Huambo

Huambo was founded in 1912 as Nova Lisboa and laid out on a generous grid with wide avenues, squares and public buildings, intended at one point to become the colonial capital. It sits at around seventeen hundred metres on the central plateau, which makes it cool and green, and jacarandas along the streets flower purple in September and October. The Benguela railway runs through, and the city is the natural base for the highlands around it.

What you actually see

• The jacaranda avenues - wide streets flowering purple in September and October.
• The planned grid - the 1912 layout of squares and boulevards.
• The railway station - a stop on the Benguela line crossing the country.
• The plateau setting - cool highland country at around 1,700 metres.

When to go

May to September is the dry season and most comfortable, with jacaranda flowering at its end. The rains from October to April bring green landscape and afternoon storms. Nights are cold in the dry season.

Honest expectations

Many of the grand colonial buildings are in poor condition. There is limited formal sightseeing and the city is a base rather than an attraction. Accommodation is limited and expensive.

Nearby

Mount Moco is northwest, and the central plateau runs in all directions.