Lubango — Blog

After a fantastic dinner we followed Uncle Steve back to his house outside the city. Uncle Steve has lived in Angola as an opthamologist doing cataract surgeries all over the country for the last 30 years or so.

He is a 78 year old bachelor who watches old westerns, crime dramas and Three’s Company. He also does all his own cleaning, makes his own bread every day and lives without running water, filling up buckets for baths and dish washing.

Uncle Steve travels two weeks out of the month restoring sight to the blind. He told stories of how soldiers tried to drive him out of Lubango during the war, but he refused to leave and continued to travel into town, having to cross over dead bodies to get to work at the hospital. He is one hard-core Canadian.

The next day, we went to the CEML (Evangelical Medical Center of Lubango) where Uncle Steve works as well as another medical missionary, Dr. Steve Foster.

Dr. Steve, as he is called, had offered to put Teague’s leg in a walking cast, since the clinic in Huambo (6 hours away) did not have the resources or expertise to perform such a task. As we talked with Dr. Steve, he too told war stories of refusing to leave his patients at the hospital, even at gun point. The military tried to take over the CEML and Dr. Steve and Uncle Steve held their ground.

Again, I had to pause with amazement at the unbelievable hardship these men had volunteered to live through. Not only had they volunteered to provide healthcare to people in a country with little and sometimes no infrastructure, but they did it for years in the middle of a war zone--coming face to face with decisions of self-preservation or perseverance in the name of Jesus.

What may be even more amazing is the sheer and boundless joy that emanates from their presence. Both Steves were constantly telling jokes and silly stories. Both Steves showed me a glimpse of the heart of God.

After a couple of days of rest in Huambo we set out to find the ancient rock paintings at Tchitudu Hulu. This would turn out to be the most epic road trip of my life (and I’ve been on plenty of road trips)! Teague and Robert were busily preparing for the journey ahead. Teague made us “Bier Rocks” which consisted of ground beef, cabbage, onion, salt and pepper wrapped in a ball of dough. Biruk made us cookies. Robert replaced the brake pads and balanced the tires on the Land Cruiser. We packed up and set out at 8am September 6th.

For the most part the 6 hour drive to Lubango was paved. But there were crater-like potholes that would appear out of nowhere. Robert, being the experienced pothole-dodger didn’t seem to be bothered. As we drove out of Huambo, which sits at an elevation of 6,000 feet, the landscape changed from dust with huge monoliths jutting straight out of the ground to dust with various bushes and Dr. Suess-esque trees called Baobab Trees.

We passed giant boulders piled up or sprinkled around and hills shaped like volcanos. For hours the only signs of civilization were mud or stick huts, the occasional vendor selling a sack of charcoal or eggs and the tiny boy herding his cattle or goats across the road at any given moment.

Our first tourist stop was Pula Lukwa, a fancy resort/restaurant in Lubango complete with a mini safari. We got to see several wild animals including zebras, a crocodile, guinea fowl and Oryx.

I imagined I would see a few wild animals out in the wild--but in our entire road trip I did not. Robert explained that the decades of war had either driven out or extinguished all the animals that used to live in Angola.

Next he took us to see a breathtaking overlook called Tunda Vala. I say breathtaking because I am terrified of heights. It was beautiful, but VERY high. My palms are sweating just remembering the views and watching the boys fearlessly look over the edge.

There were fascinating purplish pink rocks there, like I had never seen. Later I would encounter an artist shop using these pink rocks for his sculptures.

After the Tunda Vala Robert took us to Cristo Rei--another very high overlook. Then we headed back to Pula Lukwa for dinner. This is when we met our host for the next two nights, a medical missionary, Dr. Steve Collins, who everyone calls “Uncle Steve.”