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.