Menu
President of Angola
Goncalves Lourenco
Angola: The Africa’s Best Kept Tourist Secret
EMEH OBI
Angola is being regarded as one of the travel mysteries of Africa for many reasons. The energy and excitement across the country are unmatched. For a country that was at war for most of 27 years, infrastructure is impressive. Residents of Luanda and other cities speak of national healing after over half a million lives were lost in a bloody civil war. Today Angola has overcome its ugly past.
The former Portuguese colony holds 9 billion barrels of proven oil resources and 11 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, which represent great potential for further economic development and significant business oppor-tunities, hence the huge influx of expatriates in its oil and gas sector.
“For lovers of history and city tour, Luanda, Angola’s capital city is the perfect place to visit”
However, the country is beyond oil and gas. While Amazon rainforest is acclaimed to be the last frontier in the world, Angola is unarguably the least explored on the African continent, hence it is the adventure that awaits tourists any day.
A visit to Angola is a trip to discover a pristine part of Africa with stunning geography, intimate resorts, huge wildlife reserve, surfing beaches, Portuguese colonial relics, as well as, unique culture that has been untouched through the years.
There is over 1.650 km coastline along the Atlantic Ocean borders to host the world, while the wildlife parks, especially Iona National Park, the largest and most visited in Angola, parade some rare wildlife communities worth seeing.
If you are more adventurous, a visit to the Leba Mountain Pass will task your guts. The spiraling roads reach as high as 5,000 feet in altitude, hence, offering an adrenaline pump-ing ride from Lubango to Namibe, and also exposing the mountains and cascading waterfalls.
Tour operators’ favorites are the Lake Arco, a freshwater oasis with superb rock formations and the Namib Desert, the oldest desert on earth with a spectacular stretch of sand dunes and rock formations spanning from Tombwa to Walvis Bay in Namibia.
For lovers of history and city tour, Luanda, Angola’s capital city is the perfect place to visit. Set on the Atlantic coast, Luanda offers beauti-ful beaches, colonial ruins, historic monu-ments, museums, and a wide range of things to do and places to explore. Water sporting along the tropical beaches of Mussulo Island and shopping in the famed Benfica Handcrafts Market are just some of the favorite pastimes in Luanda.
But a taste of Portuguese-influenced cuisine and photographs at some colonial landmarks including Fortaleza de São Miguel (a fortress built by the Portuguese in 1576 to defend the capital, Luanda) is advisable to make your Luanda experience complete, and leaving you with memories that will linger long after the visit.
If you have time while on the trip, you can also visit Kwanza Sul: the largest coffee producer in the country, alongside other offerings in the area such as the Waku Kungo plains, the River Kwanza, the Cambambe Dam, Conde Hot Springs, and the Binga Waterfalls.
The beautiful Cubal Canyon is also a must-see, as are the ruins of age old fortresses and cave paintings
dating back to the Neolithic era.
” There is over 1.650 km coastline along the Atlantic Ocean borders to host the world, while the wildlife parks, especially Iona National Park, the largest and most visited in Angola”
While access to the country used to be difficult, Angola is now easing its once difficult visa procurement requirements and is open to receiving visitors. Even, the United Kingdom is encouraging more of her nationals to visit and is making moves to woo Angola, which is a former Portuguese colony, to become the 54th member of the Commonwealth.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, will be visiting Angola soon to woo the oil-rich country into becoming the first new Commonwealth member in a decade during his Africa tour.
So, if the UK royalty is visiting, more people are coming too, to uncover the hidden wonders of the coasts, interior highlands and wilderness, as well as get to know a unique culture that has been untouched through the years. Angola truly beckons for your visit.
