Angola Rock Climbing

Angola is taking steps to make tourism more accessible in the country. In 2023, a list of European and North American countries can now travel to Angola without applying for an e-visa beforehand. Once in the country, most areas are 4-5 hours drive time from Luanda, making weekend trips complicated, but not impossible.

Gear: For trad routes, a standard rack will do, with doubles up through #2 camelot. For most of the routes described here, it is worthwhile to bring removable bolts to use as intermediate protection. Although this is not an alpine environment, the routes are remote enough and the climbing very much 'adventure climbing'. In order to accomplish some of the first ascents, removable bolts were used not only to bolt the routes, but also as lead protection on easier terrain. The holes were not sealed up for this reason, so carrying a few 1/2" removable bolts is highly recommended for these routes. If you are going to go through the effort of getting to Angola to climb, it's definitely worth the extra money to buy a couple of removable bolts to ensure you can finish all the routes and increase the safety factor in an area with little to no medical coverage. You do NOT want to get hurt here, especially at some of the remote locations where the best climbs are.

Objective Hazards: Almost all of the routes listed here are off of any sort of trail. Be very wary of snakes. Outside of the areas listed here, there are plenty of other huge rocks just begging to be climbed. Just check with the local village for the status of any landmine clearing in the area. A lot of clearance work has been done, and most of the climbing areas were never mined (mostly along rivers/roads, near cities and near military installations), but it's still worth double checking.