Three and a half times the size of Germany, 1,600 km of Atlantic coast and roads that only reopened to travellers a few years ago. Southern Angola is the northern end of the Namib: dunes that run into the sea, the Serra da Leba pass and welwitschias older than Europe’s cathedrals.
Angola opened to individual travellers only recently — visa-free entry for many European passports since 2023, roads rebuilt, the war a generation away. For us it is the natural continuation of the Kaokoveld: across the Kunene, along the northern end of the Namib past Tombua and the wreck-strewn beaches of Namibe, up the Serra da Leba to Lubango and on into the green highlands. The first routes are in planning; the tracks we already know.
Key figures
Angola in numbers
surface area
1,246,700km²
three and a half times the size of Germany
inhabitants
~37M
2024 estimate — the last census (2014) counted 25.8 million
people per km²
~30
most of them in and around Luanda
of coastline
1,600km
from the Congo to the Kunene
Serra da Leba pass
1,845m
the switchbacks from Namibe up to Lubango
Kalandula Falls
105m
400 metres wide — one of Africa’s largest by volume
Highlights
Where the highlights are
Hover over a place to find it on the map, click it for the full story.Tap a place for the full story.
Angola
Serra da Leba
Tundavala
Namibe
Iona
Kalandula Falls
Miradouro da Lua
Kissama
Lobito
NAngola · 8 highlights
AngolaHighlights
01A staircase of switchbacks
Serra da Leba
From the coast at Namibe the road climbs the escarpment to Lubango in a ribbon of hairpin bends — 1,845 metres up, built in the 1970s and photographed by everyone who has ever driven it. Best at dusk, when the trucks’ headlights trace the curves.
02The edge of the highland
Tundavala
A few kilometres from Lubango the plateau simply ends: at the Fenda da Tundavala the ground drops more than 1,000 metres to the coastal plain. On a clear day the view reaches the Namib.
03Dunes into the Atlantic
Namibe & the northern Namib
South of Namibe the desert reaches the sea: the dunes of Tombua, the Baía dos Tigres — a peninsula that became an island in 1962 — and beaches where shipwrecks and old fish factories rust in the fog.
04Angola’s oldest and largest park
Iona National Park
Sand seas, gravel plains and the Kunene mouth on the border with Namibia: 15,150 km² being restocked with wildlife after decades of war. Welwitschias, oryx, springbok — and hardly a track.
05105 metres high, 400 metres wide
Kalandula Falls
On the Lucala river in Malanje province a horseshoe of water drops into the green north — one of Africa’s largest waterfalls by volume, five hours from Luanda. Nearby: the black rocks of Pungo Andongo.
Spray over the Kalandula Falls
06Moon landscape by the sea
Miradouro da Lua
Forty kilometres south of Luanda the coast has eroded into a badland of ochre and grey pinnacles — a lunar landscape best seen in the last hour of daylight.
Ochre pinnacles above the sea
07Elephants an hour from Luanda
Kissama National Park
Restocked in 2001 with elephants, giraffes and zebras flown in from Botswana and South Africa — “Operation Noah’s Ark” — Quiçama is Angola’s showcase park on the Cuanza river.
Giraffes by a baobab in Kissama
08The Atlantic coast
Benguela & Lobito
Colonial waterfronts, the Restinga sand spit at Lobito, the Benguela railway towards the Congo — and the coolest beaches in the country, kept fresh by the Benguela current.
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Serra da Leba
On theroad
Travelling in Angola
What is different here
Angola is not Namibia with a Portuguese accent. A few things to know before the first border post.
01Right-hand traffic
Unlike Namibia and Botswana, Angola drives on the right. Our vehicles are right-hand drive — it takes a day to get used to overtaking.
02Portuguese
Outside Luanda very little English is spoken. A few words of Portuguese open every roadside conversation; we bring the rest.
03Visa
Since 2023 citizens of many European countries can enter visa-free for up to 30 days. Check your passport before booking — rules change.
04Yellow fever
Angola requires a valid yellow fever vaccination certificate on entry. Malaria prophylaxis is advisable throughout the country.
05Fuel and cash
Fuel is cheap and available in towns, with long empty stretches in between. The kwanza is a cash currency; cards work in Luanda and little else.
06Time
Angola is on West Africa Time, UTC+1 — one hour behind Namibia. The border at Ruacana or Oshikango is where the watches change.
Angola
Good to know
Independence
11 November 1975. Official language Portuguese; the capital Luanda is home to roughly a quarter of the population.
Currency
Kwanza (AOA). Cash is king outside the capital.
Time zone
WAT, UTC+1 — one hour behind Namibia and Botswana.
Getting there
Overland from Namibia via Ruacana or Oshikango — or by air to Luanda and Lubango (TAAG).
Driving
Right-hand traffic. Main roads have been rebuilt; off them, sand, mud and river crossings — our terrain.
Health
Yellow fever certificate required; malaria area year-round.
When to go
The year at a glance — Angola
Month by month: when each season runs, and what it means on the road.
RainsCacimboRains
JanJJanuary: Rains
FebFFebruary: Rains
MarMMarch: Rains
AprAApril: Rains
MayMMay: Cacimbo
JunJJune: Cacimbo
JulJJuly: Cacimbo
AugAAugust: Cacimbo
SepSSeptember: Cacimbo
OctOOctober: Rains
NovNNovember: Rains
DecDDecember: Rains
Now
May – September
Cacimbo
The dry, cool season: coastal mist in the mornings, clear highlands, the best months for the south.
October – April
Rains
Heavy in the north, sparse in the desert south. Rivers run, roads soften — and the falls are at their fullest.
Signature journeys
Every route can be tailored — tell us what you have in mind.
Journeys through Angola are coming
The first routes are in planning. Tell us what you have in mind — we build the journey around it and combine it with Namibia or Botswana if you like.
From the coast at Namibe the road climbs the escarpment to Lubango in a ribbon of hairpin bends — 1,845 metres up, built in the 1970s and photographed by everyone who has ever driven it. Best at dusk, when the trucks’ headlights trace the curves.
A few kilometres from Lubango the plateau simply ends: at the Fenda da Tundavala the ground drops more than 1,000 metres to the coastal plain. On a clear day the view reaches the Namib.
South of Namibe the desert reaches the sea: the dunes of Tombua, the Baía dos Tigres — a peninsula that became an island in 1962 — and beaches where shipwrecks and old fish factories rust in the fog.
Sand seas, gravel plains and the Kunene mouth on the border with Namibia: 15,150 km² being restocked with wildlife after decades of war. Welwitschias, oryx, springbok — and hardly a track.
On the Lucala river in Malanje province a horseshoe of water drops into the green north — one of Africa’s largest waterfalls by volume, five hours from Luanda. Nearby: the black rocks of Pungo Andongo.
Forty kilometres south of Luanda the coast has eroded into a badland of ochre and grey pinnacles — a lunar landscape best seen in the last hour of daylight.
Restocked in 2001 with elephants, giraffes and zebras flown in from Botswana and South Africa — “Operation Noah’s Ark” — Quiçama is Angola’s showcase park on the Cuanza river.
Colonial waterfronts, the Restinga sand spit at Lobito, the Benguela railway towards the Congo — and the coolest beaches in the country, kept fresh by the Benguela current.
Every route starts with a conversation — tell us what you have in mind.
No booking yet — just a first conversation. Tell us roughly what you have in mind; we reply within two working days with an honest assessment and a first route.
No booking yet — just a first conversation. Tell us roughly what you have in mind; we reply within two working days with an honest assessment and a first route.
