On the Ground: Many Angolan hotels are difficult to contact from the States. Your best bet is to book through a tour operator such as Undiscovered Destinations (44-191-296-2674; undiscovered-destinations.com) or Angolan Adventure Safaris (27-21-462-6104; aasafaris.com). Rooms at the following can be obtained through these and other operators. Kwanza Tarpon Lodge, 40 miles south of Luanda, has ten riverside bungalows on stilts (doubles, $320–$500). At the Hotel Terminus, in the port city of Lobito, all 21 rooms face the beach (doubles, $440–$480). Built into sandstone cliffs, Flamingo Lodge and its seven rustic bungalows are on the edge of the Namib Desert, facing the Atlantic (doubles, $260–$300). A cluster of thatched-roof cottages, the Somitour Hotel is in the countryside on the outskirts of Lubango (doubles, $80).

Kristan Schiller is a New York-based reporter.