Day 119: Luanda, Angola

OK, it's not a country or a town I ever expected to visit. I associated Angola with a terrible civil war, starving children, and massive government corruption. That is not necessarily the case, although I noted that our daily port briefing, which usually runs a full page, was only about three paragraphs, so I wasn't expecting to see that much, no matter what Google Images says. Allison took the two-hour panoramic whistle-stop tour of the Luanda City highlights whilst I went for seven hours, giving me an opportunity to see the coastline south of the city as well as visit the slavery museum.

A thousand years ago, modern-day Angola was inhabited by the Koi and San tribes (see Namimbia), who were displaced by the Bantu tribe, ultimately forming the vast Kongo Kingdom. (I've learned that many vast empires existed in Africa over the past two millennia that we in the West have never heard about.) The Kongo conquered neighboring lands and established a vast trade network within South and East Africa. The Kongo first encountered the Portuguese in 1483, and the explorer Diogo Cão arrived the following year, formally discovering the area. Although, as our guide said, "How do you discover a country that's full of people who have been here for thousands of years?"

The Kongo had a strong economy based upon copper, ivory, salt, hides, and, to a lesser extent, slaves. It was a highly authoritarian and feudal system that rapidly transformed into a capitalist system based upon slavery. Basically, the Kongo tribe cut a deal with the Portuguese that they'd supply slaves in return for money and goods and the promise NOT to enslave the Kongo tribe members. They were collaborators. The Angolan Slavery Museum is an old catholic church on a cliff-top south of Luanda. The Portuguese would take newborns and young children, baptize them in a large brass cauldron, give them new names, and ship them off to the Americas or to the sugar plantations.

 From 1501 until 1836, about 13 MILLION slaves were shipped from East Africa to the Americas, and almost 6 million of them were from Angola. The numbers and the exhibits from this museum will haunt me - and all blessed by the Pope and Catholic Church. Note that 1836 date - they abolished slavery in Angola 25 years before the US. 

<< The baptism bowls

The Portuguese influence continued to grow, as highlighted by an attempt to join Angola with Mozambique on the east coast and create a super-territory. The other colonial powers objected, so Portugal backed off and continued to expand slowly northwards. Starting before WW2, there were demands for independence, which were rejected. These continued after WW2 when the Portuguese refused to negotiate. Eventually, there were Chinese and Russian-inspired Communist uprisings, and finally, on 11/11/1977, President Neto became the first official president as three warring political parties came together.

There are statues of him everywhere, and a large, ballistic missile-shaped building holds his tomb. He is still very much revered by the public for pushing back the colonial oppressors. His fiery inaugural speech, which I translated with Google, mentions Marxist-Lenin principles and fighting imperialism. The peace was temporary, as the three parties each took advantage of the Portuguese withdrawal, and a brutal civil war broke out - which lasted until 1991 with the promise of elections in 1992.

Angola is now on its third president, who campaigned on the basis of reducing corruption. To put that in context, there are lines every day outside the banks and ATM machines where Angolans seek to withdraw their money. Workers are paid electronically in what is really a cash economy (credit cards are in minimal use), so they need banknotes to buy groceries and everyday items. The banks always run out. Not convinced the anti-corruption platform is going well, as there are massive amounts of Chinese investment pouring into the country, which only seems to benefit the government, not the people. There's actually a simmering hatred of the Chinese. First time I've seen that in the Chinese sphere of influence across Asia and Africa.

Bonus Shots/

1. Art Market
2. Interesting Geological Rock Formations
3. Downtown apartment building. Each mini-cube houses multiple people.
4. Blue decorative tile work in the salve holding cell at the fort.
5. Artsy shot out of the church window (now slave museum) across the batism pots to the ocean below.

6. Aerial view of large Portuguese fort overlooking town (from QR code)

7.