In 2000 photographer Halden Krog first visited Angola. In the midst of a civil war the country was an image of despair, even hopelessness. “I was covering a story on the relocation of wild elephants to a nature reserve some 80km south of Luanda. It was a wild country – undeveloped and ravaged by war. I remember there was only one road from the Rundu border post to Luanda, and it was in a terrible condition, a patchwork peppered with huge potholes.” In Luanda itself the evidence of war was everywhere. “Everything was rundown and dilapidated and expensive. Dollars were all anyone wanted or would accept and prices were extremely inflated. A prego roll cost more than $30 at the time. And without a translator I would have been lost, as I do not speak Portuguese.” Safety was a major concern. “It was war-time,” he says. “As we were guests of the Presidency we had protection, but one could feel the tension in the air. I would not have advised anyone at that time to venture out on their own in the cities or elsewhere.” Some three years later Krog again found himself in Luanda, this time doing a four by four overland trip visiting all the major centres. “I cannot begin to describe the difference in just three years. Not once did I think of the country as hopeless, in fact, just the opposite. Everywhere I went, while the aftermath of a 20-odd year civil war was obvious, the hope of the people and the effort they were making to bring about change, was amazing.” Krog says development was evident all around. “There were construction sites all over and one could clearly see there was effort being made in fixing the infrastructure. The very same road from Luanda I had travelled on three years earlier was a hundred times better.” It was still expensive, says Krog, and yes, Portuguese was still a prerequisite. “Angola is an achingly beautiful country and it has so much potential. It was amazing to see the speed of change and also the social atmosphere that had changed. There was no sense of feeling unsafe or insecure.” Travel editor Natalia Thomson agrees. She first visited Luanda in 2009 expecting a Lagos-like city – rundown, dirty and chaotic, and found the opposite. “The Luanda skyline was literally a sea of cranes. There was so much construction going on. Everywhere one could see infrastructure being renovated or rebuilt.” Fluent in Portuguese Thomson says she obviously had no communication problems. “Yes, Luanda is slightly chaotic and the infrastructure that is not being rebuilt or renovated clearly dates back to before independence, but I loved the old-style Portuguese charm mixed in with a taste of Africa.” With the roads still in a poor condition and not sign-posted, it was difficult to find a particular address. Luanda is quite chaotic and the traffic extraordinarily bad, says Thomson, but never did she feel unsafe. Luanda is, however, very expensive, she says, including the hotels and transfers. A visit to a supermarket proved that everything in the country is imported even the water. Angola, however, is the land of opportunity, say both Thomson and Krog. “As with all business in Africa,” says Thomson, “the risk is great, but one must never forget, the reward is extremely high.”
