Help on Luanda

My company security agent says the bribes do not happen upon entry.  Were these incidents of non-sponsored travel into the country?

1) How likely is a child going to get Maleria here if they have minimal exposure outside? Yellow Fever and other diseases?

Depending on the place you will stay – Luanda city or Luanda SUL (new region, 35 km out from the city-center). There were some cases reported in Luanda Sul, however, the city in general is considered to be Malaria-free/safe, government fumigate on the regular basis.

2) I am concerned about my kids getting into a school, I liked what I saw on LIS.  My company will pay for their schooling.  Is it really that hard to get them in?

There are 3 schools – 1 following the British standard, 1 – French, and one Portuguese. Not the case for myself, but based on the feedback of my colleagues who have kids, the queue exists, and you need to book the place for your children before the start of the schooling year, not sure if you can jump in the middle. However, all these international schools are sponsored by the international companies operating here, so if you are employed with one of them, it might be easier. I’m working for Schlumberger and they are one of the founders for the British school, so for SLB workers it’s easier to enroll to the school.

3) Living, home.  I would need a 4 bed room house or condo, do they have expat communities? that are gated or managed by for expats?  The company will pay for this as well but what are my options?

As I said – Luanda Sul looks like “Dubai”, most of expats with their families stay there, you will get a house in a compound (there are plenty of them there), international school(s), malls, etc are there. So for the family that’s the best choice. However, consider, that if you work in town, you will spend about 3-4 hours in traffic as a lot of people are commuting between Luanda Sul, and city-center.

4) Medical. Tied into #1, do they have typical doctors that practice western medicine for OBGYN? General Practicioner?  Pediatrics?

There is international SOS affiliates in the main clinics, however, don’t expect any European-level of service. In general – the best thing they can diagnose is Malaria, but for the rest – rich Angolans prefer to go to South Africa, or Portugal. For the kids, you’d probably find local doctors that used to study in Russia/Cuba/etc (good doctors in fact), but you will need to make some connections as these doctors practice in the normal clinics, not SOS.

If you are on FaceBook, check this page facebook.com/group.php?gid=4726684797 – Expats Luanda, there was a post on Informal Playground where you can socialize with you’re “colleagues” with small kids.

5) Money, do they have ATMs that are safe to withdrawl money without the use of skimmers?

For sure they do – VISA is accepted in 100% ATMs, MasterCard – only few ATMs in town. Don’t expect any places accepting Amex – I know only 2-3 restaurants in town, that accept Amex. These days the government tries to set the impression of safety and stability, so you will find a security guy in front of every ATM. But don’t try to walk at night after withdrawing 1’000 USD.

6) Does anyone have less than 1 year old children in Luanda??  This would be huge and very appreciative if someone can help out as my wife has been on Dr. Google and she is not happy unless I can prove its OK.

Me I’ve personally seen a lot of expats (mainly French?) with newborn babies. My neighbor is from Mexico, and his daughter is 3 months old.