Another beach trip... this time to an island just off Luanda

So, another weekend, another excuse to go to the beach! This time, instead of heading to the surf beach which is a couple hours drive, a group was organized to go to an island visible just off the shore of Luanda. Even though we heard the name of the island said a million times, neither one of us can figure out what it is, or how to spell it now. :) So, just know, we were close to home. It took us 15 minutes by car to get to the drop off point, and then 10 minutes by motor boat to get to the island.

Here L and I are sitting in the boat, ready to go. But of course, getting to this point was not so easy, because....

When you arrive at the drop off point, you're faced with lots of people, lots of boats, etc. And of course, they all want your business! Before we had even parked the car, we had at least 6 or 7 men clamoring around the car. We put L's husband P in charge of getting us a good boat for a good price (he has the most Portuguese out of all of us).

So we were in the boat and off we went...

Here's a shot of the shore again as we pull away. (Joel was taking all these pictures, so...I can just tell you what's there...)

There's the police.

When we got to the island we settled in, got our books out, etc. Eventually though, Joel was getting really restless, so we went for a walk. This is just a shot from our walk along the beach.

And this is a shot of where we were actually sitting while we were on the island. It's just a little set up that has all these permanent umbrella things up, as well as little sun beds to lie on. There is also a bar and restaurant, and one little toilet for everyone to use. Nice enough.

One of the highlights is that girls come around selling sarongs, sun dresses, bikinis, tunics and more all in beautiful bright colors- some African prints, some just beachy. So, one of our teachers decided to go ahead and have a look. As you can see, all of the girls came to show what they had.

We were all watching from afar and L decided that she needed to have a look at one little dress that was being thrown around. She got it in the end. :)

I restrained from shopping- I'm holding out for Australia in December. :)

I didn't actually go in the water today- the weather was nice enough, it was cloudy, but sunny at times. Joel went in and said the water was nice. I just laid on my lounger and lounged...I read quite a bit and also had a pretty long nap. :) Ahhh...

We did order lunch there, Joel got a bacon cheeseburger, and I tried to order a sandwich that didn't have any meat on it. The guy pointed to the one and swore several times, no meat, no meat, just eggs. I was happy. Then it came and had several greasy pieces of bacon on it. Oh well. Joel got more bacon for his burger, and I pretended it wasn't ever on my sandwich. It was a good lunch.

The whole day, including rental of the loungers, lunch, and boat rides back and forth cost us $80, which believe it or not, just seems normal to us now. We are slowly adjusting to the fact that things are just plain expensive here, life is expensive here. But, there aren't many things to spend money on- food and fun like we had today are about it, so you spend it!

The really nice thing about today was that it was beautiful enough and quiet enough that we felt worlds away from Luanda. We're not actually desperate to get away yet really, but I can see how a few months from now, this place will feel like a much looked forward to get away. The only thing is that Joel was a little bored there because there was no surf- there were boats, and people were water skiing and wake boarding- but they were private boats, and we weren't invited. So anyway... Joel probably won't want to go there lots, but for us girls that need no more than a good book, a comfy bed, the opportunity to go on a walk and sun - well, we found our place! :)

Getting off the compound!!!

As I mentioned the other day, we went to the beach this morning. It was a good trip, and I thought I would share a bit about it.

First off, the funnest part to start with was that just as we were getting out of the heavy city traffic (even at 8:00am on a Saturday), we hit a roadblock. Man with gun was standing there, the road was blocked with signs that showed construction ahead, and there was a sign pointing to the left for a detour. So, we turn off the nice paved road, onto a sandy dirt path through the bush. I wish the camera hadn't died, and I had gotten a picture of the conditions we were driving through- but suffice to say, I'm not sure there was a road in that place before this morning when they decided they needed a detour. We made it through though, and then got back on the main road. About an hour later we arrived at the beach. Here are some pictures:

These were actually taken just before we were leaving...

Joel and another guy did surf, but the waves were not very big (as you can see in the background) and very slow today. I did see him catch a wave though!

These things behind me are the Angolan version of a beach umbrella. Basically, some sticks stuck together, with dried grasses piled on top. The local kids put em up, and at the end of the day, they just come up, and you pay em a few hundred Kwanza for using it for the day.

We walked all the way down to the point just behind my head. It's a nice walk, absolutely littered with little crabs skittering all over. We also came across a snake. Well, to tell the truth, some other guys came across it, and bashed it in half with their surf board- we only saw it in the aftermath, when it was still half alive... ugh...I just got shivers just thinking about it. It was gross. It was the first snake the other people we were with said they ever saw in Angola, and they've been here 3 years, so, it's good to know, it's not something that happens often.

Here's a snap of Joel in the car... :)

I tried to get a couple snaps of the landscape we were driving through on the way home. Of course, the pictures are taken through the car windows while we were moving, so...
The prominent tree in this picture is one you see a lot of. They are interesting because it looks like a normal tree trunk, but instead of leaves or branches, it looks like it has a cactus growing out of the top. And it has pretty magenta flowers growing on the top of the cactus branches.

Oh look, here's a closer picture of the same kind of tree.

The landscape is very muted brown and green- there are some colors that pop- bright pinks, yellows, oranges that are the blossoms on the trees and bushes- but otherwise, it's a pretty monotonous earthy feel of colors. The soil is quite red, but, you only see that when you get under the top layer of stuff.

On the road to this beach, you have to cross a big bridge over the river Kwanza. On the way there in the morning, the others said that sometimes you see monkeys around there, but we didn't then. But on the way home, we saw loads- lots of little black guys with really long tails scurrying around on the side of the road. We had to slow down to make sure we didn't make any monkey roadkill.

We stopped along the way home to see what those of us with us called, "a spectacular rock formation." Not really sure what it's from, but, it is beautiful! (And you can see the red soil.)

Where I'm standing just looks out over this space and onto the ocean. If you click on this picture to see the enlarged version, you'll be able to see the shimmer of the ocean on the left hand side of the picture.

And to end, the cute couple picture. :)

It was a very nice day. I got a bit of a sunburn on my face. I also got to know a few of my colleagues a bit better and got a few more invitations- to go to the fruit/veg market, to join a few people doing some yoga once a week, to come back to the beach anytime... :)

Tomorrow Shanan and Danielle are going to take us into the city. I don't know how many pictures we'll be able to take, because the city is the one place that they say you really, really do have to be careful- wear no jewelery (it is SO hard to try to get used to taking my engagement ring off), use no cell phones, carry no cameras, etc. But, maybe we can sneak a few pics now and then.