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 

Angola and Cabinda

Africa-Angola-Luanda   Well this trip nearly fell apart before it began. I was due to start in DRC. Congo . I was then later flying on to Angola. But because of a row between the governments of Angola and DRC all flights were stopped. . I then changed my flight to go down from Brazzaville in Republic of Congo. So all well there. Then the night before I left I found they changed the flight to go the day before I arrived. So lucky I seen this and was able to fly from Paris to Luanda. Angola is one of the most expensive countries in the World. It is because of oil and lack of infracstructre. I am lucky to have a good friend there who works for BP. It is also the most difficult visa to get along with Equatorial Guinea if you are a tourist. Being Irish helps when getting a visa for Angola . Luanda has a mix of the very old and the very new. All alongside each other. Eating out was expensive , I don't know how the locals manage. Corruption and all that plays a part. I had my spare local cash taken from me at the airport when leaving , as the officials found some law that says you cant take any local money out. Still the old colonial Portuguese buildings looked well , that you could see down town. Angola is not a place for a regular tourist. 

The beautiful old Post office was not in any fit state when I was here. It was either getting fixed up or taken down, I could not figure out. So I had to visit a Portacabin where the post office was. They have quite a few stamps you can buy so that was a good surprise. 

Africa-Cabinda-Cabinda  Cabinda is the enclave between Republic of Congo and DRC ( Democratic Republic of Congo ). I got a flight from Luanda. However the immigration did not want me to go as they said I must be a oil worker and my visa was for a tourist. They did not believe I was a tourist as "why would a tourist go to Cabinda ".. I sort of asked myself that as well..lol.. I did get here in the end. The Postcard is the only one I could find in Cabinda so it does not reflect on what I seen here. I was only in the city of Cabinda the capital of Cabinda. 

In Cabinda I was greeted with a brand spanking new Post office. A new cancellation and lots of stamps.. The African cup football championships had just taken place with matches also in Cabinda. The postmark has this within the cancellation. They did not bother to change the date. I was here on 21 May 2010.