Calandula, Angola

2019-11-01/03: Calandula warterfalls, the third tallest waterfalls in Africa out of major tourist circuits.

2019-10-31

We leave Malanje a little before 10 am taking the road to Cacuso which we follow for about 25 km until Lombe. This is where we take the road to the right to Calandula Falls, our goal for the day. We cover around forty kilometers there before taking a new small paved road but in very poor condition towards the "Pousada Calandula".

Village on the road to Calandula.

The bad little road to the Calandula Pousada (inn).

Our 2012 tourist guide advises to ignore the sign that indicates the direction of the Pousada because it is no longer accessible since the bridge over the river was destroyed during the civil war. That was true in 2012, it is no longer true today. The bridge was replaced and the Pousada completely renovated in 2017.
A short kilometer before we get there we have to pay the entrance fees: 500 Kwanzas per person and 1000 Kwanzas for the vehicle, 2000 Kwanzas (4.44 €) in all.
We arrive at the hostel at noon. I go to the reception where I find Paolo who will show me the campsite. Because there is indeed an official campsite here. It’s been a really long time since we’ve seen one. As we are all alone we can also stay in the large parking lot in front of the hostel, which we prefer because the campsite is a bit too isolated for our taste, out of the way some 200 m from here.

Aerial view of the surroundings of the Pousada (with Gandalf).

From the terrace of the inn's restaurant the view is fantastic on the falls just in front. The Calandula Falls are, depending on the sources considered, the second or third largest in Africa. But regardless of the ranking, it is truly a breathtaking spectacle, the waters of the Lucala River plunging here from 105m high to a width of about 400m directly in front of our eyes.

The Calandula Falls from the Pousada.

We leave in the middle of the afternoon for a little walk to admire the falls from the lawn behind the hostel. One of the security guards absolutely wants to accompany us to the "natural pools" less than a kilometer from here on a marked path. These "natural pools" are just a few small pools between the rocks in the river above the falls. They are not really extraordinary, although the site is rural and pleasant. We expect the security guard to ask us for a little something for the service, but it is not. He explains to us that they usually accompany tourists to "protect" them from possible harassment from nearby villagers who come to ask for money. We still give him 200 Kwanzas when we get back to the motorhome.

Natural pools.

 

 

We have been in close WhatsApp contact for a few days with Big Bertha (David and Francine), British overlanders who are right in the area. They approach slowly and expect to arrive at the pousada around 5:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
I don't know what time they arrive but they are already there when I wake up.
The sun is setting and we decide to go have a beer together on the terrace to get to know each other better.

Thierry on the terrace of the pousada facing the falls.

Thierry, David and Francine.

David is 57 years old. He is a rail specialist and has supported numerous railway and metro line projects around the world. Starting with the Channel Tunnel in the early 90s in France. It was there that he met Francine, a British from Trinidad. They have never lived in England since. 5 years in Hong Kong, then Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and the Emirates to finish. When the last high speed train project between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore was canceled by the new Malaysian government they made the choice to change their lives and become "overlanders". They bought "Big Bertha", a top-of-the-range used MAN TGM with Bocklet cab at an attractive price.
They have been living in their truck ever since. They started with a trip to southern Europe and Morocco a year ago, a kind of test before setting out to conquer the world. In August of this year they put their truck on a boat for Namibia. Their plan is to travel through southern and eastern Africa before embarking for South America in about a year and a half. 

Gandalf and Big Bertha in the parking lot of the pousada.

2019-11-01

It is 10:15 am when we leave on foot with Dave and Francine to reach the foot of the falls. One of the guards feels obliged to accompany us there. They take their jobs very seriously, apparently.

Walking down to the foot of the falls.

We get there by doing a wide loop half an hour later. Thanks to the humidity of the river and especially the spray from the waterfall, it is the rainforest that has taken over here, while all the surroundings are dominated by savannah. We stay there for another half an hour to admire and photograph. These falls are truly grandiose. I don't remember seeing any bigger, with the exception of Niagara Falls in 1976, but the latter are so landscaped that they lose a lot of their appeal, while these are - still - in the wild state in a preserved green setting.
 

At the foot of the falls.

Back to the camper and after a short break to recover and cool off, I take out the drone to make it do two flights to the falls. The resulting videos are very successful. 

The Lucala below the falls.

I get home just in time before the first drops of rain. We eat in the motorhome and let the afternoon slip away quietly.
Dave and Francine come back from their little excursion and invite us to come and have a glass of Champagne (it's actually sparkling wine) at their home at 7:30 p.m. to celebrate their first year of overlanding, because it's been exactly a year today that 'they live in their truck.We meet them at the agreed time after the meal. We spend a very pleasant evening exchanging our travel experiences.

2019-11-02

Our plan was to get back on the road today but Helena, the owner, will convince us to stay an extra day. One of her arguments is that it is strongly advised not to ride on weekends, as Angolans are used to drinking a lot. This weekend is also more particularly critical, November 2 being a public holiday in Angola, it falls on a Saturday this year and, what is more, just after a pay day. All the ingredients are, according to Helena, gathered to make this Saturday particularly deadly on Angolan roads.
Of course, these are not the kinds of arguments that scare us, but let's say it helps us make a decision. Nor does it take David and Francine to convince them to also stay an extra day before going to Pedras Negras.

We spend part of the morning on the terrace just in front of the falls while enjoying a small beer that we share.
It’s the weekend and it’s a bit more crowded than the last few days. All rooms are rented. The clients are exclusively Portuguese expatriates.

 

Helena, Francesco, Thierry and Christine.

In the afternoon we sit on the lawn by the pool to sunbathe.
This sunbathing will remain etched in our memories for a long time, because the site is truly exceptional. The pool is located on a slightly raised platform and gives us a completely unobstructed view of the falls in front of us. Unforgettable.

Sunbathing in Calandula.

This evening we are the ones who invite Dave and Francine to come and have an aperitif with us. They seem to like it. It had been a long time since David had drunk Pastis!

Aperitif in the motorhome with Francine and David.

Pungo Andongo, Pedras Negras, Angola

2019-10-30/31:Pedras Negras, unexpected rock formations in the middle of the Angolan savannah.

First day

The road after N’Dalatando is excellent and relatively new. On the whole Angola makes a fairly good impression on us when it comes to infrastructure. The authorities do seem to be taking care of the upkeep and maintenance, although there is still a long way to go. The country needs to be completely rebuilt after the ravages of 30 years of civil war, even though the war has already ended for almost two decades. The fall in oil prices does not help matters. 

The track to Pedras Negras.

We take an hour to arrive at the small village of Quizenga at the end of which a good track goes to the right towards the “Pedras Negras” (the Black Rocks) towards the south. After 33 km covered in one hour we find the tar of the road coming from Cacuso. The famous Black Rocks that we had been focusing on for a good ten kilometers are now within reach. After 3 km we take the small tarmac road on the left which winds down towards the rocks. We follow it for 5 km to stop at the end of a bedrock 250 m from the road. It is here that one can observe footprints in the rock, footprints left according to legend by King Ngola Kiluanji and Queen Ginga, undoubtedly the most famous woman in Angolan history, strategist, warrior, negotiator and formidable manipulator.

The “Pedras Negras” in focus.

 

A small road which threads its way between the rocks.

 

Gandalf at the bivouac at the foot of the rocks.

For geologists, these rocks, which cover a rectangular area of ​​about 12 km by 6 km and rise up to more than 200 m above the surrounding savannah, represent an enigma because their composition (hard sedimentary conglomerates) is totally foreign to the region.
We walk a bit around in the immediate vicinity, including the famous footprints protected by small concrete constructions. Apart from the legends about the royal origins of his prints I can't find anything on the internet to explain their presence here.

 

Footprints in the rock.

 

The opportunity is ripe, I will get my drone back on duty to explore and film the surroundings. Observed from an altitude of 150 m the site is truly impressive, the aerial views allow to capture the full extent of these rock formations.

Although this is one of Angola’s major tourist spots, we’re on our own. Five or six children appear to go for a bath with their mothers in the small stream below. A little later two couples of Angolan tourists approach me and worry about whether I filmed them with the drone bathing, apparently in the simplest form. I show them the videos on the computer, they are reassured and wish us a good day when they leave.

At the bivouac.

 

It wasn't really planned at the beginning but we decide to stay here for the night, the area is really too nice!
The temperature cooled considerably in the evening, dropping to 23 ° C in the motorhome around 10 p.m. Christine is even forced to put on a small jacket. It had been a long time! 

Second day:

Christine at the foot of the Pedras Negras at the bivouac.

Today we decided to go to the end of the small road because we know that there starts a path towards a point of view not to be missed, it seems.
The road ends after barely five minutes with a cul-de-sac at the level of what looks like a village - with (disused) school, town hall, police station, church, sports field - which hardly seems inhabited by more. than a handful of villagers. We stop Gandalf in the large deserted square to take the path to the rocks on foot. 

On the way to the panorama.

Christine on the trail ...

 

...and Thierry at the top of the stairs

The path bypasses in 800 meters by the south the monolith on which we will go up by a series of steps. From up there the panorama is indeed impressive and we will spend half an hour admiring it in all directions, because it is really 360 °, from the reservoir of the Capanda dam on the Cuanza to the south. until the tangle of monoliths in other directions all around us. 

Panorama to the south

The rocks to the north-west.

 

View on the village

 We are back in the "village" at noon but we do not join the motorhome. As a little wind tempers the heat of the sun, we decide to follow another path that penetrates deeply into the rocky landscape towards the east. We follow him for a little less than a kilometer and a half. It's a narrow path that winds its way through the thick underbrush through the rocks. We appreciate that it was recently cleared with a machete.

We are back around 1:00 p.m. We sweated a lot because the sun was strong in the middle of the day and the wind did not do its job as it should. We take advantage of a tap to cool off and rinse off before returning to the motorhome. Intrigued to see a small group of women coming back loaded with water cans by the path when there is a tap in the village, we ask them the question. Tap water is not drinkable. They get their drinking water from a well 200 meters away.

Tap water is not drinkable.

The old abandoned school.

The trace of our excursion within the Pedras Negras.