.  Part of our package included an "ocean safari" which got you close to the whales and the option to swim with dolphins.  We scheduled that for a "calmer" day since I get sea sick  (I prepped with Dramamine) and we headed to the check in point with our floppy hats, flip flops and bathing suits thinking it would be a fishing boat and we could get in the water if we wanted.  Got to check in and we were promptly handed wetsuits - maybe it was going to be a bit different then expected?!  After being fitted for a wet suit (my first time!) we got the briefing on what to expect and it was not what we thought.  We loaded up on the beach in a zodiac (similar to a white water raft with a motor) and where taken via tractor to the beach - got the boat in the water and then had to put on our life vests.  Then the boat driver proceed to look for a break in the 6 foot crashing waves to punch the boat through the waves while we had our feet tucked under straps and our hands holding on the side rope for dear life.  Okay made it out past the waves, life vests come off and we are off to look for humpbacks.  Found a small group of them - 2 female and a calf!  We were able to get about 20 feet or so from them while they surfaced and lob tailed.  The baby was so small  - the females work together to keep the males away and tend to the baby.  The baby has to fatten up in order the survive in the arctic waters they live in.  We watched that grouping for 20 minutes or so following them south.  Then we headed north to look for dolphins, once we found them you hop in the water and swim toward them to interact - it was very cool!  They were close enough to touch (but you are not allowed to) and we saw a few little pods of them.  On the way back we stopped at a reef to snorkel and see some amazing fish.  We had been out for about 90 minutes at this point - the seas where about 6 feet - and my body was done....so after barfing twice while trying to snorkel we high tailed it to the boat and back to the resort.  But not before reversing the process to get back to land - life vests on, hang on for dear life and come to a stretching halt on the beach!  It was well worth vomiting in the Indian Ocean :)

That's the zodiac getting towed out of the water after the ocean safari

Amazing beaches

 We had a few more glorious days at the resort before heading home to Luanda.  It was just what we needed to reset our psyche for a few more months of life in Luanda.

Our butler, Belimo, before we fly home

There were monkeys as well- here is the only picture I got as they were shy

Breakfast spread was yummy!

First Stop- Maputo!

Jason and I spent an amazing week in Mozambique in late September, taking advantage of an Angolan holiday and a direct flight to Maputo which is the capital of Mozambique. We spent just about 20 hours in Maputo before flying to the resort but it was an interesting city.  Mozambique was also a Portuguese colony who gained independence about the same time as Angola and like Angola they quickly fell into civil war.  Their war was roughly 15 years and followed similar story lines of Angola, communist involvement along with some geographic lines drawn in the sand.  One difference is they had 2 leaders (of the winning party) killed during the war - one by a package bomb and one by a deliberate plane crash.  Makes me realize why the Angola president is so highly guarded.  Unlike Angola the rebel forces are still VERY active in Mozambique, most recently bringing the rebel military to the middle of the country and shutting down the main road for 2+ years.  Just this year they resolved that issue and people can move freely.  And yes the rebels have a military, it seems like that was not turned over during the truce.

Maputo is similar to Luanda but much nicer!  The first thing we noticed was how clean the streets were!  The city if obviously better maintained and there is less obvious signs of poverty everywhere.  We did see some of the typical things from Angola like street vendors but the number was a lot less.  They also have traffic lights and don't drive crazy which was a surprise.  And they drive on the left which was weird since Portuguese colonies typically don't but we learned that it is due to the proximity to South Africa (their southern neighbor).   People were very nice and everyone seems to speak some English including the beggar at the airport trying to hustle money from tourists!  We stayed at the Polanao Hotel which is an old Portuguese building on the water, very beautiful building much nicer then anything in Luanda.

Polano Hotel

View from the hotel

The local beer

Hotel pool area

Lobby

The next morning we had a helicopter flight to the resort at 11:30am but I really wanted to see the sights of Maputo so I arranged a private city tour with a local guide.  There are a few companies that do tours- unlike Luanda which has nothing really.  We took a taxi (taxi are pretty nice, you agree upon a price before getting in but it was not haggling just a confirmation, very cheap too)  to the Cathedral and meet our guide.  He spoke great English and had a ton to tell us.  The tour was supposed to be 1-1.5 hours but if we did not have a flight to catch I am pretty sure he would have provided a 3 hour tour!  Maputo has protected many of the original building and historic sights and there are good stories to hear.   After the tour our guide helped us negotiate a price for a ride back to the hotel - we ended up in a tuk-tuk - I was assured it was safe and it was much nicer and fun then the taxi!  Overall Maputo was nice - not a destination in itself maybe but as a stop over it was great.  I really wanted to see what a country with such similar history to Angola could do with tourism.  The answer is with time, effort and peace they can make strides in this area but as with everything in Africa it is never simple.

Maputo Cathedral

Art panel in cathedral depicting when the locals killed the priests!

City hall- they were setting up for an event with go-kart racing and skateboarding 

The first president- he was killed in a plane crash blamed on the rebels

Local artists uses pieces of weapons and bombs to make cool art

The Iron Palace - made my Eiffel - we have one in Luanda as well

Entrance to the beautiful city park, very well maintained and the home of weddings in Maputo- we saw at least 5 while we stood there

A little hard to see but those are fruit bats

Central Market- everything is grown locally and very beautiful

We tried local fruit (Maraque and Bull's Heart) here and lived to tell about it!

Outside the central markets

This street was the red light district and our guide told us it looked just like New Orleans!

Our guide arranging or the tuk-tuk ride (roughly $2.50)

Off on the adventure

View from inside

Election Results

The elections were held about 18 days ago - if you missed my first post on election you can find it here.  People were nervous about it and some people elected to leave the country or postpone their trip back "just in case".  Other companies did 3 hour long worst case scenario exercises that included information on what to pack in your bag (i.e. don't bring your entire house to the airport).  We were given some basic communication information and the day off from work.  Everyone has to have the option to vote in their assigned location so most business close to allow for that.  We had no driver and were told to stay in the apartment.

In the days running up to the election the propaganda increased - thousands of flags flying, posters everywhere and to our surprise low flying planes dropping leaflets on the city.  We were told to have some extra food and water just in case, so we went to do that on Saturday before the Wednesday election.  I expected to find empty shelves (like a hurricane stock up) but nope - nobody seemed to be buying water, milk etc.  I did hear the day before there was a lot of water purchases but no empty shelves.  The day of the election was eerily quiet in the streets, no traffic, no work...nothing.  We joined some other expats for gumbo, drinks and poker.  Jason and I swept the poker so we brought home some extra cash just in case.  The day ended with no election drama.  Preliminary results were announced the next day with the ruling party (MPLA) taking 64% of the vote - this was contested by the other parties but nothing has seemed to come of that.  Official results are announced last week and they mirrored the preliminary results.  We get the impression there was some hint of fraud (as there has been in the past) but our driver just told us it is what is expected.  The corruption runs deep here but they are still too fresh from war to want another uprising.  Ten years from now I expect we will see some civil unrest if things don't change.

Election Day in the City - ghost town!

Election propaganda being dropped from low flying planes

Found a piece of propaganda on our way to dinner after the plane drop

We have had a very quiet few weeks, a lot of expats went home to avoid elections and then got caught in the Harvey mess and couldn't get back (the only direct flight is from Houston).  We have seen a few movies, more then we typically saw at home since it is one of the few things to do here.  We head out on Friday for a week of beach relaxation in Mozambique (that is on the east coast of Africa just above South Africa).  I am interested to see Mozambique since they are similar to Angola (former Portuguese colony with a bloody civil war) but they have seemed to recover faster and have some tourism.  I got our visas in advance here in Luanda just in case - you are supposed to be able to get them at the airport but I have read some horror stories of being turned away.  The visa process here was surprisingly quick (3 business day) and I got to do the transaction in mostly Portuguese which is rewarding. Stay turned of pictures of the beautiful beaches of Mozambique.

We do have a piece of home now- we can watch NFL and College Football!   We had to get 2 season passes but well worth the cost and the coverage and speed is great so far.