I'm sitting on a near-empty beach in the strange and surreal confines of coastal Benguela, Angola's second-largest city. On a stretch of sand in front of me, two sinuous youths are demonstrating an energetic and dexterous Brazilian martial art known as capoeira, their fluid movements and acrobatic high kicks blending like a weird form of African ballet into the rugged and dramatic backdrop.
It's a majestic and peaceful setting and, as I stand to take in the full breadth of my sun-dappled surroundings, I pause, as the early colonizers must have done, momentarily in awe of this stark yet magnificent landscape.
Founded by the Portuguese in 1617, Benguela is a former slave port and the erstwhile terminus of the cross-continental Benguela Railway. Situated about 430 miles south of Angolan capital Luanda and well-known countrywide for its expansive, diamond-dust beaches, the city — inaccessible by ground until 2003 — can now be reached via a spectacular nine-hour bus ride through Tolkien-esque landscapes.
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Scarred by years of warfare and mostly untouched by foreign visitors since Portuguese colonialism ended in the early 1970s, Angola remains a remote and largely undiscovered traveler's destination, with few outsiders privy to the geographic highlights and vast cultural riches that lie hidden behind an ostensibly violent veneer.
But, with the 2002 cessation of a 40-year-long civil conflict ushering in a period of peace and stability, Angola's fledgling tourist industry, coupled with a resurgent national economy, could soon put the country back on the traveler's radar.
For aspiring visitors the attractions are manifold.
Geographically speaking, the setting is as spectacular as it is remote.
Imagine miles and miles of expansive sandy beaches, the rugged solitude of half a dozen virgin wildlife parks, five centuries of Portuguese colonial architecture, and the largely forgotten sight of Africa's second-largest waterfall — the wondrous Quedas do Calandula.
Of all of Angola's provincial cities, Benguela is perhaps the most accessible and attractive.
Spared the worst in the bloody civil war that reduced the inland settlements of Huambo and Kuito to rubble, Angola's self-appointed cultural capital is an engaging muddle of low-rise apartment blocks and zipping motorcycles that compete deftly for road space among the eye-catching crimson acacia trees for which the city is famous.
Its strategic location on the coast and longstanding tradition as an important administrative center for the colonizing Portuguese help set Benguela apart.
African traditions are strong here, and the sense of history is palpable; a fact epitomized in such elaborate buildings as the Palacio de Bolas, an intricately decorated palace now used as the local government headquarters, and the church of Nossa Senhora do Pópulo, built in 1748 with stone transported from Brazil.
But the real highlight of this diminutive regional capital is the Benguelans themselves, an open and gregarious populace whose spirit is highly infectious and whose continued survival in the face of crushing adversity is remarkable.
Contending with poverty, alleged corruption and a still-recovering infrastructure, Angola has a long way to go. Safety concerns linger, and Byzantine visa regulations require an official in-country letter of introduction.
Travel in both Benguela and Angola remain the preserve of adventurers, die-hards and those on a very flexible budget.
But, with the transport network gradually getting back to something like normal and wildlife now being shipped in from Botswana and South Africa in an attempt to repopulate the country's decimated national parks, the signs of economic recovery are more than just a mirage.
