Mega Tour Angola

Durationꓽ 13 days

Day 1 LUANDA – LUBANGO

Our trip starts from Luanda, take Flight at domestic airport to Lubango (Huila) arrival around 19:25. Meet the guide transfer to the hotel or similar. Overnight.

Day 2. LUBANGO – CHIBIA –MUKUMA MARKET

After breakfast we drive to Chibia municipality make a stop in Chibia town, an old colonial city, and we will make a walk through its streets with beautiful colonial architecture. After photo-shoots we continue our driving to Mumuila tribe. The Mumuila are one of the most distinctive tribes in the region. They are a Bantu-speaking agro-livestock tribe. They are known for their rich cultural heritage that includes traditional practices, crafts, jewelry, and body decorations. The women in particular have become quite famous for their jewelry and dreads, known as nontombi. To create this unique hairstyle, women mix ochre or crushed red stone with cow dung, herbs, oils and others. The women’s hairstyles and jewelry are used not only for decoration but also to show their status in the community. We visit their market where most of them settle to sell their goods. Spend the day at the small Mumuila community visiting their village.  Before lunch time we drive back to Lubango. After lunch we visit the Mutundu market, one of the biggest my market at south of Angola where we can observe day-by-day local life. Accommodation Lubango.

Day 3. LUBANGO-KAMUKUVI MARKET-HUMBI TRIBE–  XANGONGO

Today we drive to kamukuvi market to meet the plain mumuila. After visiting the plain mumuila village we drive back to the main road and and continue our drive to Humbe area to meet the Humbi tribe and their unique hairdos – elephant ear style. Meet the local queen and explore the village. At afternoon we attend fico ceremony, the initiation of girls into the adulthood.  Mufiсo girls dress in traditional clothes and prepare one of the most ingenious hairstyles in the world. This hairstyle can only be performed by individual masters.. After lunch we drive to Xangongo (Cunene) to see Africa’s widest baobab trees and remnants of the Civil War (1975-2002). Accommodation in tents.

Day 4  XANGONGO-KAHAMA-VATUA TRIBE

Breakfast. Drive back to main to Kahama municipality, have stop for lunch. After lunch we drive to the village of Vatua people (3 km from Oncocua). Vatua is the hunter gatherers, who live in the sacred mountains of Oncocua and imitate the dressing style of the Himba, while being anthropologically closer to Khoisan bushmen. Accomodation in tent in Vatua village.

Day 5. VATUA VILLAGE — HAKAONA TRIBE — HIMBA TRIBE- ONCOCUA

Full day of tribal immersion, Hakaona, and Himba and Vatua. Early morning we drive southward, some 10 km from Oncocua, to the traditional village of Hakaona tribe.
The Muhakaona (Hakaona) are traditional cattlers and farmers. Unlike the latter, they are involved not only in cattle breeding, but are also engaged in agriculture. The Muhakaona language has many borrowings from the Mukubal language, and is not related to the Herero (Himba) language. Their   hairstyles are unique, Vakahona women use a mixture of black peat and butter to fixes their braided hair. Without the addition of ochre, their hairstyles have a deep black color, unlike the ochre-red of Himba women. We go further to Himba village. After a picnic Lunch we return to Oncocua town in the afternoon, Oncocua is the most traditional place in Angola where the most authentic tribes survive. The area is inhabited by different  traditional Bantu,  Dimba, Hakaona, Himba, Vatua, mucubal and the mukuishi. At the end of the day we drive to Vatua village for accommodation in camp.

Day 6.VATUA—– OTCHINJAU —DIMBA TRIBE- CAHAMA – LUBANGO

Drive to Dimba village around Otchinjau to meet some Dimba women with special hairdos and their beautiful houses. Dimba (Mudimba) hairstyles are different from the hairstyles of other tribes, Each hairstyle is a piece of art and a unique feature of this African tribe. We continue our driving to Cahama. Lunch in a local restaurant and continue to Lubango passing at the Huila mission. Arrive in Lubango in the late afternoon. Dinner and relax in the hotel or similar.

Day 7. LUBANGO – MANGUEIRA ─ NGUENDELENGO TRIBE

After breakfast we are going to explore the city of Lubango and its surrounding. Lubango is the second most populous city in the country after the capital and is famous for its picturesque landscapes, including rolling hills, valleys, and the iconic Christ the King statue that overlooks the city. Some of the highlights of the city include the historical Lubango Train Station, The cathedral of Lubango (Sé Catedral de São José), the Huila Regional Museum and others. After visiting the center of LUbango city, we will head outside the city to the Tundavala Gap viewpoint. This geographical wonder is characterized by a dramatic escarpment that offers stunning panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. Upon arrival back to the city, we will visit the symbol of Lubango – Christ the King Statue. The 30-meter-tall marble statue was built in 1957 and was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is now one of the biggest statues of this kind in the world. 3 hours after we drive to Namibe, Bibala passing through the zing zang road of serra da leba, before that have a small stop at miradouro da leba to catch the fascinating view of leba mountain. We continue our drive reach the local market of Mangueira where large number of mucubal tribes settle to buy and sell their goods.

We continue our trip to Bibala to the Villages of Ngendelengo (Munguendelengo) . Like other tribes of Angola, the Nguendelengo are notable for their unique hairstyles. Boys still maintain (in very rare cases) the culture of wearing mohawks, and women braid a mixture of ground tree bark and oil from the kernel of the mupeke fruit into their hair. Accommodation in tent

Day 8. NGUENDELENGO TRIBE — —BIBALA — NAMIBE

After sunrise, go to the village of Nguendelengo, to visit and photograph these amazing people at sunrise with the huge baobabs on the background. Go back at camp to have breakfast.  Drive down towards the Atlantic Coast and the city of Namibe. Arrival in Namibe, do walking city tour around Namibe and dinner in the restaurant on the Atlantic coast. Accommodation in Namibe
Day 9. NAMIBE – IONA NATIONAL PARK — TOMBUA — NAMIBE — LUANDA.

We will start the day with some 4×4 adventures in The Namibe Desert, also known as the Namib Desert in Angola – a coastal desert located along the Atlantic Ocean. The landscape is characterized by vast dunes that reach up to 300 meters in height, rocky plains, and sparse vegetation. After spending some hour in desert we drive at coast side toward town Tombua, photographing  fishermen. Tombua has long been the largest fishing port. Afterward, we will visit Arco Lake – a beautiful oasis, fed by the waters of the Rio Curoca river. It gets its name from the characteristic sandstone arches. Unfortunately, due to the lack of rain in recent years, the lake dried up a few years ago and has remained so ever since. However, the region is still picturesque and worth taking the trip. Less than 30 minutes away is one of the hidden gems of our itinerary – the picturesque Camilunga Canyon. In the evening we will return to Namibe where we will spend the night.

Day10. NAMIBE-LUANDA

Today you will have some free time to explore Namibe on your own before we take our flight back to Luanda. Accommodation in Luanda.

Day11. LUANDA- MALANJE- KALANDULA FALL

Today we have quite a long drive to reach the magnificent Kalandula Waterfalls – one of the largest waterfalls by volume in Africa and a highlight of any visit to Angola. We will have a short stop in the town of Ndalatando to take a walk around its beautiful Botanical Garden (Rosas de Porcelana). We will arrive at the waterfalls in the early afternoon and spend about an hour or two enjoying the spectacular view. The waterfalls have an impressive drop of approximately 105 meters (344 feet), making them taller than the famous Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River. The width of the falls spans around 400 meters (1,312 feet), contributing to the grandeur of the site. A short, but quite challenging and slippery road takes you to the base of the waterfall to see it from a unique perspective. In the early evening, we are expected to arrive in the town of Melanje, where we will spend the night.

Day12. KALANDULA- PEDRAS NEGRA-LUANDA

In the morning we are heading to the waterfalls once again and will stop at another viewpoint to see them from the other side. Our next stop will be the impressive rock formation of Pedras Negras (The Black Stones). These hard sedimentary stones remain a geological mystery since they do not fit with the surrounding topography. The region was once the capital of The Kingdom of Ndongo – an African kingdom that existed between the 16th and the 20th century. It is believed that the footprints of King Ngola Kiluanji and Queen Ginga that lived in the 17th century and ruled that kingdom are embedded in the rocks. We will arrive in Luanda in the evening.

Day13. LUANDA CITY TOUR

Our last day in Angola is dedicated to exploring the capital city of Luanda. We will start our tour with a visit to the mausoleum of Augustinho Neto, the first President of Angola. The curious building is not only the final resting place of “The Father of Modern Angola”, but one of the architectural landmarks of the city. The obelisk-like structure was built in 2012 in a typical brutalist architecture style and is said to reference a spaceship. In the beginning, the locals even called it “Sputnik”. We will then continue to The National Museum of Anthropology – home to an impressive collection of traditional masks and other artifacts. Our next stop is the Fortaleza de Sao Miguel. It was one of the first sites constructed by the Portuguese during the earliest period of colonial rule in the 16th century. The fort played a role in the defense against invasions and served as a base for the Portuguese military. Later it became a key point in the transatlantic slave trade – enslaved Africans were brought to the fort from various regions in Angola, where they were held under harsh conditions before being transported on the long and often deadly journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Another highlight of the city is the Igreja Nossa Senhora do Populo – the first Anglican church in Angola that was built in 1482. Our tour will end in the early afternoon with a group transfer to the aiport for a flight back home.