Luanda isn't as bad or as expensive as some people make it out to be, and I certainly felt safer walking round Luanda than round Cape Town or even Windhoek. However, I didn't come to Angola to spend all of my time in Luanda. After quickly arranging another CouchSurfing host I decided I was heading east to Malanje for a few days instead of heading south. At Hash House Harriers I met a lady named Tamara who is living here with her husband and two children. They went from living in a campervan travelling round the US to living in Angola. After some delicious gelato I'd end up getting a shared vehicle to Malanje. I must say I'm mightily impressed with Angola. It is certainly more developed than some other countries I've been to such as Papua New Guinea and East Timor. I would get dropped in Lombe late at night and I thought of pitching my tent at a hotel at the base of Quedas de Kalandula but a local recommended asking if I can pitch my tent at the police station. When I arrived they said I could roll out my sleeping mat in a back room. I was able to close the windows and the door, therefore I didn't have to worry about being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
This morning I arrived at the waterfalls of Quedas de Kalandula and my mouth just dropped in awe!
Magnificent! Impressive! Gorgeous! This is like Niagara Falls or Victoria Falls but instead I'm the only foreign visitor today. I can envision within 10 or 15 years that Angola will get a lot more visitors. I even soared Juliett into the air for the first time in Angola, and I felt safe about flying her since there are no police or soldiers in the area. The end result was a photographic masterpiece.
If I were at Victoria Falls I'd be jockeying for space with hundreds of other visitors hoping to snap that perfect Instagram photo, and I probably wouldn't be allowed to fly Juliett. I'm still wondering...how the hell am I the only foreign visitor here today?
A couple of teenage boys would offer to walk with me to the base of the waterfall. That meant I'd have to pay them to be my guide but I figured it was worth it as they've likely walked down there many times before. It's wet and muddy at the bottom so it was helpful having them there. I managed a few photos at the bottom but I was more concerned about my camera and phone getting wet.
It was a rather challenging walk back up but nothing too difficult. There are no facilities here except for a covered area with a picnic bench, and there I met an Angolan lady who lives in San Diego. She brought her teenage sons (who were born in the US) to Angola for the first time. She agrees that Angola could easily receive a lot more visitors but firstly they have to loosen the visa requirements further. I would sit with them for a while and have some fried chicken and a glass of red wine. They would give me a lift part way back to Lombe as they're on their way to Piedras Negras. The officers as the police station told me I could stay for another night if I got back late, so I thought I'd do that. As I sat there, they were intrigued by my collapsible camping kettle as I made some afternoon tea.
I showed them how it works, but then I found it much more interesting telling them (as best I could) about being the only foreign visitor at a waterfall that would have a thousand visitors anywhere else.
