Africa-Press – Angola. The two cities, Lubango and Huambo, are separated by around 500 kilometers. But due to the poor condition of the road, the journey takes almost nine hours. Despite the regrets, traveling by land is one of the best you can do, as it allows you to get to know your traveling companions, localities and tourist sites better.
The meeting of the group of journalists from Huíla is scheduled for 7:00 am, in the heart of the city of Cristo Rei. Forty-five minutes before, my professional “grandson” Belchior Chicomo called, anxious, asking where the other colleagues were concentrated, because I didn’t see anyone in the garden of the Sé Catedral square.
“My grandfather, I’ve already walked around this whole garden and I don’t see you. Have you left yet?” It is still early. Meeting is at 7:00 am. We’re coming”, I reassured.
Minutes later he called again. “I see a little square constantly rotating here in the garden. Now it has stopped there next to Cultura. Is this the car that will take us?”, he asked.
There wasn’t even time to let him know that he had already sent the driver’s number by message moments after the first conversation. He described the characteristics of the vehicle. The visual identity stamped on the sheet metal was right. “That’s it,” I confirmed. “Okay. I’m going to meet him right away”, she warned.
The horn outside my house alerted me to the arrival of my colleague Agostinho Fela for the collection. From the centrality of Quilemba to the center of the old city. It was Sunday. Traffic was fluid. We pass Eyva. Was fast.
We arrived minutes before the scheduled time. “Punctuality is the courtesy of kings and the obligation of the polite”, teaches the English proverb. There was Mr. António, the driver, behind the wheel of the little white square decorated with the company’s colors.
We were almost complete: me from Edições Novembro, Berlarmina Paulino, or simply Bela from Angop, Odete Ofelengue from Rádio Huíla and Belchior Chicomo from Rádio Eclésia. Baptista João, from TPA, is missing. Colleague Odete informed about the television camera operator’s momentary unavailability to travel.
“I spoke to Baptista. He told me that he felt ill last night and is on his way to the hospital. He’s not going”, the RNA journalist pointed out. I was surprised by the information. I couldn’t believe it, because the night before I spoke to ” Batistuta” to confirm his readiness for another PASCAL training.
I call Baptista “Batistuta” because we played football at the same time in our youth squads. At the time, we played games in the provincial children’s, youth and junior championships. He for Clube Desportivo da Huíla and I for Sporting Clube do Lubango. In different football seasons, mutual feints were normal during clashes.
“Does he want to trick us?” indignation sounded in my mind. “It’s not possible. There is no reason for that”, replied my inner voice. I called to confirm his health status. An athlete, by the way, a star, of Baptista’s stature, doesn’t get sick like that out of nowhere. I remembered that, like me, “Baptistuta” is literally “retired” from the naked world to work in journalism.
I really had to call. I confirmed it in the phone conversation. The voice was there in the background. His guy really looked sick. I asked if he had already received medical assistance. Confirmed yes. We talked quickly about other scenes. We laugh. I wished him a quick recovery, before saying goodbye.
We took our usual selfie. We shared the photos to inform the Citizen Journalism course group. It was to notify us of our departure.
Caution behind the wheel
We continue on the road. The trip between Huíla and Huambo requires caution and restraint from the driver. The section has several holes. The asphalt carpet is full of stains. In some sections it feels like you are on patched floors, because the tar used by the maintenance teams is different from the main floor.
There are still some potholes up to the 40 turnoff. From this point to the Hoque community headquarters, the main road is closed for rehabilitation. We followed a dirt path created by the construction company. The alternative route passes through the farms of people in the area, which makes the journey time-consuming. The market at the Km 40 bypass had few vendors. We don’t even buy meat in the area, famous for its barbecue and fries.
The dust started. You could see the cars traveling in the opposite direction. Carefully, the driver rolled up the windows and turned on the AC to avoid makas on sensitive throats, especially those of our colleagues. We arrived at Hoque after overcoming the first challenge of curves, counter-curves and vibrations caused by the uneven ground.
The cracks and unevenness caused by wear and tear on the road become more pronounced and create discomfort on the way to Cacula. In one of the sections the speed drops to almost zero km per hour. There the ladies enjoy selling products from the countryside before the town of Vihamba. We were almost at a stop, it was better to buy pumpkin seeds to chew along the journey. They say it’s good for men’s health. The driver learned on the spot and followed my example.
From the town of Cacula you can decide which direction to take to Huambo. This is where the roundabout serves as a junction to follow Caluquembe or Quilengues. The option was for the second, as the direct and short road remains degraded.
We followed the longest route passing through Chongoroi to divert in Catengue, municipality of Benguela. This road, built just over a decade ago, as part of the National Reconstruction Program, is also saying goodbye to motorists. The march is slow. But truck drivers and taxi drivers, true heroes, do everything they can to transport people and goods.
Dance on the chairs. It goes bumpily. You lose track of the holes. It takes skill to drive. Good thing we were being driven by an experienced driver. Sometimes he had to slow down to give priority to vehicles coming in the opposite direction. All because the other person also needs to avoid the hole and take advantage of some layer of asphalt that remains on the opposite side of the road.
It was understandable because our “nduta” also dodged several times to avoid damaging parts and accessories. These maneuvers are only permissible when no one is coming in front. Hence Mr António Basílio’s caution.
“That’s how it is here. These holes are dangerous”, says the driver, when he shows a completely charred Tucson model car, after hitting a hole that caused a short circuit. “That piece of junk caught fire. The owner didn’t take advantage of anything. Many cars burn on this road. The car caught fire. Nothing was taken advantage of. The owner took a taxi right here,” he said. We regret what happened and continue.
Barbecue with sweet potato fries
It was a relief to arrive at the Chongoroi market. Lots of movement, there are cars arriving and leaving from the informal market. Dozens of stalls and benches. Country products and food and drinks cheer us up. The mandatory stop was also strategic.
The national chicken barbecue, with jindungo and onion in the mix, is the right option. There are those who preferred to enjoy thick and attractive fried sweet potatoes. Everyone chooses the best meal to satisfy their appetite.
The Chongoroi market also served to stretch our legs. We needed to reinvigorate our energy. Let us quickly replenish our energy. But there were many kilometers to go. The decision was to buy and continue traveling. We ended up with our mouths watering. Above all, we kill the belly bug.
The effects of the food and drinks soon began to take effect after Catengue’s diversion. One of our colleagues overcame her fear. She asked the driver to stop. Her time had come to “send” the email to that jungle of rocky hills.
Some who were silent also took the opportunity to do the same. That’s it, nature will take care of decoding the message.
Caimbambo Breasts
The municipality of Caimbombo was in sight. When crossing the circumscription river, the two ends could be seen in the distance, high up. Due to the protrusions, similar to female breasts, the two pointed stones were baptized “Two Breasts”. It may have another name. But it doesn’t surpass this one, because it is contextualized.
It’s almost the same. It looks like a woman lying on her back with her chest exposed. The only difference is the surrounding bushes and, perhaps, the lack of blood circulation and breast milk. We enjoy it endlessly. The ulterior motives of the men in the group are for another time. In other words, stop to take photographs for posterity.
On this route, the trip became more enchanting, due to the stunning landscapes. There are many rocky hills along the road, villages and towns. Nature fills the traveler with spectacular scenes that even serve to forget the previous holes from Lubango to Catengue.
The road between the Catengue bypass and Cidade Vida now offers more comfort despite there being many signs that require regular maintenance. The driver was kind enough to enter one of the main streets of Cubal’s headquarters so we could admire the palm trees that beautify that municipal headquarters. In fact, the town has its charms.
The high number of barriers from regular traffic officers is one of the bottlenecks in an otherwise pleasant trip. It is clear that the agents are there to prevent road accidents, but placing cones in the middle of the road at the entrance to almost all offices is an exaggeration. Not to mention, our car was stopped at all the barriers. Good thing the driver had everything in order.
Memorable and fun
The land trip is one of the best you can do. This conclusion is justified by the fact that it allows you to get to know your traveling companions, localities and tourist sites better. On land it is possible to relieve stress.
One of the best things about traveling by road is driving with the windows open, letting yourself be bathed in the breeze of nature. Keep a friendly conversation with your fellow travelers and hear incredible life stories from them.
Anyone who has never fallen asleep and been woken up by the laughter of other passengers needs to travel. And traveling with fellow journalists, who have the answers at their fingertips, is memorable and fun. Calmly, you can record more stories and tell the “lived” experiences in the pages of newspapers, magazines and books.
It is by road that you can truly see that the country is rich and beautiful. The wealth of this country continues to be its people. Hospitable and hardworking, the citizens of the “path” that took us from Lubango to Huambo maintain the joy of life despite the difficulties.
Being able to stop and buy fruit and vegetables at low prices makes up for all the tiredness caused by jumping through degraded sections. It can be tiring and time-consuming, as our trip lasted from 7am to 4:30pm. However, traveling between Lubango and the city of Huambo is memorable and fun for its flavors and unpleasantries.
jornaldeangola
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