Aeronave: Beechcraft Bonanza F33
Prefixo: ZS-FLT
Itinerário:
23/09/2000 Libreville FOOL - Luanda FNLU 4:01 1153
24/09/2000 Luanda
25/09/2000 Luanda FNLU - Walvis Bay FYWB 5:47 1660
23-09-2000 - Day 13 : Luanda, Angola
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We had asked the meteo for FL50, 100, 180 and 300. This will give us an idea on the windspeed and direction.
SCT008 BKN016 OVC032 FEW CB NE 8000
We also asked the briefing room to write a message to Luanda asking whether there is fuel available. We also want to check Notams.
Apparently, Luanda is not giving any information: Luckily, there is fuel available, but no Notams, no Metar, no Taf's. Nada. Rien.
OK. Off we go, we fill in the flight plan for 09:45 zulu time. No problem, we pump up the tyres, do the preflight check, file the flight plan, clean the windows, add fuel and oil, check the engine. We take off at 09:35. Probably the earliest we ever took off.
We set course for the coastline. Cloudbase is SCT at 800 feet, BKN at 1600feet. We decide to fly higher than the clouds because otherwise it would be too bumpy and we would have rain, too. It is a pitty because at FL075, you cannot enjoy the landscapes on the ground. You can't see the nature and so on. But safety is priority, of course.
Only a few minutes later, we pass the geographical equator. Zero degrees. After 12 days of flying, we finally start the descent to South Africa.
I enjoyed flying over Pointe Noire. This is a city that lies at the conjunction of a couple of rivers. Beautiful to see from the sky: the green jungles and the dark brown rivers are spectacular. We decide to descend to 500 feet to enjoy this moment. But we soon have to cross the runway, so we climb back to 1500ft. We are controlled by Pointe Noire airport, but since our flight in Europe, we didn't have to squawk.
We fly over Congo, only for about twenty minutes, but we don't have an overflight permit. So we keep silence over the radio.... The first contact with Angolan airspace was when we were abeam Cabinda. We are about 20nm in the sea when we hear an airplane taking off out of Cabinda. It is amazing how difficult it is to see this airplane in the air. This plane is only a few miles away, flies at the same altitude, and yet we don't see it.
We have to report 15nm before Luanda, entering the CTR. About 50nm before Luanda, sky is clear and wind is 6knots. When we approach Luanda, we are amazed how much traffic there is in Luanda. This is warzone, the capital of a country which is in war. And yet, this is the busiest airport so far. All strange planes though: Russian planes, mainly.
We are cleared to land on runway 25. When we touch the ground, we see an interesting spectrum of older and oldest airplanes.
We are awaited by Seb, who works for De Beers. We have met Seb and Sabine on the internet. This is the year 2000, you know. Seb guides us through customs. He speaks Portuguese. Neither Michel or myself speak Portuguese, which makes communication impossible: they don't speak English, we don't speak their language. Anyway, we have our transit visa so we have limited problems. A few discussion here and there but that's it. We wait for 20 minutes before they have finished stamping our passports. A stamp here and a stamp there another one here and another one there...
Angola is probably one of the most beautiful countries in Africa (see pic Luanda sunset). It is supposed to be one of the richest: each day Angola waters and soil are producing 700.000 barrels of oil, a dazzling 21 million dollars. On top of that, Angola has a lot of diamonds. And yet, the country lives in total poverty (see pic Luandacentre). Where does all the money go to ?
Also, Angola is one of the most expensive cities we have done so far: a steak in a safe place costs easily 30 dollars. A second-hand car will cost you close to 20.000 dollars. And every time you need to make happen something, somebody will offer assistance for a very high price.
You can see the country is in war: basics don't function; water, electricity. Each family has its own electricity generator, because light switches on and off. The roads are full of potholes. You really need a high car to cope with the roads. This is the reason, we figured out why there is so much air traffic: every transport done, is by air. No roadtransport, no trains, a few boats alongside the coastline. But anything else is airtransport.
Telephone doesn't work most of the times. Corporate people have a VHF radio (walky talkie) to communicate. People who live in Luanda can't travel outside the city. Not more than 40kms. It is difficult to make some videoshots. You can't film government buildings. They just shoot you when they see you filming.
Anyway, we are hosted like kings by Seb and Sabine. We feel totally relaxed. They take us to the beachhouse of De Beers. A company function has been organized. We go to the port and a boat awaits us there. We navigate for about half a hour, in the bay of Luanda. Outside the city. A beautiful beach. Each corporate has its plot here, Caltex, Chevron, De Beers, Fina, Esso. A beautiful plot with two houses, sheltered from the sun, in a beautiful environment. Other guests arrive. We spend the day talking to very interesting people, all living in Angola.
