Angola travel guide

A trip to Kissama National Park usually includes a river safari up the Kwanza River. From a small motorboat you go looking for crocodiles, blue monkeys, lizards, fish eagles and other birds. Like a safari in Kissama National Park, a Kwanza river safari isn't mindblowing compared to the top river safaris in Africa, like Chobe in Botswana, but still - this is Angola and something entirely different.

Right at the bottom of the Serra da Leba Pass the concrete support wall has been turned into an art canvas. The cool murals and graffiti pieces are made by both Angolans and Brazilian artists.

Luands is a sprawling mega city with little to spellbound visitors. Add to that a reputation for being unsafe, but by taking the proper precautions and follow good advice from locals, Luanda can actually be an interesting encounter. There are the odd sights like the mausoleum of Neto, Fortress of São Miguel and Alta das Cruzes cemetery, but there are also the long beach on the Ilha and a thriving bar scene. Ship wreck beach (Praia Karl Max to Praia do Sarico) 90 min north of Luanda should also be visited.

Agostinho Neto was the father of modern Angola. He lead Angola to independence in 1974 and was the first president. He died in 1979 and was (as the socialist norm dictacted at the time) enbalmed and put on show in an open casket. However after years of not proper care, it was necessary to put Neto's corpse into a closed casket, where he rest to this day. You can still see the casket today inside his massive mausoleum, which is shaped like a rose upside down. You can't miss the mausoleum has it takes up a huge chunk of prime real estate at the waterfront.

The town of Mbanza Kongo was once the capital of the Kingdom of Kongo, one of the largest states in Southern Africa during the Middle Ages. Later at the end of the 15th century Portuguese missionaries arrived and built the first Catholic church in Central Africa. The church was later extended to a cathedral known as the Cathedral of the Holy Saviour of Congo (in Portuguese Catedral de São Salvador de Congo). The present day ruins are no bigger than a two-story house, but there is also the graveyard of the kings, along with a small, but impressive, museum with artifacts from the old Kingdom. Mbanza Kongo was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2017.

The south road from Luanda runs parallel with the coastline. At Moon Viewpoint (Mirrar da Luna), the plateau drops down and leave a dramatic landscape, not unlike what you would expect on the moon. You will pass the viewpoint when going from Luanda to Kissama National Park.

Captivating Pedras Negras is a group of huge rocks which emerge out of the flat savanna outside the town of Pungo Andongo. They are visible from the main road, but there is a road which goes through Pedras Negras into a small village inside where it ends. Stop along the way for amazing photo opportunities. There are giant boulders balancing on others, caves and deep drops. Behind the village is a dirt road which leads to a path, which goes up to the top of one of the rocks. The views from up here are of course manificent. Pedras Negras and Kalandula Falls are normally combined to a two day tour from Luanda.

About 45 km outside Lubango the beautiful Serra da Leba mountain range gives way to the lowland. The drop is very steep, so the road snakes back and forth in some sharp hairpin turns. There is a viewpoint at the edge (photo), which probably has the best views, but don't settle with that - drive all the way down and back up, for there are many other breathtaking viewpoints. Right at the bottom the concrete support has been turn into an art canvas with some cool murals.

Shipwreck Beach is a devastating sight, yet so fascinating. Kilometres after kilometres of shipwrecks rusting up in the surf. Though nobody knows for sure, the ships were most likely just dumped here many decades ago after they became unseaworthy. Unfortunately, the practice has just started again with new shipwrecks getting dismantled in the surf. It's possible to enter some of the wrecks, but obviously such adventure isn't without risk. The beaches are also known to locals as either Praia do Sarico, Praia da Santiago or just Karl Marx Beach named after the first shipwreck, which is still lying there (photo).

Tundavala gorge is just spectacular. It's a deep narrow gorge which ends dramatically with a vertical drop of about 1000 m. The views of the gorge and the landscape far below are unmatched and should be high on any Angola itinerary. There are several safe viewpoints, but the rest of the edge is unprotected - all with nerve-racking deep drops. As with many other natural sights in Angola, there are no entrance fee nor vendors, so you will probably have the whole place to yourself. Drivers are used to do the six hours tour of Lubango, which includes Serra da Leba, Cristo Rei and Tundavala Gorge.