Rewriting history

On the road to the mysterious animal-shaped rocks of Pungo Andongo, central Angola. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com

Resource-rich Angola creeps out of tortured past

(Pungo Andongo) Standing high above the African savannah at the giant rocks of Pungo Andongo in north-central Angola’s remote province of Malanje, you can feel the weight of history reverberating from the soles of your feet. An awesome quiet saturates this landscape as the sun sets over a vast expanse of small villages, tall grasses and – in the distance – the peaceful flow of the Cuanza River.

Walking about these animal-shaped peaks that protrude from an otherwise flat landscape, are scores of empty bullet casings and twisted wires scattered about. Today these are the only traces of this Southern African country’s painful recent past. Because if these stones could speak, they would talk of a difficult and bloody history, of a conflict whose wounds are as fresh today as they are – ever so slowly – healing.

This rocky gorge and the nearby Calandula waterfalls are as impressive a sight as any natural wonder of the world. Yet this very place was the central battleground of a brutal civil war that ravaged Angola for some twenty-seven years following the country’s independence from Portuguese rule in 1975.

The pawn of a political chess-match
Angola has tasted little of the fruits of independence. Freed from colonial rule, the country quickly became embroiled in internal conflicts, and subsequently became a pawn in a political chess-match of cold-war world diplomacy. World powers fought a battle of the interests over oil-, diamond- and natural resource-rich nation.

Building Luanda: Construction site in central Luanda. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Today the population in these rural areas, some of the hardest hit during the long period of conflict, lives simply; mostly from farming, building small thatched-roof houses by basking the luminescent reddish clay bricks in the hot African sun.

Access to these areas remains difficult, because the going is torturously slow on the decrepit roads, lined with idle shells of abandoned houses – the country’s infrastructure really has yet to be rebuilt. Many roads are only passable by four-wheel drive vehicles – or long hours of travel by foot. In these parts, one hundred kilometers can be a four-hour trek, even with the best of jeeps.

On the long journey to visit the wondrous landscape of Angola, you can find locals walking from village to village in the baking hot sun, balancing bananas or other wares sturdily on their heads as they walk to or return from the local market.

But even nature has its way of showing signs of rebirth here. In this province several hundred kilometers south of Pungo Andongo in the Luando nature reserve, the giant sable antelope – whose face and long, elegant horns adorn the country’s currency and the tailfins of the national airline’s planes – were only recently rediscovered. The antelope were originally thought to have disappeared from the wild over two decades ago after having been butchered for meat during the civil war.

Just weeks ago a wildlife photographer located a small herd; capturing on film two pregnant female antelope along with two others that were nursing calves. The years of war have undoubtedly left deep scars on Angola. Despite a resource-rich disposition, the poverty is palpable, and the needs, real. Preoccupied with basic survival, the people are slowly even losing a mastery of their native languages, in favor of Portuguese.

Revisiting a painful past
With peace, however, Angola is in the process of reawakening, and revisiting a painful past. « Now we are at the point of writing our own history, » historian Corcielio Caley says. « We have crossed the civil war, and now we can begin to write our story. And this, taking us all the way back to the days of slavery. »

An area not far from the country’s sprawling capital of Luanda is a lonely reminder of slavery, that which robbed Angola of countless of its citizens, their dignity and humanity – for centuries.

Luanda beach Children playing at the beach on the outskirts of Luanda. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

On the pristine scenic shores of the Atlantic coast, perched high on a hilltop overlooking a sandy beach is a single lonely house. This is the so-called museum of slavery; precisely the very same place from which countless Angolans were shipped to the America’s to suffer a lugubrious fate. Amidst the dust amassing in this unkempt building are three metallic tubs that reveal an eerie tale. One was used, we are told, to baptize the future slaves before their departure to the Americas; the other, to inebriate the newly indoctrinated with traditional alcohol; and a third with water with which to send them on their treacherous voyage.

« Angola has been stepped on for so long, and you have to respect this place, » says Angolan actor and community activist Filipe Cuenda at a nearby beach, where the country’s few wealthy live side-by-side the almost unending slums and shanty-towns.

Nearby, Angola’s sprawling capital, Luanda, remains immersed in a smoky haze. Dust blows about as piles of rubbish burn unattended, sending plumes of thick black smoke into the air. In the distance, small children run in and out of the alleyways of these shanty-towns, as others stroll the streets irreverently. Vendors sell trinkets, slippers and foodstuffs. Car horns echo as rumbling trucks stir up the grimy streets of this city that has outgrown itself.

The skyline of Luanda
While the heart of the city may look much like the French Riviera at sunset, for now, it is an illusion. In a country filled with natural wonders, few tourists dare yet to venture. It’s a nation filled with contrasts of beauty and destitution. A leading oil-producing nation, the wealth has yet to trickle down to the population. Once an important coffee producer, today the country is rather faced with the grim task of clearing the land of mines. Thirsty for knowhow and technology, Angola has embarked on the long task of acquiring the basic tools of a modern economy.

And despite all this, at sunset, in a space perched above the sprawling slums of the capital, people are chanting and dancing the Angolan samba. Cries of survival arise from within streets of devastating poverty. Dance and song celebrate freedom, and lament the trials that have accompanied it.

Kalandula Water Falls The 105 meter tall Kalandula waterfalls, located 85 kilometers from the provincial capital of Malange. Numerous enormous waterfalls can be found in Angola, while the most impressive are the Kalandula Waterfalls on the river Lucala. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Kalandula Water Falls, viewed from above. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Kilandukilu Traditional Ballet Kilandukilu: Traditional Ballet troupe, practicing the Dance of the Wood Carriers, just days before the company set off to perform at an African festival in Japan. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Bustling Luanda: The capital of Angola at noon is bustling with activity. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Downtown Luanda Late afternoon in Luanda. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Church ceremony in Angola’s province of Malanje. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Miradouro da Lua A breathtaking vista outside of Luanda at Miradouro da Lua. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Military Museum, Luanda Perched high above Luanda, the military museum is a historic fortress. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Sundown at Pedras Negras de Pungo Andongo, Angola. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Statue of Ann Nzingha, "Queen of the Ndongo" (1582-1663) Ann Nzingha was the sister of the then-reigning King of Ndongo, Ngoli Bbondi, whose country was later called Angola. Nzingha was from an ethnic group called the Jagas. The Jagas were an extremely militant group who formed a human shield against the Portuguese slave traders. Nzingha never accepted the Portuguese conquest of Angola, and was always on the military offensive. As part of her strategy against the invaders, she formed an alliance with the Dutch, who she intended to use to defeat the Portuguese slave traders. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

View of the harbor A view of the harbor of Luanda from Ilha de Luanda. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Central Malange: Also spelled Malanje, it is a town north-central Angola. The town developed in the mid-19th century as an important feira (open-air market) on the country's principal plateau, between Luanda, now the national capital, 250 miles (400 km) to the west and the Kwango valley, inhabited by the Mbundu people. The town has a high-altitude tropical climate. The environs of Malanje included the principal cotton-producing area of Angola prior to independence in 1975. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Ilha de Luanda: Young Angolans at the beaches of Ilha de Luanda (Island of Luanda), a two-kilometer long peninsula where beaches, restaurants and bars are plentiful. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Settlement at Pungo Andongo Small settlement at the foot of the giant rocks at Pungo Andongo. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Military Museum: Perched high above the city-scape of Luanda, the military museum is a historic fortress. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Kilandukilu drummers: The pulsating beats of the drums of Kilandukilu Traditional Ballet troupe gave the feeling of being thrust into a poignant celebration of life so intense and immediate that it almost defied the senses. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

National Bank of Angola The classical building of the National Bank of Angola dominates the waterfront of the nation's capital, Luanda. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Miradouro da Lua A breathtaking vista outside of Luanda at Miradouro da Lua. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Pedras Negras de Pungo Andongo Pedras Negras de Pungo Andongo, or the Black Rocks at Pungo Andongo, found some 116 kilometers of both dirt and paved roads from the provincial capital. These are a series of mysterious rock formations that have a history in Angola, and astoundingly look like animals - including a giant 'frog'. These formations, which stand high above of the flat southern African savannah, were a strategic point during the recent civil war in Angola - but its history as a strategic military location goes back to the 17th century. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

A view standing above the Pedras Negras de Pungo Andongo, or the Black Rocks at Pungo Andongo. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

The Road to Pungo Andongo On the roard to the giant rocks at Pungo Andongo, in the province of Malanje. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Building Luanda: Construction site in central Luanda. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Nightlife in Luanda In central Luanda a nightclub where Angolans and foreigners mix to enjoy performances of traditional dances including the semba (precursor of the Brazilian samba), kizomba and kuduru. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Tribunal Provincial de Luanda Tribunal Provincial de Luanda, the central courthouse of the capital. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Luanda promenade The promenade in the capital Luanda shows the scenic and tourism potential of the Angolan capital. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA

Luanda cityscape An expansive view of Luanda, the sprawling capital of Angola, taken from the fortress of the nation's Military Museum. Photo © Jura Nanuk, ontheglobe.com ANGOLA