Tundavala Gap
Fenda da Tundavala
Interesting facts
- The cliffs at the viewpoint are cut into Proterozoic quartzites, rock that is more than a billion years old.
- On the road up from Lubango, geologists describe eroded quartzite landscapes known as the Enchanted City and the Valley of the Ruins.
- A 2019 study gave the Tundavala viewpoint the highest total score among seven geological sites along the road from Lubango.
- Lubango's national stadium is named after the gap, and it hosted group matches of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
- The same escarpment is descended by the EN280 Leba road, which links inland Huíla with the coastal province of Namibe.
- Rocks of the Serra da Leba include cherty dolostones rich in stromatolites, layered structures built up by ancient microbial mats.
- Researchers have used Tundavala as a model case for involving local communities in geoconservation, an approach meant to apply across other African regions.
Why it is worth it
At Tundavala the high plateau of southern Angola simply ends. From a rim that rises above 2,200 metres, sheer cliffs drop around a thousand metres to the plain below, and through the gap between two rock walls the view runs west over some 10,000 km² of lowland towards Moçâmedes and the coast. The cliffs belong to the Serra da Leba escarpment, the western edge of the Humpata Plateau and part of the Great Escarpment that rims much of southern Africa; the drop also marks the natural border between Huíla and Namibe provinces.
The name comes from the Nyaneka word ntandavala, which carries several related meanings: the aperture, what lies open or apart, the space left between two sides. On 21 August 2012 the Angolan government declared the gap a cultural landscape, and it is counted among the Seven Natural Wonders of Angola. Geologists treat it as a key geoheritage site, since the escarpment and the road that climbs to it expose many of the region's rock formations, and studies have looked at how surrounding communities can be involved in protecting it.
The nearest city, Lubango, sits in a valley of the Huíla Plateau at around 1,760 metres. It grew from a settlement established in 1885 for about a thousand Portuguese farmers who had arrived from Madeira a few years earlier, and under colonial rule it became the city of Sá da Bandeira, a farming and transport centre linked by railway to the port of Moçâmedes from 1923. It took back the name Lubango after independence and is today the capital of Huíla Province and, with around 800,000 people in the city proper, the second largest city in Angola after Luanda.
Getting there
The viewpoint is about 16–18 km from the centre of Lubango by road. Lubango Mukanka International Airport (SDD) is about 24 km away. Lubango is also served by the Moçâmedes Railway.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Tundavala Gap is a canyon on the escarpment of the Serra da Leba near Lubango, Huíla Province, Angola. The escarpment marks the western limit of the Humpata Plateau, part of the Great Escarpment of Southern Africa, and creates a natural boundary between Huíla Province and Namibe Province. The height of the rim exceeds 2,200 metres (7,200 ft), while the plain at the base is approximately 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) below. The viewpoint at the edge of the cliffs, located roughly 18 km (11 mi) from Lubango, overlooks 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi) towards Moçâmedes.
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