Angola's Giant (Dinosaur)

The first dinosaur found in Angola has been named the Angolatitan adamastor.  Angolatitan means ‘Angolan giant’ and adamastor refers to the mythical sea giant of the South Atlantic feared by Portuguese sailors. The long-necked sauropod was uncovered in 2005 about 70km north of Luanda by Portuguese paleontologist Octávio Mateus from Portugal’s Universidade Nova de Lisboa and Museum of Lourinhã.

Remains of the large plant-eating dinosaur, which was believed to have been 13 metres long and lived 90 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period, were found in marine sediments. “These and other fossils tell us an amazing story about the climate and climate change in this part of the world,” says Louis Jacobs from the Southern Methodist University, who is a member of the Mateus PaleoAngola Project team. “In an oilproducing country like Angola, this project helps us to understand the geology of the region and the implications for its richness.”

The detailed description, in which the Angolatitan adamastor officially received its scientific name, was presented in the publication Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences).

As well as discovering Angola’s first dinosaur, the PaleoAngola team has uncovered mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, turtles and other cretaceous marine animals. The long-term goal of the project is to create a strong and lasting institutional and scientific collaboration with Angolan academia.  (Sonangol Universo Magazine, June 2011)

High Dollar Luanda

(CNN Report) Luanda, Angola's capital has been named the world's most expensive city for expats for the second year in a row. According to a new survey, Tokyo is the next most expensive, with N'Djamena, in Chad, the third-most expensive city for expats. The results are part of the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2011, carried out by HR consultants Mercer Record accommodation prices are the main driver of high living expenses for expats in African cities, according to the report.

In Luanda, renting a luxury two-bedroom unfurnished apartment costs an average of $7,000 per month, compared to $4,300 in New York, $3,345 in Shanghai, $2,456 in Rome and $1,800 in Buenos Aires.

"In Luanda, accommodation costs are very, very high," explained Mercer senior associate Nathalie Constantin-Metral."Availability is limited and most expats are looking for accommodation in secure compounds and prices for accommodation with international standards are high," she added.

The high cost of living in Luanda and N'Djamena is also down to the fact that expats shop differently to locals. Expats tend to look for international brands they are used to at home, which have to be imported.  A club sandwich and soda meal costs $20.38 in Luanda, compared to $6.29 for a fast-food meal in New York and $3.57 in Shanghai. Angola's oil reserves do at least mean that gas is cheap in Luanda -- 59 cents per liter, compared to 87 cents in New York and $1.12 in Shanghai.

In recent years Angola has been attracting expats with its growing economy, driven by oil production. It produces up to 1.9 million barrels a day, with oil contributing about 85% of its GDP, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Despite its oil, the vast majority of Angolans work in agriculture and more than a third live below the poverty line, according to the U.N. Development Program. 

Hope for Those with No Healthcare

(Recent blog post from Dr. Nicholas Comninellis, visiting doctor to CEML Hospital)  This morning a father arrived at the CEML hospital in Angola with his son, Josifas, whose photo is as shown.   This boy of eleven was leaning over a cooking fire when his shirt erupted into flames.  Living in the bush, his family simply covered the wound with strips of cloth, linen that became stuck to the wound such that it could not be removed.  The results of these tight contractions of skin are that he cannot close his mouth and his speech is indiscernible.

Is there hope for Josifas?  Indeed.  We will give him an anesthetic, release the contracted skin with multiple incisions and place skin grafts over the newly exposed tissue.   After the skin grafts are well-attached, he'll begin physical therapy to increase the motion of his neck and mouth.  Three or four months from now, Josifas, with lots of courage and coaxing, will be speaking and swallowing and even looking more like a healthy child. 

Check out Dr. Comninellis' blog http://inmedblog.us/nicholascomninellis and website for more information on international medicine:  INMED    www.inmed.us 

Angolan Beauty: Serra da Leba Pass

Situated some 20 miles west of the city of Lubango, is the Serra da Leba Pass, a national landmark in Angola.  This breathtaking mountain road built in the 1970s, spirals down from the 'plano alto' (high plateau) elevation of 1845 meters to almost sea level in just over 10 kilometers; literally transversing 3 or 4 different climate zones during any ascent or descent. 

Being one of the country's postcard images for decades, the road is a marvel of engineering given the era of its construction.  In spite of its beauty, the road offers little guard-rail protection and has been the venue of many road fatalities; thus bearing the long assigned name 'the beautiful precipice'.   

Legend has it that the Serra da Leba pass is named after a Portuguese woman who designed and built the road, who died after she viewed it on the very day the project was finished. 

Angolan Food: Cassava Sticks

With its tropical and sub-tropical climate regions, Angola is has a perfect climate for growing tuberous roots such as yucca or cassava.  In rural areas, cassava is either a primary staple food or a secondary co-staple because of the ease of growth and its starch / carbohydrate content which gives the consumer a 'full-feeling'.

Cassava roots are very rich in starch and contain significant amounts of calcium, phosphorus and vitamin C.  However, they are very poor in protein and other nutrients.  In contrast, cassava leaves are a good source of protein and are rich in amino acids.

A common use of the root in Angola is to make cassava sticks.   Essentially, after the root has been peeled, shredded and pounded, the pounded flesh is wrapped up in banana leaves and then steamed for several hours to cook and soften.  
The finished cassava sticks are very thick and solid; thicker than mashed potatoes and nearly the consistency of modeling clay.The cooking infuses the flavor of the banana leaves with the cassava resulting in a flavor much like steamed artichoke.  The food is served warm or at room temperature with soup, stew or any other sauce dish.   The cooked sticks keep for several days if stored in the leaf wrapper in a cool, dry place.

Angola Refugees: A Woman's Personal Story

(UNHCR Report)  Fifty year old Angolan, Maria Mbuona, and six members of her family live in a tumbledown home the size of a garden shed.  When it rains, the thatched roof offers no protection and the flimsy wall are scant defense against malaria-carrying mosquitos.

Maria is a refugee, living in neighboring DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) in the Kilueka refugee settlement.  The settlement lies on largely barren land and life is extremely tough.  Maria wants to go back home to Angola after 12 years of living in exile.

She's not the only one; some 43,000 of her Angolan compatriots living in hundreds of settlements dotted around the province have said they want to return to northern Angola with the help of UNHCR (United Nations High Commission of Refugees). The remaining 37,000 Angolans in this country wish to stay, including a small number living in Kilueka.

The first batch is expected to return home next month under an agreement reached in early June between UNHCR and the governments of Angola and DRC. "The signing of this agreement and the adoption of practical measures for the voluntary repatriation of so many Angolan refugees is a significant achievement," said Mohamed Boukry, UNHCR's Kinshasa-based regional representative.

Maria should be among them. She was pregnant when she fled her home in the north-west Angolan province of Zaire and made her way to Bas-Congo in January 1999, during the third and final stage of the 1975-2002 Angolan Civil War, which left huge numbers dead or displaced and destroyed infrastructure.

She and her husband became separated from their eight children when armed assailants attacked their village. "It was midnight and the troops entered the village and started killing people," she recalled, adding that some children were kidnapped; the boys to be soldiers and the girls to work as porters.

She worried about her own children, including the baby in her belly, as she struggled to cover the 65 kilometres to the border and the town of Songololo, about 10 kilometres inside Congo. "I was taken to hospital in Songololo and I could still hear the gunfire."

But the family was reunited in Songololo before being moved to Kilueka, which was a camp at that time. UNHCR provided the refugees with basic assistance. "I lived for a year under that plastic sheeting," Maria said, referring to the ubiquitous shelter material she received.

She said it was difficult leaving everything behind, "including our culture." Between 2003 and 2008, UNHCR ran a first voluntary repatriation programme that saw 59,000 people go back. But many, like Maria, opted to remain in Bas-Congo. "I wasn't ready to go back. I had a child who was sick," she explained.