Africa
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Final do dia na Fenda do Bimbe. Huíla, Angola.
Final do dia na Fenda do Bimbe. É mais um lugar mágico na província da Huíla, ha uns quilómetros da Humpata, aonde se chega com esforço, subindo por uma picada bastante intransitável. Um lugar com vista privilegiada na margem do Planalto, de onde se vê bem a escarpa que se eleva abruptamente por quase 1000m e neste ponto atinge uma altitude de quase 2300m acima do nível do mar.
Lá, na época das chuvas, ha vezes que no mesmo dia alternam 4 estações! Este era um dia assim! Dia de verão, mas bastante frio, tinha acabado de chover torrencialmente, o nevoeiro estava a levantar-se devagar como bolas de algodão e revelava as terras dos Mucubais lá em baixo ao longe, agora iluminadas pelos mágicos raios do sol do fim da tarde.
O ar limpo e refrescante, aquele cheiro pós-chuva, a vegetação tão única destas altitudes e paralelos, as rochas estranhamente amontoadas…tudo parecia surreal, e por ventura, extremamente semelhante ao lugar mágico do filme desenhado "UP!". O sol lutava com as nuvens, mas estas prevaleceram em poucos minutos, o céu fechou-se novamente com séria ameaça de mais chuva, a temperatura baixou bruscamente para 14ºC e rapidamente tirei esta sequência de fotos enquanto andava boquiaberto, sem saber qual maravilha fotografar primeiro.
Um excelente dia de verão, fresco, no coração de Angola.
Visite Angola Image Bank em http://www.angolaimagebank.com para mais fotos do mesmo lugar.
Friday, December 24, 2010
TAAG grounding entire Boeing 777 fleet after another engine failure.
Apparently a TAAG Boeing 777 departing Luanda bound for Dubai International Airport had an engine failure shortly after takeoff. The aircraft was D2-TEE, which has been in Lisbon for heavy maintenance for over a week after dropping fuselage parts in Almada two weeks ago.
TAAG has also apparently decided to ground their Boeing 777 fleet until they know what the issues are.
Unfortunately, I don't have an official source but I read this in a aviation forum and Angonoticias Website.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Angola Soundtrack - The Unique Sound Of Luanda (1968-1976) by ANALOG AFRICA No.9
Reblogged via analogafrica.blogspot.com
On its ninth release Analog Africa unearths musical gems from Angola, the former Portuguese colony in south central Africa. The compilation 'Angola Soundtrack' includes tracks from 1968 – 1976, arguably the golden era of Angolan music.
Angolan music is truly unique and stands on its own as a sound that can only be found in that part of the world. Rhythms such as Rebita, Kazukuta, Semba and Merengue, all of which are presented on 'Angola Soundtrack', might be unfamiliar to most listeners, but they are superbly melodic, highly danceable, hypnotic, raw, quintessentially beautiful - and totally addictive.
A powerful confluence of traditional rhythms from Luanda’s islands, psychedelic guitar sounds imported from neighbouring Congo, Latin grooves, old school Caribbean merengue and the hard beat of the Angolan carnival bands conspired to create the modern music of Angola. These sounds were immortalized by two excellent recording companies - Fadiang (Fábrica de Discos Angolano) and Valentim de Carvalho.
The nascent Angolan music scene was set on fire by a small group of courageous singers, backed by an array of super tight bands and led by extraordinary guitarists who revolutionized the musical and the political panorama of the 60s and 70s. These great electric bands of Angola were a well-kept secret until the late 90s when France-based music label Buda Musique released a short-lived series of Angolan music compiled by Ariel de Bigault. Inspired and taken aback, these releases proved to be crucially influential to Analog Africa’s founder Samy Ben Redjeb:
“Listening to Angolan music suddenly became part of my daily life and when my label was founded a few years later, the idea of releasing an Angolan compilation was never too far away from my mind.
From the nine Analog Africa releases thus far, 'Angola Soundtrack' has been the most difficult to create. The travel visa was in itself a struggle and logistically and financially Luanda is a nightmare. After two unsuccessful years, I eventually found shelter at a home in Prenda, a musseque (township) outside of the capital. I had come to this former Portuguese colony to meet my favourite Angolan musicians, to convey my love and admiration for what they have created, as well as license some of my favourite tunes for my label while documenting their story.
I had no idea what to expect from the trip - more than once was I told to expect complicated situations, and that if I thought I knew Africa, I should wait until I experience Luanda. I was prepared for the worst. To my surprise I encountered an amazingly positive vibe and, except for heavy traffic jams and high costs, I am entirely grateful of my Angolan experience."
