Flying Adventure: Southern Angola – Day 12 (FNMO – FNCV):

We have a longer flight ahead of us today. Our destination is Cuito Cuanavale in south eastern Angola. We therefore top up our tanks with two jerry cans of Avgas to have a full tank for our flight. It is then a beautiful and scenic flight over Angola’s rugged southern interior to Cuito Cuanavale. Cuito Cuanavale is a small settlement in Angola’s Cuando province. As small as it may be, it is very rich in history. Unfortunately visited by few.

The battlefields

Our camp on the western shores of the mighty Cuito river is located near the village of Samario. The village was literally between the frontlines during the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. Despite the heavy fighting, the villagers never left their place and endured the unimaginable shelling and gun fires that must have taken place left and right past their heads. It is a remarkable symbol of human resilience, during the harshest of times.

Times are different today, fortunately, and we enjoy a peaceful and beautiful camp site.

The site served as a base for the People’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) during the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. The surrounding bush is full of warfare wreckage and grave sites. The former Soviet Union and Cuba supported FAPLA during the war, and supplied all the heavy equipment. There are countless amphibious light P76 and heavy T54 and T55 tanks and troop transportation vehicles strewn across the bush.

The still clearly visible damages to these exceptionally strong machines are a stark reminder of the intensity of the fighting that must have taken place in this area and the massive losses to the troops involved. It is not really what you want to see in this absolutely beautiful land, but these are awe-inspiring remnants of the history of this land, and the resilience of its people.

Source Lakes

Angola is the source of some of the largest rivers in Southern Africa. The Kunene, on the shores of which we have stayed at Epupa and in the Iona National Park is just one of them. The Cuito, at which we are camping these days, and the Cubango converge into the Okavango, which feeds the world famous Okavango Delta in Botswana. Then there is also the Linyanti river and tributaries to the Zambezi which all originate here in Angola.

We spend time during day 13 to explore this vast and wild, largely uninhabited area with our aircraft. We initially fly along the Cuito river all the way up to its source. It is an exceptionally scenic flight across untouched wilderness and raw beauty. The Portuguese called south eastern Angola “The Land at the End of the Earth”. The sources of these freely meandering waterways form the lifeblood of countless wildlife, species and communities across the region. It is a feeling of true adventure and freedom to explore this amazing place.

However, beneath the surface, there is unfortunately also a darker reality. The south east of Angola was plastered with mine fields during the war. There are still vast minefields, which have not been cleared and impose a deadly danger. Efforts by NGOs are still ongoing to clear these mines, but it will still take many years to make this a safe place to explore by foot or vehicle. For now, flying is a safer option.

The battle of Cuito Cuanavale

The Angolan war was a pretty messy affair. After independence from Portugal a civil war erupted between the Marxist government’s armed forces FAPLA and the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). In the midst of the Cold War this conflict was also used as a proxy war. Cuba and the Soviet Union, together with the armed wings of other regional Liberation Movements, including South Africa’s ANC, and Namibia’s South West People Organization (SWAPO) supported FAPLA, whilst the United States and the West supported UNITA, mainly via the then South African regime.

South West Africa (today’s Namibia) was under South African administration since the end of Word War II, when Germany lost its colony. SWAPO, which fought against South African control, launched resistance attacks in South West Africa from bases in Angola. Supported by Angola’s government, they used southern Angola as a safe space to re-group and re-arm for their resistance in South West Africa. At the same time, UNITA had its main strongholds in Mavinga and Jamba, near the border with South West Africa in the far south east of Angola.

It was on this backdrop why the South African government supported UNITA. The objective was to prevent SWAPO from establishing bases in southern Angola to launch attacks on South West Africa. That was the essence of the Border War.

In July 1987 FAPLA launched an offensive towards UNITAs main bases in the south east. Encouraged by initial successes, Cuba and the Soviet Union increased their support to FAPLA, which then launched a major offensive against UNITA. A succumbing UNITA was seen as a threat by the South African government to its borders. Therefore South African armed forces marched to UNITAs aid.

South African forces halted FAPLA’s advances at the Lomba river, about 40km south east of Cuito Cuanavale and started to move them back. FAPLA retreated to Cuito Cuanavale and received further support from Cuban troops. It was the largest conventional operation of South African forces since World War II. The final battle took place on 23 March 1988 outside of the settlement of Cuito Cuanavale. In the eventual retreat, South African forces lost 3 tanks, which are still on display today.

The outcome of the battle

What the outcome of the battle was can be a contentious debate, depending on who you might ask. The Angolan and Cuban governments claim it a victory and a defeat of the South African Defense Force. Mainly on the basis that South Africa and UNITA did not take subsequent control of the settlement of Cuito Cuanavale and its air force base. If you ask a representative of the South African side, you will obviously get a very different answer. He is not a politician, has no intention to become one, and will thus refrain from any politically motivated comment on the matter. That’s up to the reader.

But here are a few objective facts to consider, regardless of interpretation or conclusion:

The intentions: FAPLAs objective was to eliminate UNITAs stronghold in the south east to weaken the movement and win the civil war. South Africa’s objective was to prevent UNITA’s defeat and maintain a buffer along its border. UNITA was not defeated, and the civil war carried on until 2002 when Jonas Savimbi, UNITA’s leader, died.

The losses: UNITA and South Africa lost 3000 and 38 soldiers respectively. They also lost 3 tanks, 3 aircraft and 11 troop and logistical vehicles. FAPLA lost 4768 soldiers, Cuba and others 152. In addition 100 tanks, 18 aircraft and 489 troop and logistical vehicles.

The context: By March 1988 the Socialist experiment had failed. The Soviet Union was collapsing and the Cold War had ended. So had the proxy war in Angola. Any remaining support from the West for South Africa’s sanctioned apartheid regime was waning. Any attempt by South Africa to move further into Angola and get involved in its internal conflict would have been futile. That reality had at that time already been recognized as peace talks between the parties were already underway since early 1988.