Air France
company flight from Malpensa to Luanda (Angola), with a stopover at Charles de
Gaulle airport in Paris (France). (price of the multi-ticket ticket included
from Malpensa to Luanda (Angola) and from Brazzaville (Congo) to Malpensa: Euro
860.84).
Having
checked in online and having only hand luggage, both at Malpensa and at the
Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, nobody asked me for the mandatory E-Visa to
enter Angola.
Time zone:
same time as in Italy, -1h when Italy has daylight saving time.
Entry visa:
necessary, to be requested at the Angola diplomatic / consular offices present
in Italy or abroad. It is possible to apply for an online tourist entry visa
and collect it upon arrival at Luanda airport (Angola). Consult the website:
http://www.smevisa.gov.ao/, where it is necessary to enter the travel data,
upload the passport scann, Air ticket, BANK ACCOUNT, Hotel reservation,
International Vaccine Certificate and a passport photo . No online payment is
required. Thus the E-VISA is received. I received it after only 2 minutes, but
some travelers received it after 2 days, some after 7 days, some after 2 weeks,
some never. Keep in mind that contrary to what is written on the aforementioned
website, the E-VISA is not valid for 60 days but for 30 days, which is the
period within which you must enter Angola. Then once you enter the country you
will be issued a visa valid for 30 days. For example, if you ask for an E-VISA
on May 21st and it is released on May 23rd, this will be valid until June 22nd.
You must therefore enter Angola by June 22nd. If, for example, you enter the
country on June 21, your visa will be affixed to your passport until July 20th.
One thing is certain: if you miss the procedure or the timing to ask for the
E-VISA, nobody will be able to help you and nobody will answer you at the Email
visa.angola@ao.brithol.com, so before starting the online procedure it is
useful to consult the Lonely Planet Forum at the following link
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/africa/angola/angola-s-new-e-visa-tourist-visa-on-arrival-share-stories-here,
where travelers explain all the problems they had and how they were solved.
Once you arrive at Luanda - 4 de Fevereiro Airport (or at the land border posts
indicated on the site http://www.smevisa.gov.ao/), after showing the Yellow
fever booklet, you must immediately head to the left in the visa room, present
your E-VISA printed at the Desk. Then the attendant will ask you if you intend
to pay 104 Euro or 120 USD and will give you a card to present to the Desk next
door, where you will proceed to pay cash. Keep in mind that if you go from 105
euros you will not be given change. You will then be given a receipt for
payment to be returned to the previous Desk, where after being photographed,
you get the actual tourist visa on the Passport and contextually the entry
stamp. In theory the Authorities should ask you for all the documents loaded at
the time of the online E-VISA request, but in my case this has not happened.
Then collect your baggage and then check it.
In Angola
the official language is Portuguese and therefore very few speak English.
Religions:
Catholic, Protestant and traditional cults.
Currency
Exchange: keep in mind that the currency of Angola is the Angolan Kzanza and
that the official Exchange Rate is very disadvantageous compared to that of the
Black Market. In fact, at the time of my trip the official rate was as follows:
1 Euro = 384 Kz, 1 USD = 339 Kz, while the black market rate is as follows: 1
Euro = 520 Kz, 1 USD = 470 Kz. To find out the exchange rate in real time, go
to the following website: http://www.kinguilahoje.com/. To change money on the
black market you can contact a newsagent or a taxi driver, at Luanda Airport -
4 de Fevereiro, or just outside the Cathedral of Lubango. I, from a taxi driver
at the airport, got the following exchange rate: 1 Euro = 495 Kz.
Keep in mind
that once you get the Angolan Kzanza, it will be very difficult to convert them
back to Euros or Dollars before leaving the country. So think how much money to
change.
From Luanda
Airport - 4 de Fevereiro, located about 4 km south of the city center, I took a
motorcycle taxi for 1,500 Kz to reach the Interprovincial Macon Terminal,
located in the Gamek district, on the southern outskirts of the capital.
Logically a taxi costs much more, while if you want to save money you can walk
carefully, for about 300 meters. until you reach the main road, where numerous
minibuses pass, also stopping in front of the Interprovincial Macon Terminal.
Price of the ride: 150 Kz.
The Macon
company is the most reliable in the whole country, although it often has
delays. It has numerous races for every corner of the country. You can consult
the bus timetables at the following website:
https://www.webrodoviaria.com.br/VendaWebMacon/.
At the Macon
Interprovincial Terminal in Luanda, I bought the 14.50 bus ticket for Namibe at
the price of 15,500 Kz.
Then just
outside the Interprovincial Macon Terminal, I hired a motorcycle taxi for the
price of 10,000 Kz, which took me up to the Miradouro da Lua (over 50 km
south), to the Museu Nacional da Escravatura (southern suburb of Luanda), Praca
da Republica, Fortaleza de Sao Miguel, Museu Nacional de Historia Militar,
Marginal, Ilha do Cabo, Palacio Banco Nacional de Angola, Palacio de Ferro,
Igreja Ns Senhora da Nazarè and Igreja Ns Senhora dos Remedio and finally
brought me back to the Interprovincial Macon Terminal.
At 14.50 I
took the Macon Bus to Namibe. Places are numbered. There are no police checks
on this route. The stretch of road from Caboleto to Sumbe is mostly paved but
in very poor condition. From Sumbe to Namibe the road is completely paved and
in good condition. The bus makes a lot of stops to pick up and drop off
passengers, to eat and to make needs.
The
aforementioned bus arrived at the Lubango Bus Station, located in the
north-eastern outskirts of the city, at 8.30 am, with almost 2 hours delay on
the roadmap and so even though I had paid the bus ticket to Namibe, I decided
to get off here.
From the
Lubango Bus Station, I took a Minibus to the center at the price of 150 Kz.
The pleasant
center of Lubango, I visited it on foot.
Once in
Praca Calof, after taking a photo of the monument located in the center of it,
a plainclothes policeman stopped me and told me, in Portuguese, that I had to
have his permission to take photographs and had it canceled. But then he gave
me the consent and I could redo the same photograph.
From there I
hired a motorcycle taxi for 5,000 Kz (over 2,000 Kz of tip), to take me to
Fenda da Tundavala (small waterfall and then great view at the end of the
road), Miradouro da Serra da Leba (taking the secondary road as soon as after
the checkpoint, located on the road to Namibe, before it begins to descend), to
the Gigantic Statue of Cristo Rei, where you can enjoy a fantastic view over
the city of Lubango and finally to the Macon Bus Station.
From the
Macon Bus Station in Lubango, located in the north-eastern outskirts of the
city, I took the 4.30 pm bus to Benguela for the price of 6,200 Kz. Places are
numbered. There are no police checks on this route. The road is completely
paved and in good condition. The bus makes a lot of stops to pick up and drop
off passengers, to eat and to make needs.
The
aforementioned bus arrived at the Macon Bus Station in Benguela, located in the
eastern suburbs of the city, at 10:20 pm, with about 1 hour of delay on the
roadmap.
From there I
took a motorcycle taxi for 300 Kz, which took me to the Hotel Mombaka.
In Benguela,
I stayed at the Hotel Mombaka, located in 72 Rua Monsenhor Kelling 35, right in
the center, at the price of 12,000 Kz, for a double room with air conditioning,
hot water, television, huge bathroom in the room, wifi in the non-functioning
hall , pool and breakfast included.
Benguela, I
walked around it. There is not much to see. Some churches, the promenade and
the beach.
From the
long sea of Benguela, I took a motorcycle taxi for 200 Kz, which took me to
the Bus Station, located on the eastern outskirts of the city.
From the
Macon Bus Station in Benguela, located on the eastern outskirts of the city, I
took the 8.00 am bus to Luanda for the price of 6,500 Kz. Places are numbered.
There are no police checks on this route. The road is completely paved and in
good condition up to Sumbe, where it becomes in very bad condition up to
Caboleto. The bus makes a lot of stops to pick up and drop off passengers, to
eat and to make needs.
The
aforementioned bus arrived at the Interprovincial Macon Terminal, located in
the Gamek district, in the southern suburbs of the Capital, at 8.40 pm, with
about 1 hour delay on the roadmap.
In Luanda, I
slept in Los Compadres, located in the crossroads in front of the Macon
Interprovincial Terminal, located in the Gamek district, at the price of 5,000
Kz, for 2 hours, 7,500 Kz, for 4 hours, 9,000 Kz for 6 hours, for a Suite,
7,000 Kz, for one night, in a double room with air conditioning, hot water,
private bathroom, no wifi. You must leave the room by 7.30 am.
From the
Macon Interprovincial Terminal of Luanda, I took one of the many minibuses
bound for the 4 de Fevereiro Airport at a cost of 150 Kz.
In the
Departures Hall of the 4 de Fevereiro Airport, I went to the Flag Company's
TAAG Angola Airlines Desk at 9.00 am to buy a ticket for the same day flight at
1.20pm for Kinshasa. The saleswoman, before selling me the ticket, wanted to
see my visa for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was a bit skeptical
that mine was a transit visa that allowed me to move from Angola to the Congo
via the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but this made sense if I traveled by
land and not by plane, and on a direct flight first to Brazzaville in Congo and
then to Kinshasa. At the end, after an ocean of questions and having consulted
other sales people, my ticket was printed, making me pay 68,879 Kz, which is
the same price you get when you buy the ticket 3 months before.
Then I tried
desperately to change the residual currency I had, but at the desk of the Bank
located in the Departures Hall of the 4 de Fevereiro Airport, they told me no
without a lot of explanations. Then I tried the taxi drivers outside the
airport, one of which took me by car to an area about 1 km away from the
airport. There obtained the following bad exchange rate: 9,000 Kz = 10 USD. It
is really hard to convert Kz back into Euro or USD.
At the
security control at Luanda's 4 de Fevereiro Airport, they told me that I could
not carry the batteries for the camera, but kindly did not throw them away,
allowing me to go back and embark them in a bag at the check-in desk. in.
Then, after
easily obtaining the exit stamp from Angola, they again checked the transit
visa for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, filling me with questions as
before. This time I told him that I was going to the Central African Republic,
taking advantage of the visa I had on the Passport and thus succeeding in
convincing the employee to let me get on the plane.
My complete travel report with map, photographs
and videos is available at this link: http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2019/10/travel-in-angola-luanda-miradouro-da.html
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