Adventures of Beth and Dan: Miradoura Da Lua & Mussulo Day Trip : “Traveling’s not something you’re good at. It’s something you do. Like breathing .” Gayle Foreman

November 30th we dock at Luanda, Angola. We did take on some new passengers at Cape Town and some passengers and crew got off there too. My dear friend Kate Ross, guest lecturer was to get off in Cape Town but a day or so before she contracted COVID! South Africa would not let her in so she was confined to her cabin for almost a week and had to cancel her plans to go home. Fortunately she has a wonderful community of support in her home town that could lend help if her husband needed it. She learned from her husband that her old cat Cocoa wasn’t eating and she feared the worst. Her husband made an appointment with the vet for the next day. I could certainly understand her anguish as we lost our old kitty this summer of 19 years. I told her just to wait and see what the vet had to say; I told her it could even be a tooth infection. Anyway as it turned out she texted me the next day to say that it was exactly a tooth infection and her kitty was going to be ok!!!

Our tour was with Across Africa and it was a small group of us, just one van. Our first stop was a viewpoint at Miradoura da Lua. It was formed by a set of cliffs that remind you of unique lunar landscapes. It is a natural result of the erosion caused by the tropical rains and by the wind in a soil made of a mixture of shades of ocher. The colors change according to the intensity of light and can create a magical photograph.

The next stop was at the Benfica arts and crafts market. We should have seen a full market of vendors with their handicrafts and discover a different Bairro diving into souvenirs but the market was barely open. There were several paintings there and one women selling a few shirts but the rest of the market was closed up. Our guide who was a novice with poor English said the market opens up at night. It was silly that they would put this on our tour. Our guide was extremely quiet and we struggled to hear her and understand her. She had no microphone as many of the other Across Africa tours.

The Slavery Museum was the next stop. It was founded in 1977 by the National Institute of Culture with the objective of depicting the history of slavery in Angola. The museum adjoins the capelade a 17th century structure where slaves were baptized before being put on slave ships for transport to the Americas. We were to see hundreds of items utilized in the slave trade but there was hardly anything in the museum and it wasn’t what had been described to us. The organizer of the tour kept asking over and over what was our agenda and how long we would be certain places. He had to be quite persuasive to get information and have a discussion with the guide. There was no lunch included with this tour.

We were also supposed to have a boat ride to Mussulo Island and enjoy a panoramic view of the island but they told us we couldn’t go due to the tides. We were never offered a refund for any of the things we missed. They did say they would give us a city tour but we drove so quickly by places that we got few photos and our guide didn’t share much. We learned more from our port guide who spoke about Angola a few days before the tour. He told us Angola was founded in 1576 by the Portuguese and that Luanda is the capital. He also told us to be very careful about our valuables as smash and grab was a cook thing here. He suggested no jewelry and that we should also not show cash and only carry small bills. Their are pockets of wealth alongside poverty. One interesting building is the pink National Bank of Angola. We traveled 1120 miles from Walvis Bay along the coast to Luanda. In 2002 there was great conflict in the country which has held it back from real peace and stability. Oil, diamonds and other resources are found here. They are trying to repave and widen roads, build a new airport and upgrade the railway. When slaves were freed they left the country which hugely cut back on their workers. The port is an extensive shipping port . In 1880 it was a great Portuguese city with lots of trade. Some of the exports were tobacco, maize and casaba. Later an aqueduct opened for the city. In 1972 they called it the Paris of Africa. In 1974 they gained their independence. Many Portuguese left and almost ruined the city. Many people here live on $5 per day and some have free housing.

We ended up asking the tour guide to take us back to the ship early. It was a rather disappointing tour. When we asked to go back the guide said she had made us lunch reservations!! We said that lunch was not included and we didn’t want to purchase lunch. She was dismayed and acted like we needed to follow her lead but our guide insisted against it.

Luanda is a very poor area. Lots of litter and garbage and really not much to see. It would be hard for me to recommend this port. We were given explicit information about mugging and theft so we questioned why Holland would go here.

The national flag and government area.

The downtown area along the slough.

If you can enlarge this you will see their shanty town with tin, wooden pallets and boxes for houses. No power or water.

Depictions from the museum of their struggles.

The year of their independence

The museum has a huge area of all delft tile with scenarios and then surrounded by more tile. They all had to be laid out individually and made then placed on the walls