Blogs from Angola, Africa - page 3

Somewhere north of Tsumeb in northern Namibia the German influence ceased. I found myself back in the African cultural heartland - unorganized, dirty, crowded and vibrant. After some lame attempts by the Angolan border-police to extract bribes, I was inside the country, swarmed by teenage moneychangers. In a dirty 4x4 a fat white man with a wry face, sat jammed between the seat and the steering wheel, which sank into his belly. He would take me as far as Xangongo for a beer, he said, which sounded great to me although I had no clue where it was. Big fields of late-summer grass would glow with a pink hue in the sunset and the great Baobabs would rise from the plains like petrified monsters. Along the roadside there were only a few houses, but the fat ... read more

It's hard to believe we've been here almost 3 months and are on the cusp of our first big vacation! Time has flown by very fast, which I suppose is a direct result of how busy we've been. So I figured it was a good time to send out an update and tell some stories of our exploits to date. We finally moved into our house on October 28 after 7 weeks in a temporary guest house. It's funny as we meet people here, how many of them also stayed in that place! It's like it's a rite of passage here. It was perfectly adequate but not having a yard was getting old with Ozzy, the "devil dog". Also, there was a professional "party house" (really a patio) across the street which hosted events, usually with ... read more

Não quero assustar, nada disso, mas se calhar os pontinhos não passam disso mesmo, pontinhos! E o que eu preciso é de pontos, muitos pontos para ficar nesta terra em que só as formigas dão sinais de alguma organização (estou a ser muito injusto para com as formigas). Sinceramente, isto é tudo muito engraçado, o ir para Angola em busca de novas experiências e as dificuldades que podem ser um desafio, mas estar como eu estou, sem veículo e dependente do juízo de um engenheiro - "engineer" a partir de agora, e com a voz que se ouvia no Command & Conquer (Raquel, é um jogo tipo Simcity 1968, mas para homens) - mais parece um vá para fora cá dentro (de casa). Acreditem, tinha imensa curiosidade em trabalhar com engenheiros. Desde o 1º ano da ... read more

Well things have slowly been improving as I got back my luggage! Well half of it as a good chunk was stolen. Clothes, my gameboy, shampoo and other various knickknacks were pillfered at I'm assuming. Oh well, life goes on and at least my camera wasn't taken! Note to self: take electronics with you on the plane next adventure. So the job is/was boring. Just watching giant oil companies mess up the surrounding waters with pollution and trying my best to stay out of the lumbering machines way. The one good thing about being out about 10km offshore while working is I seem to attract a lot of dolphins and other cute critters of the sea. Almost everyday I would spot a bunch of dolphins playing about, or some whales slowly plodding along besides the boats. ... read more

Eight things that I didn’t know about the capital of Angola a week ago: (1) It is one of the most expensive cities in the world; I assume, the most expensive in Africa. US$10 for an iceberg lettuce, for example. And I’m assured that eating out in London seems modestly priced by comparison. (2) The US dollar is, effectively, a second currency, thanks, in no small part, to the booming oil industry here. (3) Along the coast, the most oft-sighted bird is the common egret; a curiously spectacular bird to be apparent in such numbers. Not a seagull in sight. (4) There is, effectively, no tourist industry; not even a scruffy photocopied handout at the Luanda Fort where nothing is labelled, and street-sellers simply sell goods targeted at the general population rather than hassling the (non-existent) ... read more