Luanda, Angola...

Tuesday, March 21. Docked in Luanda, Angola. 32 C. Day 77 of the cruise which is 60% over, with 51 days to go, a little over seven weeks.

Fellette went ashore with Jim and Gail on a morning shore excursion, I still have the bug and was in isolation in our cabin. Thank heaven it is a big cabin.

My day was rather unexciting, but very peaceful and relaxing. The majority of the time that Fellette was on tour, I spent watching the loading of supplies onto the ship. It is amazing how 35 Angolans can do the work of 10 workers in the First World. Only hard goods and frozen foods, in containers though, no fresh foods, fruits or produce. For fear of Third World Issues I suppose. As I sit in quarantine from an issue that was created by us, passengers and crew on this ship. Sometimes I think that as we get older, we become more stupid. There are signs all over the place in the gym to sanitize equipment after use. But how many times have I seen old people just walk away after using Equipment??? And on and on it goes.

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I thought that it might be fun if I asked Fellette to write the blog today, I of course will aid technically. We will see how that idea goes over with my much younger wife when she returns!

Fellette accepted with grace my request for her to write what she saw, so, here is Fellette’s Blog!

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I left Doug ‘home' this morning as he was fighting a tummy bug, BUT, there was a country calling us and I needed to be the photographer today. The pressure was on! Jim and Gail were waiting to accompany me and make sure I didn’t get into any troubles.

There were ladies treating us to a traditional dance as we exited the ship. A seemingly endless line of small buses awaited us and soon all of the buses were filled and we were off. As we drove through the city it was evident there was a lot of poverty. Many of the buildings were run down  and standing empty, the target of the graffiti artists. It was a pleasure to see the ladies passing by with their packages balanced on their heads.

 Our first stop was to the original offices of the Portuguese Governor's prior to Angola’s independence. It was a pretty building and well kept, but it would appear to only be a tourist attraction now.  One of the rooms had chairs made of old rubber tires, and suprisingly comfortable they were.

Next stop, the National Museum of Military History. There were lots of tanks and big guns on display here, as well as an indoor display of the various uniforms. There was a room in here that had wall after wall of Delft tiled panels depicting all sorts of subjects, my favourites were the ones with African animals. A stop at a very big Catholic church  followed. What a shame that we tourists barged right in as people were there praying and started taking pictures of everything in sight. I went up to the balcony which was empty and just took one picture of this holy place.

The museum of natural history was a fascinating place, too bad we only had 15 minutes to take it all in. The most outstanding piece to me was the carved elephant tusks. Our guide told us the elephants no longer come across the desert as in the old days. No one knows why? I think they just discovered there was no food for them in the desert. A lady sat and played her musical instrument made from dried gourds. I was pleased to see some of our group had a few dollars to place in her cup. Alas,  I had no money for her as I only had enough to tip our tour guide. 

The museum and mausoleum honouring the first president of Angola was very interesting. The monument erected to his memory was a stunning very high tower. That was the final stop on our tour today. The temperature rose to about 90F, so we were glad to see our air conditioned ship after bidding our local guide farewell and thanking him for an interesting and informative morning.  

Preparing for a morning alone

Enthusiastic dance group.

Beautiful old colonial building. Reputedly built by Mr. Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower fame.

Very comfortable! Rubber Tire Chair.

Ladies with excellent posture!

Our motorcycle police escort awaits, outside the church.

Beautiful catholic church, pity we disturbed those inside as we gawked.

Fabulous Ivory tusk carving!

An excellent musician, a few put money in her pot.

Here’s a big gun Doug!

Delft tile work, rows and rows of it in the Military Museum building.

An overview of a residential area, slums on the left which we avoided, and the ship on the far side.

A rush to see and learn history. Our bus.

The beloved First President.

The monument to him. Note the convoy of busses. 

Doug here now… Fellette is not used to writing the blog and will not opinionate, [Is that even a word?] like I do. Fellette and I talked when she got back, naturally. Jim was very protective of Fellette for which I appreciate. 

It was a mediocre tour, at best. Sanitized to show the best possible buildings, church, monuments, areas and not the real Luanda. I did not see it in person, but going from Fellette’s comments and the  Gong Show below our stateroom today, this country has a long way to go.