Beaching It

 Working our way into week four in Angola! Last week Monday (May 1st) was International Labor Day so Jason had the day off.  We decided to try out a day trip to a beach on the barrier island close to the city called Mussulo.  The "company" has a private section of beach on Mussulo and 2 boats to service it.  We went to the spot where the boats leave from and thankfully our driver knew where to go because it was a mad house.  Lots of locals, people selling everything you can imagine, taxis dropping off people, a box truck in the water at one point and us. We found the check in spot, waited for our friends who's driver didn't know where to go and then got in the private boat to the island. After donning our "vests of life" as the boat captain called them and signing a wavier we had a safety briefing (in true company fashion).  It included in broken English details like if there is a fire go to the front of the boat and if someone goes overboard "don't make the panic" or jump but instead throw the life ring.  The boat ride is about 25 minutes and the beach we arrived at was very nice.  There was 2 other couples there and 2 families arrived later so it was very calm.  The beach has umbrellas, palapas, chairs and multiple decks areas with shade along with spots to cook and a kitchen and bathrooms.  Really nice set up - the families went in the water but I was still a bit hesitant as it is still pretty close to the city.  We had lunch and stayed for few hours then headed back in.  We had some boat trouble and were told several times to "not make the panic" which became pretty hilarious.  Not 100% what was wrong but we think we ran out of gas!  We made it to shore but we almost had to make a little panic!

My view from Mussulo

Looking back on the property at Mussulo

The rest of the week was filled with typical stuff- my days seem to revolve around grocery shopping as you can't quite find everything at one or really two stores- it is more like a store every other day maybe to find what you are looking for.  I am still in the hunting mode of trying to see what everything is and what I can and can't find.  I have done pretty well on cooking - no major fails yet but I am sure it is coming!   I did forget to say I had quite the visitor on our balcony this week - check him out - he was pretty huge and I think he lives in the neighborhood tree!

African Grey Parrot! Or maybe just a grey parrot here?

This past weekend we took a trip outside the "safe" zone to a surfer beach called Caboledo.  It is safe to travel to this area from a personal security issue but requires clearance from the company so they know your whereabouts and requires you to have 2 or more cars to travel together in case of car trouble.  We had a group of 8 and headed south about 2.5 hours in 4 cars.  The drive was pretty nice minus the road cyclists who we think were attempting suicide by biking in a group of 40 on a 2 lane windy road in Angola.  After we passed them it was smooth - we crossed the Kwansa River (also the name of the Angolan currency) - once we crossed we saw monkeys!  They were basically sitting and begging for bananas.

Kwansa River

Finally turned off on a dirt road and drove another 3K down to the beach.  The beach is pretty remote but there is a parking lot and some locals make palapas for shade- total cost: about $6 to park and have a shaded area.  We also give our driver money to head back to the local village and eat lunch.  Caboledo is a surfers paradise as the waves actual run parallel to the shore so you can walk up the beach a bit and then catch them and ride them back - very interesting.

Caboledo - surfer's paradise

The waves start around that corner and run parallel to the shore

I did decide to not try my hand at surfing in Angola at a beach 2.5 hours from medical care (your welcome mom!).  The water here was very clean and cold.  The beach was crowded (for Angola) as the surfing was predicted to the great.  We stayed for a few hours then trekked home - we did see a fire on the way home that burned all the way up to the road and the thick smoke made for almost zero visibility.  Our driver was not a fan of that but thankfully it was a short stretch - he said they burn to control the grasses.  We forgot to check back in with security when we arrived home so at sundown we did get a call inquiring on us- made us feel safe!

Rustic palapas at Caboledo