May 24- South West Africa

May 30, 2026

May 24- South West Africa

May 24 & 25 Seadays

Because we changed the itinerary from going through the Suez Canal to going around Africa, we have much more distance to travel, so we have more sea days than usual.

May 26

We arrived at the port of Luanda, the capital city of Angola, with a total population of 38 million. The country has had a rough history, including a civil war from 1975 to 2002, but it is rich in natural resources, including gold, diamonds, and petroleum. However, the leaders are corrupt, spending millions on the presidential palace while the population faces high unemployment and deplorable living conditions. Wages are in the region of $100 per month US, and hunger is commonplace.

The port of Luanda has a population of 9 million and is where much of the slave trade originated, much of it to Brazil, the last country to abolish slavery. Angola has a one-party system with no term limit. The previous president was in power for 38 years and did little for the people. The new president is apparently no better, with no freedom of speech, and those who speak out against the president are punished.

We embarked on a short excursion to see the city's high points. Our first stop is where the ships set sail with slaves bound for Brazil and the Americas.

The Church of the Nazarene is under major reservations. The work is being performed by hand, with no machinery in sight.

We visited the fortress of San Migel, which is very well maintained and includes many museums, showcasing its military hardware and historical items.

The weather is getting hotter as we approach the equator, but the bus was well air-conditioned. We arrived back at the ship at 10am, so we took the air-conditioned shuttle bus to the shopping mall [air conditioned]. This is a modern structure with no sign of vacant units. Merry picked up a med at the pharmacy, and they accepted our credit card. I tried to purchase an item at another store, but that shop did not accept any of our credit cards. We ended up going to the money exchange counter and getting Angolan Kwanzas, about 1,000 to one USD. We returned, paid for my item, and took the shuttle bus back to the ship. The prices were very reasonable. I gave the Kwanzas' change to the bus driver, who appreciated the donation.

May 27 Seaday

May 28

We crossed the equator for the sixth and last time at 7 am, so we knew we were in for a hot day. We arrived mid-morning at São Tomé, a small island nation off the western coast of Central Africa. It has a population of 240,000. Its size is 30 miles north to south and 20 miles wide, with a smaller island, Príncipe, nearby. It gained democratic independence from Portugal in 1975

This is a tender port, and the immigration officers were slow to do their paperwork to allow us to tender to the island. The first impression is that everything is green and lush, with banana trees growing like weeds, but the infrastructure is rather dilapidated and trash everywhere.

We boarded an old bus. The floorboards were very soft, and the sliding door would not fully close, so a young man stood at the door as we drove to keep it from flying open. It was very hot and humid, but the bus had no air conditioning, just open windows.

Our driver drove on right through streets full of potholes and large numbers of people who seemed to be just milling around and just sitting, passing the time. I suspect they were out of work, and their home was not comfortable. There are masses of children all over the place.

We drove to and through the large open-air market, but we did not stop for some reason. The guide was very hard to understand.

We did stop at a church and were able to go inside. São Tomé Cathedral looked like a catholic church. When we returned to the bus, one of our group was missing. We had not been given instructions on how long our stop would be.

We continued without her, passing down a one-way street, the wrong way, to the annoyance of cars coming the other way.

We eventually found our missing lady at our next stop, the nearby town square. Here we were entertained by locals singing and dancing. A tip jar was prominent, but our guide indicated they were paid to do this.

We traveled the narrow, winding main roads to another church, St. Peter's Church. The church was not open, but again, singers and dancers went through their routine for us. This is an area where the fishermen keep their primitive boats and catch the fish for the locals. St Peter is the saint for fishermen. Many of the kids were barefoot.

Next, we drove to the local Museum of Sao Tome History.

We continued to the place where they make chocolate. By now it is 2pm, and there is no place to eat. We were given small samples of the chocolate and Merry, and I bought an ice cream, which was very refreshing and took the edge off the hunger. There is no tour or demonstration of chocolate making. I neglected to take photos here.

Finally, we headed back to the pier and took the shuttle back to the ship for a long, cool shower and a spot of late lunch.