Huambo is a city in Central Angola, and capital of the Huambo Province. It is one of the largest provincial cities in Angola, comparable in size with Lubango and Lobito/Benguela. Once called Nova Lisboa, it was designed in 1912 to be the new capital of Angola, and the beauty of that era is still apparent. Angola's civil war took a massive toll on Huambo and its surrounding areas, leaving most buildings in the city full of bullet holes. In recent years, reconstruction efforts have changed the face of the city, and the economy is booming as businesses reinvest.
Huambo sits in the center of the traditional area of the Ovimbundu people (who speak Umbundu). During previous centuries the Ovimbundu were organized into several independent kingdoms. The Portuguese came into contact with these kingdoms in the 1500s, and the Ovimbundu soon proved themselves to be capable traders, creating trade networks from the Portuguese port town of Benguela all the way into modern-day DRC (Katanga province) and Zambia. At the beginning of the 1900s, the Portuguese turned from economic to military interests, and soon conquered the Central Highlands. It was in the immediate aftermath of this conquest that Huambo city was built.
Portuguese General Norton de Matos resided at the Quibala fortress while he laid plans for the new city of Huambo, established in 1912. The current layout of the city bears the marks of his Portuguese-style organization, with a monumental rotunda surrounded by government edifices, a beautiful central garden areas, and a commercial division with a clear grid street plan. These areas were devastated during the civil war, but the current government has rehabilitated the area very quickly, giving it an Angolan flair on top of the Portuguese design.
The old Portuguese center of the city is now surrounded by Angolan "bairros" which swelled during the war years with refugees from the surrounding countryside. The bairros are crowded and disorganized, and most roads are still packed dirt. With every month that passes, the municipal administration builds more roads, connects more houses to city electricity, and repairs more of the city... but there is still a lot of work to do.
Start at the Praça de Agostinho Neto in the Cidade Alta. This large and beautiful rotunda is surrounded by the governor's palace, the principal government edifices (easily recognized by their pink color), and the central post office. In the middle of the rotunda is a large monument to the nation's first president, Agostinho Neto. Neto was both a soldier and a poet; the statue pays tribute to both sides of the man - he is dressed in military uniform, but seated on the ground writing. Take the time to read the inscription at his feet. Feel free to take pictures of the monument, but try not to point your camera obviously at the surrounding government buildings, so as not to attract unwanted suspicion. Also, make sure to revisit the Praça at night, when it is (usually) attractively lit.
A 5 minute walk south from the Praça de Agostinho Neto is the Jardim da Cultura. This is Huambo's central park, gorgeously redone in 2008/9. With some luck, you'll find the water fountains spraying, the music playing, and at night, the lights dancing. On the weekend you'll find the park full of locals enjoying the evening. You'll probably also encounter newlyweds taking their wedding photos here. Congratulate them by saying parabens! (pronounced: pah-rah-baynsh).
If you're ready for a drink or a bite to eat, the immediate environs of the Jardim da Cultura provide several options. Otherwise, head eastward. First, you'll encounter several metals statues from the Portuguese era.