Luanda is such a city of contrasts - this was the view from my 11th floor hotel room over down town, with a Catholic university in the foreground - a beautiful, modern city.
There is construction everywhere you look - roads, homes, skyscrapers, etc...
There are some beautiful new roads going in (most of this by the Chinese, who seem to be able to work twice as hard and for much less than American contractors).
And a lot of shiny new health clinics.
A lot of little "subdivisions" are going up in the "suburbs" as part of the government's effort to decrowd the city and ease the housing crisis - some upscale and affordable only to the elite, but some, like these, basic but comfortable (and in this case, very blue). There is even a high end mall in a neighborhood of subdivisions to rival any in the US - the only problem is that it takes 4 hours during "rush hour" to get the 10 miles between there and downtown.
At the same time, there are scenes like this less than 10 miles from downtown, that look very poor and rural.
Here's the neighborhood car wash - and potentially good mosquito breeding habitat.
In most of city the roads are horrendous - any amount of rain, and suddenly the streets are rivers, with mud left over, and jams of cars mixed among the blue and white taxis all trying to get through it. When it really rains, nothing but a 4x4 SUV or truck can get through it.
Even on the good roads, the situation isn't rosy - this is Friday afternoon traffic going down to the "posh" suburb - at a total standstill.
The majority of people live on the edge of existence in this expensive town, sometimes literally, as on the edge of this embankment, which has become strewn with garbage.
Scenes like this are not uncommon - open dumps, with who knows what toxic chemicals in the brew, are all over town, with houses and children playing only feet away. The government is trying to clean up the city, and has employed a crew of street sweepers, but these are focused down town, while the surrounding slums (and the majority of the population) continues to live with a growing waste management problem.
Some people live in buildings like this - these concrete block structures can be 10 stories or more - without electricity or running water! That means no elevator, and someone has to carry water up and carry waste down - however many flights of barely lit stairs. And they may pay several hundred dollars a month for this!
But there were so many little scenes I enjoyed - there is little commerce everywhere. And for some reason, tons of old fashioned popcorn machines. I loved this combination of popcorn machine, soft serve ice cream, and the I Love Angola umbrella on the street!
The last weekend, the PMI driver, Gilberto, was driving me around on some errands, and introduced me to his adorable daughter (above) and niece (below).
We also took a little boat ride across to a spit of land called Mussulo that has a few beach clubs and had lunch - a very fun memory to take home with me!
Luanda is such a city of contrasts - this was the view from my 11th floor hotel room over down town, with a Catholic university in the foreground - a beautiful, modern city.
There is construction everywhere you look - roads, homes, skyscrapers, etc... 
There are some beautiful new roads going in (most of this by the Chinese, who seem to be able to work twice as hard and for much less than American contractors).
And a lot of shiny new health clinics.
A lot of little "subdivisions" are going up in the "suburbs" as part of the government's effort to decrowd the city and ease the housing crisis - some upscale and affordable only to the elite, but some, like these, basic but comfortable (and in this case, very blue). There is even a high end mall in a neighborhood of subdivisions to rival any in the US - the only problem is that it takes 4 hours during "rush hour" to get the 10 miles between there and downtown.
At the same time, there are scenes like this less than 10 miles from downtown, that look very poor and rural.
Here's the neighborhood car wash - and potentially good mosquito breeding habitat.
In most of city the roads are horrendous - any amount of rain, and suddenly the streets are rivers, with mud left over, and jams of cars mixed among the blue and white taxis all trying to get through it. When it really rains, nothing but a 4x4 SUV or truck can get through it.
Even on the good roads, the situation isn't rosy - this is Friday afternoon traffic going down to the "posh" suburb - at a total standstill.
The majority of people live on the edge of existence in this expensive town, sometimes literally, as on the edge of this embankment, which has become strewn with garbage.
Scenes like this are not uncommon - open dumps, with who knows what toxic chemicals in the brew, are all over town, with houses and children playing only feet away. The government is trying to clean up the city, and has employed a crew of street sweepers, but these are focused down town, while the surrounding slums (and the majority of the population) continues to live with a growing waste management problem.
Some people live in buildings like this - these concrete block structures can be 10 stories or more - without electricity or running water! That means no elevator, and someone has to carry water up and carry waste down - however many flights of barely lit stairs. And they may pay several hundred dollars a month for this!
But there were so many little scenes I enjoyed - there is little commerce everywhere. And for some reason, tons of old fashioned popcorn machines. I loved this combination of popcorn machine, soft serve ice cream, and the I Love Angola umbrella on the street!
The last weekend, the PMI driver, Gilberto, was driving me around on some errands, and introduced me to his adorable daughter (above) and niece (below).
We also took a little boat ride across to a spit of land called Mussulo that has a few beach clubs and had lunch - a very fun memory to take home with me!
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