Tag: Travel
Namibe
After a very, VERY bumpy ride (23 km to be precise) down the mouth of the dry Rio de los Flamingos, you arrive at Flamingo Lodge!
Situated on the beach, against low cliffs, the view of these little bungalows was just amazing and frightening at the same time. Nine little bungalows in the middle of nowhere with nothing, absolutely nothing around, just sand, sea and more sand! No mobile network, no internet and no electricity, apart from a generator than runs during certain hours, it was pretty hard on the girls at first. On the other hand we had kilometres and kilometres of beautiful pristine beach just for us! It was really magic!
Kilomets of pristine beach just waiting for us to leave our footprints
Sunset
For those wondering how you can survive without internet and all these electronic gadgets, well let me tell you that it is possible. You walk, you swim, you fish, you read, you crochet, you play games, you build sand castles, you rest and more importantly you DISCONNECT!
Lobito – Lubango – Namibe: The Scenic Route
The drive from Lobito to Namibe is magic. Within six hours, you go from sea to mountain to sea, but this time in the middle of nowhere surrounded by rocks and dunes.
On the way, a quick stop in Benguela:
Lubango, capital of the Province of Huila, is situated at 1700m above sea level and is surrounded by mountains. The rain and the fresh climate make it an agriculturally rich Province where everything grows. Driving through Lubango you wonder where you are because you could easily be in South Africa or even Switzerland!
To makes things even more awkward, we stopped at Le Chalet an authentic little Swiss chalet built in the hills around the city centre where you can indulge in homemade yoghurt and light snacks made with their homemade cheese. And for those feeling homesick and who thought that they’d have to wait to go back to Europe to eat a fondue or a raclette, no worries, Le Chalet sells really nice raclette cheese, as well as the raclette and fondue set!
How cool is that?
Do you know where you are?
After a nice “cheesy” lunch it was time to hit the road and finally see what I had been dreaming of all this time: La Serra da Leba.
Long before setting foot in Angola as I was googling information about my new country, my attention was caught by this magical windy road in the middle of vast, lush greenery. It looked spectacular in pictures but in reality it was pretty mind blowing. What makes it even more spectacular is that this road is a clear separation between the green, fertile high plateaux of Lubango and the dry landscapes of the Namibe plains.
You need to see it to believe it, but in less than two hours you go from cold, rainy, green climate to dry, hot desert!
