I STAYED in AFRICA'S BEST HOTEL *MUST SEE* (ANGOLA)
welcome to TF this is day one in Angola of our journey to travel to every country in the world in alphabetical order tonight we're staying in Africa's best hotel in this episode we push deeper into the heart of Africa our first stop kungo andanga where colossal rock formations rise from the earth like the ruins of an ancient civilization like people come here put the Rocks together and they start praying but the journey to Africa's number one hotel isn't easy rough roads car troubles encounters with Relentless Street merchants and a stop at a remote Village where a simple act of kindness throws everything into chaos that reveals the tragic fate of local children they have to make a choice between staying here where they have food sacrifice that for a chance at education and a better future and when we finally arrive the real Adventure begin this part's not bad because reaching the waterfall is a challenge of its own that's an ankle R that's going to suck for the next few days what broke won't go back this a throwback to go in baby hold that I'm not but I'm W that son is that's Sun of the sun right now are you ready yeah I can feel it in my bones and that move B on the night coactive you just just see like the magnitude of the city and how many people are in here really when you fly Dr you just see like tens of thousands of people just constantly moving around oh wow we are off to the black rocks got your hiking shoes on yep a short stop to the supermarket we are going to pass by Village there uh some kids so I just have to car something for them yeah I can feel it in my bones and that move our bodies cuz we own the night I feel it I can feel it in my bones and that move how do you guys have something called Quanza is it connect with that holiday mhm yes oh yeah I Hest say I don't I genuinely do not know anything about K Quanza at all but the fact that the currency here is called that and the river runs through here that's called that I thought maybe you would know but you don't know either yeah I uh maybe a slav that went to us so probably they are the one who something happened and they are the one who give this holiday yeah that's those fell that is not an easy problem to fix nope which is weird it was fine for me last night it like grabbed in every time like no issue maybe it's just overheating and it needs a minute to cool down yeah especially with all the amount of downshifting and upshifting and going through all the dirt and everything you wait until it cool down yeah then you want to see if it'll re-engage yeah yeah we can go place to find a solution yeah best case scenario did it in the first and you just leave it in first yeah some drone action might as well close enough to these rocks we are about to visit a location of incredible historical and geological importance Pongo and Dongo often called the black rocks is a collection of massive monolithic Rock outcrops Rising abruptly above the surrounding Savannah and Central Angola these dark towering formations dominate the flat landscape with some reaching on the order of 100 m in height geologically the site is part of the kuso plateau in malangi Province the rocks are millions of years old dating back to the Paleozoic Era roughly 540 to 360 million years ago intermixed with these are also intrusive ous rocks which is ancient magma that solidifi underground and has been exposed at the surface over time the impressive morphology of Pungo and Dongo is the product of prolonged erosion and geological uplift and were subjected to tectonic uplift with subsequent erosion over millions of years by rain rivers and wind which gradually wore down the softer surrounding materials Kongo indongo is not only a natural wonder but also a place of Rich history and Legend it lies in what was once the kingdom of indongo 16th to 17th century African state of the mundu people thanks to its naturally fortified terrain it served as a refuge and strong stronghold for local populations and rulers during conflicts in the early 17th century this area became famously associated with Queen inzinga the ruler of indonga and later matamba Queen Zinga is celebrated for her resistance against Portuguese Colonial advances and local tradition ties her closely to Pungo and Dongo according to oral history and Legend one can still see Footprints carved into the Rocks believed to be the footprints of Queen Zinga herself the site is often viewed as the realm of zinga's spirit and bravery abounded with myths of warrior queens and my iCal Powers underscoring its reputation as a sacred legendary Place Pungo Ando was a site of strategic and symbolic importance in pre-colonial times a natural Fortress Laden with cultural meaning and associated with one of Africa's greatest female leaders by the mid 1600s during the turbulent period of Portuguese colonization in Angola kungo Ando had become the last Bastion and capital of the kingdom of indongo in its final years after Decades of resistance much of it LED or inspired by Queen and Zinga the weaken indongo Kingdom concentrated its people and leadership in this defensible location in 1671 a decisive event unfolded the Portuguese forces besieged Pungo and Dongo which was then and Dongo stronghold and ultimately captured it this Siege was brutal many inhabitants were killed or enslaved and the fall of Pungo and Dongo effectively destroyed the kingdom of indonga the conquest of this site marked a turning point it was one of the last major Portuguese military successes in subjugating the Inland African kingdoms with attempts to invade neighboring powers like matamba in 1681 with later fail recognizing Pongo and dango's strategic importance the Portuguese immediately built a fortress on the Rocks after their victory in 1671 the fort of Pongo and Dongo solidified Colonial control over the area and served as a military Outpost deep in the interior the ruins of the 17 the century Portuguese Fort still exists today near the village throughout the colonial era kungo and Dongo retained a symbolic residence for the Portuguese it was a hard one stronghold and for angolans it remained a poignant symbol of their ancestors resistance and the heroic Legacy of Queen and zinga in contemporary Angola Pungo and Dongo is revered as both a natural wonder and a cultural historical monument it's striking landscape and storied past have made it an icon of National Heritage we try to go slow to get to the next stop and then we also go back slow there's no one here just us in the park today yeah it's like a roller coaster I feel like I am the Drone right now oh my God we made it y yeah thank you guys thank you was a good good job fam good spirit good attitude it be a good day to the top nonstop to the top make it drop put a nice lovely little hike huh right are there any uh predators in Angola yes we have had many they were killing all the animals they went away because of the bar want find like Predators you have to go to the South where we have lions got it wa have you ever seen a lion in the wild no not not yet I would like to from the big five I have SE elepant I miss him a lot whis to open up the game is like people come here they put the Rocks together and they start praying bigger you put maybe the big thing can happen right and they spend like a day here which animal you think look like an African animal like the cuz I see like the eye and the nose symbol of Africa do you know no but to me it looks like elephant yeah okay it doesn't matter the head and then the trunk coming down I was about to say that hey EV what I'm over there you heard a war cry in this I lose my mind Jerry give us your war cry it came from that side it it doubled it went from there to there really yeah ready does our go to that side yeah that is so cool we can get a triple it was like T wa oh that's so cool that was so sick dude yeah all right Ginger get a double oh that is so crazy dude imagine it being pitch black up here oh and you're trying to like defend your territory or a lion roars and you just think there's a thousand of them and really it's just a little cat real real pretty so this was a quick 10 minute hike up I think anybody could really do this any skill level some parts are paved some parts are not and pretty toasty so I brought my water but the road in requires a not super low vehicle yes or beared to go really really slow and destroy your bupers it's a long road in but it's definitely worth it to come visit and this feels very uh Lion King us yeah you know what would be fun is bringing like a picnic up here yeah that'd be cool that would be a really cool spot to eat your lunch I'm sure even like if you can stay here overnight camp here MH put stars on Top of the Rock and everything oh yeah and there's no natural Predators here anymore so we don't have to worry about that we're slow we made it to the waterfall to the waterfall take me back to the Jungle hey takeing me back to the Jungle I didn't realize I was driving so everything's fine yeah I mean I still smell the clutch but you know Ginger is going to wake up be driving just terrified everything's fine everyone no Ginger's awake Ginger's awake unfortun oh my God oh my dude you're even ATR for his life you guys can walk I feel like I'm doing great and you guys are just being over dramatic but great is is a uh selective term that's the position flag this one isn't this the best driving you've done in this whole trip oh my God that was so unnecessary I know I know yeah we all know there a hole right there well Jerry we already know these are the only holes you're getting two two two big holes three three three how much vanola do you think is untouched as in no housing just natural land 75% 75% yeah doing great everybody we're doing real good everybody wear your seat belt Jesus make sure to wear your seat belt everybody my God safety bird safety bir D oh take me back to the Jungle what's the name of this Village it's said it's in Kim means uh big father go to Hi H really popular game especially for the woman and J for you it's called you just take a bow and then you start find the person how you doing hey y so cute me too how do I say what's your name okay oh yeah and ginger you a i something funny on accident an oh my God oh my God get like that's you that's you destroy you in this game oh okay it's not bad just like a softball hair you want to feel her see I'm getting pet oh I like like Circa no wonder she likes this did she just compare herself to Circa I think so yeah compared himself to a dog what's your name yes show show know the going throw the choles at us am I going to feel like I'm growing up again all of them oh wow okay okay okay killer okay so if you catch it then you can kick it away how many times you have to flip it back over twice close and open okay got it that's J oh here we go already bought a bunch of school supplies giving away my God my God I'm so sorry damn d That's crazy some man is that common when there's like not enough for enough people the chief of the village if she he were here wouldn't happen so because there was no leadership there there was no one to kind of decide who got what or just tell them yeah hey relax and got it it's always challenge to give to them what's the uh primary thing you think they need in that Village just food and water I assume they have water they have food uh things for about education like B kind of things what did you give them just like I saw pens it's a pens and books people that live in that Village do you think most of them will stay there like their entire life most of them they will go to L they will go yes what happen is that they figure out that the situation that they find inanda is worse in Village you can still have food but you don't have things to entertainment things about education when you go to Randa you find these things but you don't have food proper place for you to sleep very well that's what the reason why we find a lot of kids on the streets like in Randa we saw a lot of kids you know right they have to make a choice between staying here where they have food and a place to live or going to leanda where they can sacrifice that for a chance at education and a better future yeah even getting to leanda from here I mean it took us 7 hours driving will they hitchhike will they walk a majority of it you go by m a place where you can take a big bus okay okay got this is how they do got footsteps fade on dusty road little hands still reaching out a dream too far a world so cold yet their voices still cry loud oh tomorrow will you shine will the rain bring hope in time for the children lost in night let them wake to Morning Light what in the world this is unreal there's like no one here that's crazy we are about to spend the night in one of the best most unique and Incredibly Majestic mestic hotels in the world it sits quite literally on the edge of Candela Falls which is one of Africa's great natural wonders a thundering horseshoe shaped Cascade set amidst Lush rainforest The Falls are formed Where the lucala River the largest tributary of Angola's K Quanza River plunges over a precipice of ancient Rock dropping approximately 105 M and spreads out to nearly 400 m in width during Peak flow this ongoing erosion of the cliff means that large Boulders sometimes tumble down with the water gradually reshaping the falls over time at the base the constant mist from the crashing water has created a lush Oasis of rainforest a moist microclimate that nurtures diverse plant life and during the rainy season The Falls become especially powerful becoming even wider up to about 580 m a third of a mile in width but notably The Falls never run dry maintaining a steady flow year- round Candela Falls holds an esteemed Place both in Angola and on the world stage it is a largest waterfall in Angola and is often cited as the second largest in Africa after the mighty Victoria fall local communities have long revered The Falls as a sacred site in fact Elders recount that in the past it was a place for rituals to appease the gods seeking blessings of rain health and prosperity even today visitors sense a spiritual Aura a mix of the falls sheer power the cooling Mist often forming rainbows and The Echoes of local Legend historically the waterfall's name itself reflects Angola's Journey once dubbed Duke de banka under Portuguese colonial rule it was renamed kandela after Independence to honor a nearby Village despite its Fame the site remains remarkably unspoiled and tranquil there are no heavy tourist infrastructures like fences or crowds here just the raw Roar of water and untouched scenery this Serenity makes culla Falls both a national treasure and a Hidden Gem on the global map with one of the most unique ways to experience Candela Falls is by staying at the Historic Hotel perched above the Cascade built in the 1950s in a privileged location right at the brink of the Fall a rarity to find anywhere on Earth it has recently been rehabilitated after years of disrepair allowing guests to once again enjoy its unparalleled setting and we are incredibly fortunate enough to have this once in A- lifetime experience VI oh my what the what dude just go oh that's insane what what what all that sound too talk about A Room With a View yeah I don't think this can ever be beat ever this is insane no way dud the amount of water that's just gushing off right over there no wonder you can't swim in it I was like you want to swim in it I've seen like videos and pictures of this but it's it like does not prepare you for how it actually looks I like can't imagine a better hotel in all of Africa no nobody's really here yeah well let's see your room where have you been nobody you oh yeah drop her bag and get down there challenge there is another one longer and safe okay we like challenges you know the deal this is so so pretty right wow wow wow wow for the record this is actually the first time we have made it to a hotel before the sun set which is a a bizarre thing for us cuz we've been traveling for almost a month straight now we normally just show up to your hotels in the middle of the dark and then we wake up and we say oh this is what it looks like here we typically are going for 16 hours straight every single day see the most see the most activity so this is pretty surreal getting to enjoy this location and this hotel again I just wanted to say this everyone that's watching thank you because it's incredible that we get to do this and share these experiences with you if I fall down this you're going to fall down with me you know yep so I see why he said it's very challenging it is downhill slippery slippery SL yep I almost slipped like twice really non-dominant hand on the GoPro so if I do fall I can catch myself oh oh oh oh no carry on we're halfway down no we're not halfway down how are we going up this I don't know if this is going to work uh come on guys we play Mount kilamanjaro you guys Mount kilamanjaro wasn't a mud slide all us look at look at this guy we can do it oh my God I wore the wrong shoes for this I think all shoes would be wrong for this dude oh my god dude there's no right shoes for this what do you mean the wrong shoe the thing is the more we go the less our shoes work oh my god dude I just slid dude if I if I flly I'm taking you all down why am I taking the lead cuz you're the most likely to fall and not take us out you're doing great Jerry I don't know what I'm doing here I don't think a branch is your best thing to hold on to you go down here no you ski down there look at the feet oh my God yes yes oh God somebody slipped Ginger is sliding yes D oh he just SLI 6 foot oh sh oh oh I'm trying to stop myself okay I'm going to go all right I my hair got to do it oh oh my whole shoe something's in my eye something's crunchy in my mouth right now I have adapted to survive I found a canes the world girl the world girls all the little thorny guy got me wew to catch myself so I don't smash the Drone oh yeah y'all laughing but I'm cruising baby everyone's slipping the sliding with the crab is killing it right now okay everyone's laughing at Elon yeah Here I Come Blow and steady wins the race baby blow and steady you look ridiculous look at my crotch look at my crotch oh oh oh that Branch went right into my butthole oh my god oh how did you know it was there even ginger doesn't know where it is oh my God okay wow a point yeah yeah dude I went right past my taint directly into the butthole oh you're naughty Mother Nature oh oh didn't even ask for consent just went right in for it oh we're staying at like the nicest Resort in Africa and we're just crawling oh through the mud ah he said it would be challenging I thought it just meant really steep you know no like a lot of steep St no this is literally challenging yeah when e tells you a road is Bumpy it's not it's mountainous when he tells you it's challenging it's extremely difficult we're learning is look at him smiling he underplays everything cuz he used to it cuz he wants to watch us and laugh at us dog it was scary it went in my hands El hurt up did you know you're a little dirty I'm a dirty little boy yeah I'm so dirty in this Trail oh my God I'm so I'm just I love being on all fours just getting all dirty in front of you this part's not bad oh my God no way did that just actually happened this part's not bad bam this part's not bad oh my God I that was the good part let's skip to the good part I think we made it yeah we made yeah we made it we made it we made it oh Jerry can make it we can do it I was genuinely scared are you guys dirty so you guys a little muddy how you going to do they ran out of toilet paper you ever seen that Meme with a baby that gets covered with peanut buy oh yeah does it feel good oh child there he goes all right this thing now get a little getting a little wet yeah the firstep is up now yeah the firstep is up hit them chill yeah the first step is showing up now we're here we're blowing up hit and chill if you never risk it then you never know if it's holding you back you got to oh my boy is all the way in oh these are your only shoes yep wow dude let's go oh who said we can swim in this you that's a death sentence Oh My Gody my guy be careful rbow you all good bud I can't see take got the sun I can't see yeah it open your mouth you've been there a lot of waterfall yeah anything compared to this not experientially there is no one else inside besides our group right now we can just hang out here for like the entire night and no one would ever show up until the other ones like you do from afar but this is unreal I ended up being 9 hours one way to get here worth every single minute driving me so sick this oh my foot is bling out oh my God I can't I did a split oh my crotch wow that's an ankle roll homie yeah it's going to swell down to your foot that's going to suck for the next few days okay we're about to have lunch so let's go inside this is the lobby area this is Jerry I am Jerry that's the way to the rooms upstairs like I showed you earlier but let's go downstairs and see the restaurant they have games that you can borrow here the best view just hotel room which is right above us right now here's a seating area where you wait for your table to be ready play and I'll show you where our table is so you can sit outside at the balcony to see the waterfall Outdoors or you can sit inside so for lunch today we're sitting inside they had beef fish or chicken plates so we ordered the chicken plates for lunch that was the food so gum popcorn wow they brought out family style it's so good rice beans salad french fries chicken popcorn bread uh Edson how much is this place for night for C it's 220 $250 us for you and I or you two together does that include the meals one meal and breakfast oh okay wow that's yeah crazy let's enjoy it and then off to another waterfall that a snake a snake F oh my God love crazy dang were they making it right there on the side of the road yeah why why choose there to make it to right it on the road it's much easier with the sun cooks faster on the black asph yeah okay got it make them talk make them talk make them talking talking make them run make them run make them we made it to the other side of kalandula Falls now much easier to get to this side than what we did oh that's crazy it's like right here oh we're literally here oh my God oh my that's the rock that we were on we hiked all that hey I'm proud of us oh God so lucaa River it goes down here and then it connects to the Quanza Riv Quanza River that's incredible there's no one else here so for reference waterfall here that's our hotel there is literally no other light anywhere near it's like so incredibly remote in the area that we are I i' never seen anything like that before I mean this is so peaceful that's our view all night and in the morning oh yeah oh wow oh I didn't think about that the stars are going to be Immaculate here pretty sure there's a new moon tonight oh really what's it name Frederick all right let's go back let's go enjoy our our hotel for the evening y incredible you ask where we come from and where are we going all the police here like carrying fully automatic m4s yeah oh really I guess other than the Taliban I've never seen like regular on the street police with fully automatic rifles Mexico really I just I've never been there watch out little doggy get out the road that is a typical dance gandula so I would ask for one of these kid how is it are you into it yeah oh my God next time I go to a DAT to Remember concert I'm doing that wow she is so fast I have a bum oh true I want to see you do it Edson come on yeah yeah bye CIA ciao cow not a bad day no no at all all right thank you sir 7:30 wheels up breakfast at 7 yep then 7-hour drive 2hour flight new part of the country woohoo fun day really fun day long day lots of driving and bumps and Booms and clutches burning out but tomorrow we drive 7 hours back to lwanda directly to the airport to then fly like 2 and 1/2 hours to Southern Angola M the really remote parts where like no tourists ever are really we're spending a night with the tribe at one point a couple National Park visits some of the beaches some abandoned locations a lot of variety in the southern part of Angola I like Edson I feel like he's warming up to us I keep trying to drive as poorly as I can so he stops asking me is that what you're doing but apparently he loves my driving he just laughs the whole time you're driving oh really he's watching and then he'll just start laughing yeah he watches he and he goes slow slow slow slow slow and I go what and he goes slow slow slow slow we're we're doing a lot of things that we have no idea that we're doing that's what we do we say yes to everything you go do you want to do it we go yeah let's do it cool you just want to stop with this Village real quick they'll teach you how to play a game y I'm like all right sure and then before you know it he's like handing out school supplies literally 45 seconds later there's a full-blown brawl breaking out between everyone in this Village fighting over pens and literally blank notebooks like I thought they were books we haven't even like addressed any of that or gotten into it but as this trip goes on and our last day in lwanda we definitely want to like try and aim more to focus on that so I don't want that to feel like it went unnoticed that like went through that and then came here even like at dinner right now like we're having this amazing view the tables are beautiful an insane amount of food I mean it's a buffet for everybody here so of course just a lot but of course having a great time appreciating it but it's also really hard to fully appreciate it in my mind I'm picturing the little kids and I know where they're at right now and and that they're fighting over pens and candy and this isn't the first time it's happened it's not the last time it's going to happen it's tough to to sit here like look at this beautiful room and look at this great meal and just knowing like what's right up right up the street right it's a weird balance it's a lot to process I think yeah economics and Global political balance it's it's a lot of variables tomorrow we go to even more remote part of the country where like I don't think they even have power at all so I'm SED for that all right enjoy good night I don't know good morning for us at night we're going to sleep for the first time ever on this trip more than 5 hours more than more than 6 hours are you going to shower first or me you go shower yes okay let's do it the kids were really cute they were petting my hair but this one girl in particular kept picking her nose and then petting my hair and then picking her nose and petting my hair so I'm going to go handle that right now that's one way to braid your hair yeah that of rubber bands see boogers good night
2025-03-20 08:34
