ANGOLA

Dates: June 24 to July 6, 2022

Duration: 13 days / 12 nights

Number of participants: 6 – 12

TRAVEL PROGRAM: TOUR TO ANGOLA


Day 1. June 24, 2022. LUANDA – MOON MIRADOR (2 h drive)

Arrival at Luanda International Airport. Reception of the group by the guide. Quick lunch and excursion to the Moon Mirador at 1 h towards the south of Luanda. Back to the capital. Transfer to the Hotel Ilha Mar or similar near the colonial neighborhood. Overnight.
* Recommended flight ET-851 with Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa, arrival in Luanda at 12:50 pm on June 24.
Meals included: lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Hotel Ilha Mar or similar


Day 2. June 25, 2022. LUANDA – LUBANGO

Breakfast. 30-minute talk on Luanda's architectural styles: Colonial (S-XVI-XIX), Art Deco (1920-1950) and Modern Tropical (1950-1975). Urban circuit to photograph the most emblematic buildings of these 3 styles: Housing in the Heroes Cubanos Square, Mercaderes Street, Palacio de Ferro, Grande Universo Hotel, and Marginal façade. Lunch and at the indicated time, we will transfer to the airport to take a domestic flight from TAAG to Lubango, the main city in the South. The flight will take 1h30m.
Arrival in the South of Angola, the city of Lubango, meeting with guides and our jeeps, transfer to the hotel Kimbo do Soba Lodge or similar. Dinner and overnight.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Kimbo do Soba Lodge or similar


Day 3. June 26, 2022. LUBANGO – PLAIN MUILA TRIBE – CHIBIA – MOUNTAIN MUILA TRIBE (3 h drive)

Breakfast. Chat with the guide about the day's visits. This day will be dedicated to Muila, or Mumuhuila tribe (where prefix "mu" to any name of the tribe means "people"), living on agriculture and cattle breeding. We will travel to Kamuviu Valley, heart of the Plain Muila country. We will present ourselves to the local authorities and visit the town. The Plain Muila are a Bantu-speaking agro-livestock tribe. Plain Muila women profusely decorate their hair with clay and glass beads and they wear thick necklaces of mollusks and beads that indicate their marital status and social status. After the visit, we will move to the western mountains to visit the Mountain Muila. It is a sub- group of the Plain Muila who migrated to more mountainous areas of the west to better preserve their culture from the Portuguese colonization. On the way, we will make a stop in Chibia, an old colonial city, and we will make a walk through its streets. Lunch and route to a market where we can observe the Mountan Muila women. In these types of markets, it is possible to buy traditional dolls, fabrics and wooden headrests. After the visit, we will drive to a small Mountain Muila community and spend the night with them.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: tents


Day 4. June 27, 2022. MUKUMA – GAMBUE OF CHOMIPAPA– SAN BUSHMEN (2 h drive)

Breakfast. Morning pictures with young and old Muila women (also men but more westernized). After farewell from our hosts, drive to Chomipapa area. Here we will meet Serrao, Gambue traditional leader to know about local culture, walk around the village and meet the older women, keepers of the old ways. In the afternoon we will drive to a San Bushmen settlement to meet Angola's (and probably world's!) oldest tribe. They still hunt small antelopes and rabbits and gather wild fruits. Their culture has changed a lot due to the pressure of cattle breeders' tribes and mining companies but the tribe is still surviving near the rocky hills of the area. We will camp near the San community.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: tents


Day 5. June 28, 2022. SAN BUSHMEN – DIMBA – ONCOCUA (6 h drive)

Breakfast, farewell at San village and reach Oncocua town after a long drive through the bush. Before reaching the urban center we will stop in a Dimba village. Camp in Maria's place (European toilette) and cold drinks. Afternoon walk around this small town, settled by the Portuguese in the 1940s decade. It seems like time has stopped here. In the local market of this city, a variety of tribal groups gather to buy food.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: tents


Day 6. June 29, 2022. ONCOCUA (HIMBA, HAKAONA, DIMBA and TUA TRIBES)

Breakfast and full day of tribal immersion. The area is inhabited by four traditional Bantu tribes. Three cattle herders: Dimba, Hakaona, and Himba and one small group of hunter gatherers, the Tua that tive in the sacred mountains of Oncocua and imitate the dressing style of the Himba. Tua live quite poorly, but in their features you can see the pride of Himba, and the decorations of the Hakaonas.
There is a complex cast system in this remote area of Angola. The guide will explain this system that has disappeared in most parts of Africa. Drive to remote shores of Cunene River (natural border with Namibia). Enjoy virgin ecosystem and meet semi-nomadic Himba in the area.
Himba (Muhiba) – one of the most famous tribes of Africa, who also live in Namibia. Despite the European influence, Himba continue wearing traditional clothes and rub the skin with animal fat and red powder, which looks very impressive. Himba are cattle breeders, which makes them one of the richest tribes of Angola.
The less influential neighbors of Himba – Hakaona (or black Himba) also own cattle, wear bead jewelry and honor their traditional healers.
Dimba (Mudimba) hairstyles are different from the hairstyles of other tribes, for example, women with young children have amazing afro hairstyles, resembling those of Melanesian tribes. Each hairstyle is a piece of art and a unique feature of this African tribe.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: tents


Day 7. June 30, 2022. ONCOCUA – CAHAMA – LUBANGO (6 h drive)

Breakfast and farewell from Oncocua. Drive to Cahama. Lunch in a local restaurant and continue to Lubango.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Kimbo do Soba Lodge or similar


Day 8. July 1, 2022. LUBANGO – IONA DESERT – NAMIBE (4 h drive)

Breakfast and descent towards Iona Desert. Drive down along the famous Serra de Leba pass towards the Atlantic Coast and the city of Namibe. Nice desert scenery. Here we can see the part of Iona National Park. Iona National Park is a continuation of the Namib Desert, and includes unique plants (such as Welwitschia) and very few rare animals, most of them were vanished by the war.
Arrival in Namibe (urban walking tour around Namibe art decó cinema). If time permits, evening photographing of fishermen in the town of Tombua. Tombua has long been the largest fishing port. Overnight in the hotel.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Infotour Hotel or similar


Day 9. July 2, 2022. NAMIBE – VIREI (CUBAL TRIBE) (3 h drive)

Breakfast and drive to Virei to meet nomadic Cubal tribe. With local guide in Virei we will find a nomadic settlement of Cubal herders and spend the whole day with them. High and stubborn Cubal are engaged in cattle breeding, agriculture and coal mining. Girls of this tribe grind their front teeth and remove their lower ones, while women wear very large square hats, but switch out clothes for a simple rope that covers their breasts a little. Some of the headdresses of Cubal women are made from the tails of 12 cows sewn together and decorated with shells.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: tents


Day 10. July 3, 2022. VIREI – NAMIBE (3 h drive)

Breakfast and last hours with Cubal tribe. Farewell from this beautiful wild territory. Visit Cubal cemetery in Virei and continue to Namibe for the night.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Infotour Hotel or similar


Day 11. July 4, 2022. NAMIBE – GARGANTA (ngendelengo tribe) (3 h drive)

Breakfast. Drive to Leba Mountains. Stop in Garganta hamlet to meet our last tribe, the Ngendelengo, with interesting wooden storage constructions and some of the younger women showing a beautiful hairdo, characteristic of this ethnic minority. The size of this tribe is gradually declining, making it the last representative of groups speaking the rare dialect of Nuaneca. They live by goat farming, hunting and gathering. Drive to a remote valley in the middle of the forested mountains. Meet the tribe and camp.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: tents


Day 12. July, 2022. GARGANTA – BIBALA – LUBANGO – LUANDA (2 h drive)

Breakfast and farewell from our hosts. Drive to Lubango through Serra da Leba sinuous road. Lunch in Bibala colonial town. Reach Lubango and visit Tunda Vala panoramic views. Dinner and evening flight to Luanda.
* Depending on the flight schedule, it can also be regular flight from Lubango to Luanda early morning on the next day, on June 22, with the overnight on June 21 in Lubango at Kimbo do Soba Lodge or similar.
Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Hotel Ilha Mar or similar in Luanda (or Kimbo do Soba Lodge or similar in Lubango)


Day 13. July 6, 2022. LUANDA – FLIGHT HOME

Breakfast. In the Slavery Museum area we can take a morning tour of the market handmade. Before noon transfer to the airport. Flight back home.
* Recommended flight ET-850 with Ethiopian Airlines to Addis Ababa, departure from Luanda at 13:50 on July 6, arrival in Addis Ababa at 20:55 pm.
Meals included: breakfast
Accommodation: no