Monday 28 March 2016

A for Angola 2010 and Travel update

Hi All, sorry I have not been updating here so much. Busy with work . Next month have a big travel trip lined up. I am excited about that as the Pacific in 1980 were I started my travels. Starting in Brisbane. That is a good connection for the flight to Nauru. Visited there in 1980 when it was quite a rich Country then. So interesting to see how much it has changed. Then on to Tarawa , capital of Kiribati . My third visit here. Quite a bit island so have rented a car to get around this time. Then on to Fiji again so I can stay over night and catch the only fight one can get to Tuvalu -Funafuti from Suva. This country was my main reason for visiting the Pacific in 1980 , as I collected the stamps from here and had read a lot of history on Gilbert and Ellice Islands the previous names of Kiribati and Tuvalu. Again my third time to Tuvalu . After here will be visiting two new " Countries " for me. Norfolk Island and Niue. So looking forward to that.
The most difficult part of this trip to plan was to the Cook Islands and especially Penryhn. As all you stamp collectors know Penryhn has its own stamps. Difficult to get here  , in the Northern Cook Islands . Its a long story planning to get here and a lot of time and expense but it is now all go. I will fill in more when I am there, but very excited to get to Penryhn. Keeping a eye on this blog from April 16,  you will be updated with photos of Post Office and remote Pacific Islands.

In 2010 , I visited Angola and Cabinda . It was considered a very difficult visa to obtain but I was lucky and got one with little difficulty . I had a good friend working there for BP . A very expensive visit to visit Luanda .  A mix of Colonial and new side by side . Still chaotic in many ways. Here are some photos from that trip.



The first photo is of the waterfront in Luanda. The second and third photo in the only Portuguese  Colonial buildings down town. The final photo is as usual outside a Post office. I think it is the one in Cabinda . The main Post office in Luanda was getting rebuilt at the time and the Post office was very small when I was there , as it was temporary