15 Days Angola Adventure – Angola is one of Africa’s last untouched safari destinations. It is home to large wilderness areas near Namibia, Zambia, and Botswana. For many years, access was limited due to conflict, but now these places are open to visitors. This gives you a chance to explore the Luengue-Luiana National Park, now managed by African Parks. This trip is a rare and special experience.
Day 1: Arrival in Luanda
When you arrive at Luanda Airport, your local tour guide will meet you and take you to a comfortable hotel. You will have the rest of the day to relax. In the afternoon, you’ll get a briefing about the tour and then have dinner.
If you arrive early, you can join a city tour at an extra cost.
Day 2: Flight to Lubango and Rest
After breakfast, you’ll head back to Luanda Airport and take a short flight to the town of Lubango. When you arrive, you’ll be taken to a peaceful resort hotel to rest for the day. You’ll stay here overnight.
Day 3: Journey to Menongue
Today, we begin our long journey to the southeast of Angola. After sunrise, we meet our 4×4 team and start driving east from Lubango. The road conditions vary, and the trip takes about 8 hours, covering more than 500 km. We will stop along the way for bird-watching and photos. By late afternoon, we arrive in Menongue and have dinner. We’ll stay overnight in simple accommodation.
Day 4: Crossing the Cubango River to Cuatir
After about 6 hours of driving on poor roads, we reach Cuatir. We’ll cross the Cubango River on a barge and continue through the open savannah to the town. Cuatir is known for a conservation project led by Stefano van Wyk. We’ll be welcomed at our lodge and have a late lunch.
In the afternoon, we’ll explore the area. Wildlife is starting to return, including giraffes and elephants, along with animals like roan antelope, sable, sitatunga, cheetah, and wild dogs. After dinner, we’ll go on a night drive to look for rare animals such as leopards and caracals.
Day 5: Full Day Game Drives in Cuatir
Today is all about exploring Cuatir. We’ll go on morning, afternoon, and evening game drives with local guides. This area is still wild and peaceful. We’ll look for mammals and birds, especially in marshy areas for sitatungas and open areas for birds.
At night, we’ll look for leopards and lions, which are few but present. Between drives, you can relax at the camp and enjoy the calm atmosphere.
Day 6: Journey to Calai and Birdwatching
We continue our journey to an even more remote area, Luengue-Luiana. Today we drive south toward the border with Namibia, passing through the small town of Calai. The rough road means we travel slowly, but this gives us time for bird-watching and photos.
We aim to reach our campsite near Calai by late afternoon and spend the night there.
Day 7: Travel to Licua
We leave camp early and travel east along the Namibia border, then turn north toward Luengue-Luiana National Park. Again, we’ll stop for birdwatching and photos along the way.
By late afternoon, we reach Licua, a small and remote settlement where our camp is set up. We spend the night here before entering the park.
Day 8: Entering Luengue-Luiana National Park
We leave Licua at 7:00 a.m. to enter Luengue-Luiana National Park. Our goal is to reach the Bambangando area, one of the most fertile parts of the park. After arriving, we’ll go on a late afternoon game drive before heading to camp.
This park has recently been added to the African Parks network. There is no tourist infrastructure, just a few trails, and not much wildlife yet. But it sits in a shared ecosystem with Zambia, Namibia, and Botswana. On our drives, we’ll search for animals like cheetahs, wild dogs, and leopards. We’ll camp nearby.
Day 9: Game Drives in Bambangando
We spend the day in Bambangando on game drives. The focus depends on the group’s interests. While animal numbers are low compared to other parks, we may still see different species. Predators here include cheetahs, wild dogs, and leopards.
This area is also home to rare antelopes like roan, sable, tsessebe, red lechwe, and puku. It’s also good for birdwatching. With the help of local guides, we may do a night drive to search for animals like caracals, servals, or even aardvarks. We’ll sleep at the campsite.
Day 10: Arrival at Bico, Angola’s Remote Corner
We leave Bambangando early and take a game drive on our way to Bico, Angola’s southeastern tip. Bico is one of the most remote places in southern Africa. We arrive around lunchtime.
In the afternoon, we go on a game drive to explore the area. Bico borders Namibia and Zambia and is close to Botswana and Zimbabwe. It’s a corridor for animals like elephants, buffalo, giraffes, lions, leopards, cheetahs, and wild dogs. While sightings are not guaranteed, we’ll spend time trying to find some of them. We’ll camp here overnight.
Day 11: Full Day Game Drives in Bico
We spend the full day in Bico with morning, afternoon, and evening game drives. Today we’ll try to find animals we haven’t seen yet. We’ll use our tracking skills to read signs of wildlife activity. Any sightings will be special, as this area has had a difficult past with poaching and conflict.
Day 12: Return Journey Begins, Bico to Mucusso
After a final morning in Bico focused on predators and rare antelopes, we begin the long return journey to Menongue. We’ll stop in Mucusso in the late afternoon and spend the night at camp.
Day 13: Travel to Calai
Today is another day on the road. We’ll enjoy the natural beauty as we travel. We pass the town of Dirico and aim to reach Calai by late afternoon, where we’ll camp overnight.
Day 14: Final Travel to Menongue
We spend our last full day of travel heading north along the Cubango River. By evening, we reach Menongue, where we will stay the night. After days in remote areas, this is a good place to rest and enjoy being back in a town.
Day 15: Departure from Menongue
Today we take you to Menongue Airport for your flight back to Luanda. The tour ends when you land in Luanda.
