Our bumpy road to Angola

We had troubles ahead of the start of the IKEA IWitness trip to Angola. Our fifth team member, Steffi, unfortunately could not join us anymore. And we had to wait for our visas until the very last moment.

Finally everything went fine. We – Lisa, Max, Pedro and Gerald from IKEA Austria – met Anna from UNICEF Austria on Sunday evening at Vienna Airport. For Pedro this is an especially exciting journey, as he will return to his home country after 14 years.

On the way to Angola we had two flights: first to Dubai and then further to Luanda, Angola’s capital city. In Dubai we met Juli from the IKEA Foundation and continued our travels together.

Arriving at the airport in Luanda, we were picked up by Gwen and our driver from UNICEF Angola. It was quite warm but not so hot as we expected. In addition, we all recognised the dust in the city. Actually we travelled about 24 hours by the time we reached our hotel in Luanda. So everybody was very happy to take a shower.

For Pedro it was a very special evening: After more than ten years he could meet his family members in Luanda. He was very happy to see his cousins again and they spent the evening together catching up about the past.

Finally we had a nice dinner at the port of Ilha with a large overview towards the skyline of the city. Driving though the city – from the airport to the hotel to the restaurant – we felt the big gap of wealth between rich and poor.

At the end of the day we typed this first blog entry around the table in the lobby of our hotel. We are curious to know what tomorrow will bring us. Good night.