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Having heard reports of high crime, desperate sanitary conditions and a bizarrely high cost of living following years of civil war, Angola is also famous for its mineral wealth and incredibly relaxed and friendly people.
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Discovering Angola

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http://discoveringangola.blogspot.com/
Discovering Angola · 2Y ago

The customer is always right

The most common moan here in Luanda is regarding customer service. Or rather lack of. Whilst it is true that a country crippled by a brutal civil war under a decade ago cannot be compared to the bright lights of the US, it is not rare for both expats and locals to find themselves laughing or crying
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Discovering Angola · 2Y ago

Just friends

‘I don’t have real friends. Never have done… But it’s fine, I know loads of people here’. The sad but honest admission from B, a Portuguese expat living in Angola. Perhaps his admission was but an exaggeration after a ‘particularly awful day’ or perhaps it was one total honesty fuelled by the whiske
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Discovering Angola · 2Y ago

Jack Daniels and Jim

It’s been a while since my last blog, as I recently left for the UK to renew my visa. The flight back was the usual mix of business hot shots and expat families in first class, oil guys and charity workers in economy. Although initially cautious to engage with guys seemingly twice my size (both hori
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Discovering Angola · 3Y ago

Luanda at night

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Discovering Angola · 3Y ago

Just plain business sense

When I submitted my first visa application, a very charming man on the embassy reception apologised for the amount of bureaucracy required, adding with a wink, 'us Angolans, we like our bureaucracy'. Although I picked up my first visa from Mr Charming hassle free the first time round, I was to be le
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Discovering Angola · 3Y ago

When it rains, it pours.

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Discovering Angola · 3Y ago

Cutting the Pope SOME slack

Perhaps I was too quick to judge his Holiness. Having just seen him trudge past in his famous ‘popemobile’, I witnessed an amazing sense of awe and excitement from the crowds. Children clapped in rhythm, adults cheered and his Rayban clad security entourage only added to the general hype and adulati
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Discovering Angola · 3Y ago

The Pope's comments- foolish or immoral?

The Pope arrives in Angola today. Whilst I was initially tempted to join in the hype and stock up on hilariously kitsch ‘Welcome Pope!’ T-shirts, his most recent comments have made me think otherwise. His remark in Cameroon, that AIDS "cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which ev
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Discovering Angola · 3Y ago

Aerobics in Angola

Staying fit in Angola is no easy task. Walking is too dangerous in the dark in most places and even in the day time you need to watch out for pot holes, random waist high puddles and scooters who aim at pedestrians like ten pins at a bowling alley. With this in mind I decided to join a gym. At one g
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Discovering Angola · 3Y ago

The honeymoon is over

The electricity cuts and water shortages were all part of the adventure when I first arrived. The honeymoon, if one can classify time spent in Angola as a holiday, is now over. Today is a public holiday due to the Pope’s visit and we have no water. Flies are amassing around the dirty dishes are stac
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