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Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital city of Angola, and the country's most populous and important city, primary port and major industrial, cultural and urban centre. It has a metropolitan population of over 5 million. It is also the world's third most populous Portuguese-speaking city, behind only São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, both in Brazil..
By the time of Angolan independence in 1975, Luanda was a modern city. The majority of its population was African, but it was dominated by a strong minority of white Portuguese origin. After the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon in 1974, with the advent of independence and the start of the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002), most of the white Portuguese Luandans left. There was an immediate crisis, as the local African population lacked the skills and knowledge needed to run the city and maintain its well-developed infrastructure. The large numbers of skilled technicians among the force of Cuban soldiers sent in to support the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) government in the Angolan Civil War were able to make a contribution to restoring and maintaining basic services in the city. In the following years, however, slums called musseques — which had existed for decades — began to grow out of proportion and stretched several kilometres beyond Luanda's former city limits as a result of the decades-long civil war, and because of the rise of deep social inequalities due to large-scale migration of civil war refugees from other Angolan regions.
The Angolan Civil War began in 1975 and continued, with some interludes, until 2002. The civil war was essentially a power struggle between two former liberation movements, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). At the same time, the war served as a surrogate battleground for the Cold War between opposing powers such as the Soviet Union, Cuba, South Africa and the United States.The MPLA and UNITA had different roots in the Angolan social fabric and mutually incompatible leaderships, despite their shared aim of ending colonial occupation. Although both had socialist leanings, for the purpose of mobilising international support they posed as "Marxist–Leninist" and "anti-communist", respectively. The 27-year war can be divided roughly into three periods of major fighting – from 1975 to 1991, 1992 to 1994, and from 1998 to 2002 – broken up by fragile periods of peace. By the time the MPLA finally achieved victory in 2002, more than 500,000 people had died and over one million had been internally displaced. The war devastated Angola's infrastructure, and severely damaged the nation's public administration, economic enterprises, and religious institutions. Moreover, the Angolan conflict became entangled with the Second Congo War in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as with the Namibian War of Independence.
Government troops killed the UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi, on February 22, 2002, in Moxico province. UNITA Vice President António Dembo took over, but died from diabetes 12 days later on March 3, and Secretary-General Paulo Lukamba became UNITA's leader. After Savimbi's death, the government came to a crossroads over how to proceed. After initially indicating the counter-insurgency might continue, the government announced it would halt all military operations on March 13. Military commanders for UNITA and the MPLA met in Cassamba and agreed to a cease-fire. The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1404 on April 18, extending the monitoring mechanism of sanctions by six months. UNITA's new leadership declared the rebel group a political party and officially demobilized its armed forces in August 2002.
The Economy of Angola is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with the Economist asserting that for 2001 to 2010, Angola's' Annual average GDP growth was 11.1 percent. It is still recovering from the Angolan Civil War that plagued the country from independence in 1975 until 2002. Despite extensive oil and gas resources, diamonds, hydroelectric potential, and rich agricultural land, Angola remains poor, and a third of the population relies on subsistence agriculture. Since 2002 the nation has worked to repair and improve ravaged infrastructure and weakened political and social institutions. High international oil prices and rising oil production have contributed to the very strong economic growth since 1998, but corruption and public-sector mismanagement remain, particularly in the oil sector, which accounts for over 50 percent of GDP, over 90 percent of export revenue, and over 80 percent of government revenue.
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Fortaleza de São Miguel
São Miguel fort was built in 1576 by Paulo Dias de Novais. It became the administrative centre of the Portuguese colony in 1627 and was a major outlet for slave traffic to Brazil. The fort was for many years a self-contained town protected by thick walls encrusted with cannons. Inside the fort, elaborate ceramic tiles tell the story of Angola from early years, and in the courtyard are large, imposing statues of Portugal's first king, the first European to reach Angola, Diogo Cão, renowned explorer Vasco da Gama and other notables. Until 1975, the fortress served as the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Armed Forces in Angola. Today, it holds the Museum of the Armed Forces.
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Neto's Mausoleum
No matter where you are in the capital, it is impossible to miss the obelisk-like building that towers above the city. Inside the massive structure is the Agostinho Neto Mausoleum, dedicated to Angola's first president.
António Agostinho Neto (September 17, 1922 – September 10, 1979) served as the first President of Angola (1975–1979), after having led the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the war for independence (1961–1974). Until his death, he led the MPLA in the civil war (1975–2002). Known also for his literary activities, he is considered Angola's preeminent poet.
Neto became President of MPLA during Angola's struggle for independence. The Portuguese authorities in Angola arrested Neto on June 8, 1960. His patients and supporters marched for his release from Bengo to Catete, but were stopped when Portuguese soldiers shot at them, killing 30 and wounding 200. At first Portugal's government exiled Neto to Cape Verde. Then, once more, he was sent to jail in Lisbon. After international protests were made to Salazar's administration urging Neto's release, Neto was freed from prison and put under house arrest. From this he escaped, going first to Morocco and then to Zaire. In 1962 Neto visited Washington, D.C. and asked the Kennedy administration for aid in his war against Portugal. The U.S. government turned him down, because it had oil interests in colonial Angola, choosing instead to support Holden Roberto's comparatively anti-Communist National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). Neto met Che Guevara in 1965 and began receiving support from Cuba. He visited Havana many times, and he and Fidel Castro shared similar ideological views. Following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal during April 1974 (which deposed Salazar's successor Marcelo Caetano), three political factions vied for Angolan power. One of the three was the MPLA, to which Neto belonged. On November 11, 1975, Angola achieved full independence from the Portuguese, and Neto became the nation's ruler after the MPLA seized Luanda at the expense of the other anti-colonial movements. He established a one-party state and his government developed close links with the Soviet Union and other nations in the Eastern bloc and other Communist states, particularly Cuba, which aided the MPLA . Neto died in a hospital in Moscow, while undergoing surgery for cancer, shortly before his 57th birthday.
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We had a tour of Luanda, but photography, even from the coach, was forbidden in the government buildings area. We also stopped at a local market. We had the services of a police motorbike outrider throughout. These guys were seriously good at cutting through traffic. Our bus only had one "hit" on a car that did not get out of the way quickly enough!
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SSulo Beach Resort
We were taken here for lunch, so I cannot comment on the price - though everything in Luanda is expensive!
You take their speedboat for a 15 to 20 minute trip from the mainland across the lagoon, to reach the resort's jetty.
Apart from the restaurant and other facilities, there is a very nice pool to lounge around.
Our lunch was a buffet and included lobster which was served separately. All was well cooked and presented.
The staff were pleasant and well trained
After the bustle of Luanda this made a very pleasant interlude. Then back on board the Explorer for the overnight voyage to Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo