Angola Field Group

Luanda is one of the oldest cities on the continent of Africa and is celebrating its 434th birthday on Saturday afternoon, January 30th.
The Angola Field Group has been invited to attend the Celebration of the City of Luanda Day! being held downtown at Largo do Baleizão, the square in front of Hotel Continental, beginning at 2:00 and running to 8:00 PM.

Festivities include live music, a photo exhibition, capoeira demonstration, food stalls, carnival dancing, and a bus tour in English of the historic city for field group participants, 500 kwanzas. The tour will begin at approximately 3:00, (time subject to change). You must register in advance at the registration booth (located in small tent)  but space is limited so first come first served. You can also book in advance by emailing neaud.geral@gmail.com. Walking tours and bus tours in Portuguese of the historic city are also available. All tours will be accompanied by knowledgeable guides.

The festival hopes to raise awareness of the need to preserve Luanda’s cultural heritage and is part of the movement Campanha Reviver, por uma Cidade com Alma, (Revitalize Luanda, keep the Soul in our City),  organized by KALU, the Association of Native Luandans, Residents and  Friends as well as NEAAUD, the Centre for the Study of Art, Architecture, Urbanism and Design at Lusídas University. This will be a fun festival lasting till 8:00 in the evening so drop by at any time! Festival T-shirts for sale. Click on the two posters to view them in full size version.

Stirring a 'pot' of crude oil that occurs naturally at the Libongos Oil Seeps.

*Please note that this field trip is now full.
The Angola Field Group will have a geological field trip north of Luanda on Sunday, January 24. The trip will be led by Geologist Tako Koning, returning back to Luanda at approximately 5:00 PM.  We will leave Luanda at 7:00 am (sharp) and travel to Barra do Dande and visit outcrops consisting of Cretaceous-age fossiliferous, marine sedimentary rocks. From there we will travel northeastwards to the Lifune River to the historically well known Libongos oil seeps and asphalt quarry.  We will then travel southwards to Caxito to the water falls at Sassa where Precambrian granite outcrops and where we will have lunch.  The field trip will conclude with a visit to the hydroelectric dam on the Dande River at Mabubas.

Sedimentary outcrop at Barra do Dande.

This field trip will also stop at Pangila Bridge to review some of the historical events which occurred in this area including the Quifangondo battle on November 10, 1975 between FNLA and MPLA just prior to Angola achieving independence on November 11, 1975.

There is a provincial border crossing on this trip so you must bring your original documents and proof of a valid visa.  All field trips with the Angola Field Group are at your own risk.

Crude oil sample. Records indicate that as early as 1820, the Portuguese shipped out barrels of asphalt probably from the Libongos seeps.

Our meeting point and further details will be provided once you sign up for the trip. To sign up email: angolafieldgroup@gmail.com as soon as possible since space is limited.

If you have room in your vehicle for passenger/s, please indicate. There are many vehicle-less people who would appreciate the opportunity to explore some of the countryside.

Evidence of oil. The first drilling for oil was carried out in 1915 by the Portuguese company “Companhia de Pesquisas Mineras de Angola” along the banks of the Dande River.

Visit this website’s Geology page for more photos of previous geology field trips.

Mabubas, a hydroelectric dam sabotaged by UNITA that once watered vast fields of sugar cane that used to grow in this area.

Picnicking beside Dande River below the dam during a previous Field Trip to the area.

Luanda's stadium, 11 da Novembre, named after Angola's day of independence, seats 50,000.

A fan in front of the stadium which has a curved roof representing the horns of the palanca negra, Angola's national symbol.

Angola Field Group presentations are canceled for the month of January due to CAN 2010 (Campeonato Das Nacoes Africanas), that is the Africa Cup of Nations, Africa’s most important football tournament, which is being held this year in Angola from January 10 to January 31. Preliminaries are January 10 – 21. Quarterfinals are January 24- 25. Semifinals are scheduled for January 28 and the FINAL is January 31. Angola’s national football team, the Palancas Negras, qualified for their first World Cup in 2006 in Germany.

There will be a field trip on Sunday, January 24 (new date!). Check this website soon for details.

The stadium is in Camama, a neighborhood 17 kilometers from downtown Luanda.

CAN takes place 6 months before the World Cup. The first CAN competition was won by Egypt in 1957.

All CAN 2010 photos courtesy Silvia Legeane.