Praia do Sobe e Desce - Memorable Moments
«Who comes and crosses the river» Kwanza, after the Mangais Restaurant and the Golf Club, the sky is blue, flecked with webs of candy floss, and the white relics of planes long since passed. The sea is tinged with green, adorned with white foam as the waves bubble onto the golden sand in salty fury. The sun blazes on the horizon, large and fiery, as only the African sun can, but nonetheless it drives away the men of the sea, and the children with their broad smiles and colourful clothes playing in the warm water.
Happiness... is what you anticipate as you climb and descend the gentle ochre coloured cliff; when women of stunning ebony skin and bright dresses, bend double as they scratch around in the sand and find another quiteta shell... and one more and another, because the sea is generous here. Happy are the fishermen that come down from the tent, on top of the timid cliff, to the sea, equipped with boats, nets, ropes and wisdom, before climbing up again, loaded down with what the sea has given them, pulling the heavy boat to the sound of brave tongues.
Paula Tavares and Francisco Faísca, in an act of compassion, chose to give a helping hand to these men and women, to these families that live from the sea. It’s some time since they swapped Portuguese skies for those of Angola and ever since they arrived they have felt obliged to return the loving welcome they enjoyed in helping the most needy.
At the same time, the Praia do Sobe e Desce beach started to be an extension of the magnificent Mangais Restaurant, of which they are the owners. In the thatched huts on the cliff top, the feast is made of succulent shellfish that hit the pan alive, as the guests watch on and of other flavours from the sea, joined by excellent wines, by happiness and by lively conversation. Paula always insists that these are memorable events, for the guests, whose satisfaction knows no bounds, for the fishermen, who eyes shine when the scales herald some more grams of shellfish, and for herself, owner of a heart that is only cheered when it sees happiness around it.
They rise and fall, the men, the women, the children, the golden sands, falling with the breath of the wind and rising on the hand of the sea; the waves, every living being climbs and descends, because the gentle cliff, which once was steep, calls them to rise and fall, and they do as they are told, not to the rhythm of frenzied drums, but like a voluptuously drawn out Kizomba dance... they all come down for a pleasant dip in the sea, coming back up and shaking, after the fiery sun has dipped into the sea, like someone turning out the light behind them...
Text: Maria Amélia Pires
Photography: Miguel Costa