Christmas season in Luanda

December 11, magnificent Christmas lights all over the city and commercial Christmas is underway.

Night time view from kitchen

I had a hard day earlier this week to learn that a boy had been killed on the road by a car and his body was left on the side of the road. Also a dead dog in the ocean. Yes, I have to toughen up but some days the culture shock affects me more than others.

This is my favourite tree, growing all over Luanda. Not quite Pohutakawa (NZ Christmas tree) but so vivid and fresh. And more artistic Impala added to the Marginal.

Acacia Rubra

Pre-Christmas lunch with friends, Nancy (Taiwan) and Oxana (Kazakhstan). We enjoyed Ukranian food - Borscht (soup), also olivye (potato salad) and blini (crepe). Delicious.

Nancy, Oxana and I

Back to NZ next week - one week and we're on our way.

December 17, a big racket of noise over the weekend - some music gig at the stadium. We woke the next day to hear that the concert was in fact Mariah Carey performing! Tickets were $20 USD and VIP $50..we're not big fans of hers but nice she does this making tickets very reasonable for an international artist of her calibre.

Town clock/thermometer read 37 degrees yesterday - walking at 0715 and still come home drenched. I stopped to cool off under a water sprinkler on the lawn today, much to the amusement of the gardeners on the Marginal.

December 18, Nancy and I went back to Bemfica market today - very hot and difficult to see parrots squashed into a cage together in the heat. Lots of vendors vying for attention -'amiga', 'come here' and a very hurt look if you walk past. Which you have to do. I bought some lovely African fabric and jewellery. And Nancy's friends haggled over the elephant engraved small tables.

This guy is outside our apartment every day cleaning shoes. He always has a smile and never pushes begging. Gildo does not have the use of his legs so I sat on the ground and chatted with him and took this pic today. He does use a wheelchair but as there are no wheelchair access' anywhere (including the university) it is very difficult to get around. Sometimes I see him 'walking' on his hands and he tells me this keeps his arms strong. He does look in pain sometimes but he never complains. A very nice young guy.

Gildo and I

Ben Fica market - hundreds of elephants

Quiçama National Park (Kissama)

Today we roused early to be picked up at 0500 and join with BP colleagues for a mini-safari trip to Kissama National Park, 70kms from Luanda.

After a later than planned start (another driver lost car keys so had to get another car) we were on our way.

On the way we saw countless car wrecks, abandoned on the side of the road, and this tank, a relic of war-time Angola.

War-time relic

UK Prince Harry who visited Angola shortly after we moved here observed that
the war may be over but many people are still unable to resume their normal lives, facing the threat of death or injury by landmines every day. The Prince was following in his late mother, Princess Diana's, footsteps who famously brought the landmine topic to the fore of the international world.
Despite huge efforts since the war ended in 2002 to clear the explosives, the country remains one of the most heavily mined in the world - we see witness to this with the numerous people maimed with lost limbs.

On arrival at Kissama our drivers took us a further 50km into the reserve to board our truck.

Off an an adventure

The National Park sprawls over 3 million acres and was once home to hoards of elephants and giant sable. War-time poaching saw the animals greatly depleted so in early 2000's the largest 'Noah's Ark' transfer of animals from other African countries to Kissama enabled the Park to begin flourishing again.

We loved seeing the landscape from our truck.

We saw countless deer and a few monkeys on arrival.

Bambie hiding

Termite hill

But it was the view of Mama Giraffe and her calf that got us all excited - very beautiful creatures with unique markings.

Inquisitive giraffe

Standing tall

We saw Wildebeest...

It was a thrill to then see this fella around the corner...he was a bit grumpy and not photo-friendly but he was my first elephant!

Leave me alone will you?

Stunning view of the River Kwanze.

Beautiful panorama