Field Trips

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January 30, 2012

Saturday March 3 Field Trip: Catoca Diamond Mine

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The Angola Field Group has been invited to visit the Catoca diamond mine in the province of Lunda Sul, 30 kilometers from the capital city of Saurimo.  Catoca is considered the world’s 4th biggest diamond mine in terms of size. Diamonds are mined from a large kimberlite pipe, a vertical tube of igneous rock which may contain diamonds.

The Catoca kimberlite pipe in Lunda Sul is the fourth largest diamond-rich rock formation on Earth in terms of surface area. Click on photo for enlarged view.


This will be a one-day excursion, check-in at the airport at 6:00 AM on Saturday March 03 and be back in Luanda by approximately 5:00 PM. We will be flying on Catoca’s private plane, $350.00 usd per person return trip. (this price is based on the plane being full to capacity). Catoca will host us for lunch.

This giant 300 meter deep pit unearthed diamonds representing a profit of 116 million $US in 2011.

This field trip is a unique opportunity to see a big working diamond mine up close, beginning at the 300 meter deep pit where the rock is extracted through all the stages ending up at the high security room where the diamonds are displayed and sold. The trip is limited to 45, the maximum capacity of the plane. If you are interested and serious about going, please send an email to: angolafieldgroup@gmail.com with your name, your company’s name, your position in the company and your cell phone number. In approximately 2 week’s time we will send a confirmation email with exact details including what airport we will leave from, exact times and where and when to make final payment.

Please note that foreigners MUST have their passport and visa in order because of emigration controls both in Luanda and Saurimo. Receipts or letters are definitely not acceptable. You cannot go on this trip without proper passport and visa. All Angola Field Group trips are at your own risk.

Angola Field Group members enroute to 'the pit'. First tourists to Catoca Mine, 2010.

Angola's diamonds are known as high quality stones.

Catoca hospitality rated as high quality by Field group members. Photos © Henriette Koning


 

January 30, 2012

Sunday February 5 Field Trip: Geological Field Trip

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Looking for fossils at Barra do Dande.

THIS TRIP IS NOW BOOKED FULL.The Angola Field Group will have a geological field trip north of Luanda on Sunday,February 05, led by Geologist Tako Koning. We will leave Luanda at 7:00 AM (sharp) and return back at approximately 5:00 PM.

Oil seeps at Libongos.


We will go to Barra do Dande and visit outcrops consisting of Cretaceous-age fossiliferous, marine sedimentary rocks. These strata are interesting from a paleo-environmental standpoint of view and they are also of economic significance since they are  the cap rocks to the Pinda reservoirs which produce oil in the shallow water areas offshore Soyo and Cabinda.  From there we will travel northeastwards to the Lifune River to see the  Libongos oil seeps and asphalt quarry.  We will then travel southwards to Caxito to the water falls at Sassa to view ancient (2 billion-years-old) Precambrian granite outcrops and where we will have a late lunch (you pack your own).  The field trip will conclude with a visit to the hydroelectric dam on the Dande River at Mabubas.

Fossil from the Cretaceous age discovered 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 famous Quifangondo battle of 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. Sign up as soon as possible since we need to limit the number of cars.

Records indicate that as early as 1820, the Portuguese shipped out barrels of asphalt probably from the Libongos seeps. This and above photo courtesy John Helm.

Our meeting point and further details will be provided once you have signed up and are confirmed for the trip. Sign up by emailing: angolafieldgroup@gmail.com and state: 1)your cell phone number   2)names of participants  3)whether you have room for passenger/s and if so how many  4)whether you are travelling from Luanda Sul or downtown Luanda.

Quifangondo battle, a turning point for the MPLA. Photo © Henriette Koning.



 

January 23, 2012

Thursday, January 26 – Angola Bird Club Meeting at the Viking Club

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Bird watching in the city...


Interested in birds? Why not get out of the city and do some real birding?!?
The first meeting of the ‘Angola Bird Club’ will be this Thursday, January 26 at 8:00 PM at the Viking Club. It will be a brainstorming and planning meeting – looking at dates etc for weekends away. The outings will be strictly for bird watching. For a map to the Viking Club visit our Join Us page.

To sign up for the Bird Club people should send an email to Chris Hines: chines@lisluanda.com

 

December 5, 2011

December 16 – 17 Field Trip: Annual Turtle Trip

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UPDATE: THIS TRIP IS NOW FULL.
December 16 – 17. The Angola Field Group will will join biologist Michel Morais and his research team from Agostinho Neto University for our annual Turtle Trip which this year will be to Praia das Oncas which is the beach below Miradouro da Lua, before the Kwanza River. For the past ten years the university’s biology faculty has been tracking turtles south of Luanda.

We will spend Friday night walking up and down the beach in teams hoping to find turtles laying eggs. We will camp on the beach and leave the next morning back for Luanda.

We plan to leave the city at 1400 on Friday to avoid heavy traffic and allow us to pitch our tents in daylight. This is a beach with a locked entrance so if you are not able to leave the city at this time, please do not sign up for the trip. Participants must supply their own food and camping gear. A four wheel drive vehicle is necessary. We must keep numbers to a strict limit so please only sign up if you’re serious about going and if you can comply with the time. Final trip details including our meeting location will be given once you’ve signed up and are confirmed for this trip.

When you are registering for this trip please indicate:

* if you have room in your vehicle for more passengers and how many can you take
* if you do not have transport and need a lift
* if you will be leaving from the city or from Luanda Sul

We are collecting $25.00 from each participant to donate to the Marine Turtle Conservation Project. To register for this trip, email Henriette Koning at angolafieldgroup@gmail.com. All Angola Field Group trips are at your own risk. No guarantee of spotting turtles.

 

November 28, 2011

Saturday, December 3 Field Trip: Guided tour of the University of Agostinho Neto’s Geology Museum

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The Geology Museum now houses this life-size model of the Angolatitan adamastor.

Due to popular demand, this trip is being repeated again on Saturday, December 10th. Sign up before December 6th by emailing: angolafieldgroup@gmail.com
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The Angola Field Group invites you to a guided tour of the University of Agostinho Neto’s Geology Museum, Saturday December 3rd at 10:00 AM, with Geologist Tako Koning.  Come and take a firsthand look at the varied collection of mineral specimens and fossils  including parts of the Angolatitan adamastor, which is Angola’s first dinosaur discovered in 2005 about 70 km north of Luanda.  Today, the Geology Museum houses a life-size model of the Angolatitan based on bones excavated by a team of paleontologists from Southern Methodist University (USA), University of Maastricht (Netherlands), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal) and Agostinho Neto University. Other fossils in the museum include Cretaceous-age petrified tree trunks and 1.1 billion year old fossilized algae.

The Department of Geology of Agostinho Neto University has kindly agreed to open the museum for the Field Group’s first ever visit. The museum is at street level, on the Marginal, between the TAP office and the small old Catholic Church, Igreja Nazare. We will meet on the sidewalk in front at 10:00 AM sharp. We will spend about an hour and a half and for those interested, we will then visit the National Museum of Natural History in Kinaxixi, home to the only fully mounted Palanca Negra in Angola.

Children are welcome. No charge for the Geology Museum. We are keeping the group down to 30 attendees so sign up as soon as possible by emailing Henriette: angolafieldgroup@gmail.com

This 13 meter long herbivore lived about 90 million years ago.

 

September 24, 2011

Photos from the Angola Field Group’s July 1st trip to the Angola Polishing Diamonds Factory

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For more photos of this field trip to the Angola Polishing Diamonds Factory in Telatona, Luanda Sul, check out our Geology page.

High quality Angolan gem.
Master diamond cutter.
Observing the polishing procedure.
Hands-on experience.
Employee inspecting stone.
A handful of diamonds!
 

September 1, 2011

September 9 to 11 Field Group: Festa dos Luandos

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Field Group participant tries his hand at pounding corn. Devegar! (Slower!)

Check out previous Angola Field Group trips to Luandos on our YouTube Channel! Click HERE to go to our YouTube Channel.

The Angola Field Group has been invited once again to participate in the Festa dos Luandos, September 9, 10, and 11. This is a great opportunity to experience firsthand what life is like in an African village. Situated about 5 hours southeast of Luanda,  just outside the borders of Quicama National Park, participants can choose to camp in the woods near the village or stay in a traditional hut with a family. Some of the events you will be part of include thrashing the bean harvest, collecting and tasting freshly tapped palm wine, and participating in the dances of Luandos. There will be a chance for birdwatching also. A fee of $150 usd covers accommodation and meals which will be prepared by the cooperative of local women. 

This is not an Angola Field Group trip. To sign up or for more information call Serafim at 917- 823 464, or email: serafimquintino@yahoo.com.

Deadline to sign up is Wednesday, September 7th. Departure will be September 9, Friday morning, meeting at the town of Catete at 7:00 AM. Check with Serafim for details. Departure from Luandos to return back to Luanda will be Sunday morning about 8:00 AM.

The people of Luandos are from the Quicama tribe; these are sellers (vendedoras) of the Quicama people.

 

August 18, 2011

Thursday, August 25 Presentation: The Development of Luanda’s Bay5

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The future marginal.

What’s happening to ‘The Marginal’?  The downtown main street that runs along the bay has always been the favourite destination for families on a Sunday stroll or joggers exercising while watching the sun set. Now piles of dredged sand and wire fences have taken over Luanda’s favourite promenade.

The Angola Field Group invites you to a presentation on The Development of Luanda’s Bay, at the Viking Club on August 25 at 8:00 PM with Kwame Gomes, a Project Manager with Baía de Luanda Project, “Projecto de Requalificação e Reordenamento Urbano da Zona Marginal”.

He will talk about the evolution of the project, the dredging, the sewage system, and the new squares and green spaces which will be developed. Kwame, who received his MSc. in Management at Universidade Nova de Lisboa in 2007, will answer all your questions about the future of the Marginal and Luanda’s waterfront.

The road system below the Forteleza will look like this when completed.


 

July 18, 2011

Photos from the Angola Field Group’s July 10th trip to Bengo Province

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A morning in the life of Muxima, site of the biggest Christian pilgrimage in Africa where tens of thousands of Angolans go every September to pay homage to  Mama Muxima, the famous statue of Mary which resides in the Church of Our Lady of the Conception. Behind the church is a Portuguese fort built in 1599 to keep watch of commerce and traffic going up and down the Kwanza River. Muxima was the gateway to the interior of Angola and played a role in the slave trade. Muxima is the Kimbundo word for heart. All the photos below are by Susana Borges.

A estrada entre a Muxima e Caboledo, cruzando o parque da Quissama. The road between Muxima and Caboledo, crossing the Quissama National Park.


Ponte mais longa de Angola, no município de Ícolo e Bengo, província do Bengo. Longest bridge in Angola, located in Cabala, Bengo province.

A "vida" acontece em volta do rio Kwanza. Life "happens" around the Kwanza river.

Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição, na Muxima. Church of Our Lady of the Conception, in the town of Muxima.

Children looking down at Kwanza River. 'Blessed are the little children...'

Para o almoço (depois do culto). For lunch (after the church service).

Vista do Rio Kwanza, na Muxima. View of the Kwanza river, from the banks of Muxima.

Cruz oferecida em honra de Paulo Dias de Novais, fundador da cidade de Luanda. Cross erected in honor of Paulo Dias de Novais, founder of the city of Luanda.

O símbolo da flor do lis num canhão no Forte da Muxima. The symbol of a lily flower on a cannon at Muxima Fort.

A bruxaria mistura-se com a devoção Mariana (alguns objectos no chão de uma das guaritas do Forte da Muxima). Witchcraft mixes with Marian devotion. Some objects on the floor of one of the watchtowers of Fort Muxima.

Vela acesa num canto de uma das duas casas no interior do Forte da Muxima. Candle in a corner of one of the two guard posts inside Muxima Fort.

Palavras na base da cruz em frente ao Forte da Muxima. Words on the base of the cross in front of Muxima Fort.

O rio Kwanza e a Igreja da Muxima vistos da base da Cruz. Kwanza River and the Muxima Church seen from the base of the cross.

O Forte da Muxim., The Fort of Muxima.

Chineses a pescar no Kwanza. Chinese fishing in Kwanza River.

Detalhes. Details.

O Forte da Muxima e a Cruz. The Fort of Muxima and the Cross.

Recebendo a benção para os objectos. Receiving the blessing for the objects

African Harrier in the park.


 

July 5, 2011

Sunday, July 10 Field Trip to Bengo province

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Mama Muxima attracts thousands of visitors in September.

The Angola Field Group invites you on a day trip to the province of Bengo, Sunday, July 10.  We will leave Luanda at 6:30 AM and drive east to Catete via Viana and then head south, crossing the Kwanza River at Cabala and then onto Muxima, a town where thousands of pilgrims converge in September for the ceremony of Nossa Senhora da Conceicao or Mama Muxima. We will see her statue in the small Catholic church which is a year-round destination for Angolans to come and pray. Towering above the church is the fort, built by the Portuguese in 1599 to control boats heading into the interior on the Kwanza River.

From Muxima we will enter Quicama National Park and drive westwards across the park to Cabo Ledo.  The Muxima – Cabo Ledo drive  will essentially be a transect showing some of the natural areas in the park but also revealing some of the activities one does not expect to find in a national park including increased subsistence farming, small villages, expanded major road infrastructure, effects of past oil production & current oil exploration, and increased developments along the coast like large-scale quarrying for cement at Cabo Ledo and the expanding beach/resort town of Zangano. Quicama still has a small undisturbed fenced-in part where game animals were re-introduced ten years ago but note, we will not be visiting that area. Before we leave the park we will meet Quicama Park Administrator, Miguel Savituma, who will give us a brief rundown on the park and be available to answer questions.

To sign up for this trip send an email to: angolafieldgroup@gmail.com

When you are registering for this trip please indicate:
* if you have room in your vehicle for more passengers and if so how many
* if you do not have transport and need a lift

Famous Muxima church and in background 16th century fort.

 

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