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Reuters

Helena Monteiro da Costa’s father was brought from Angola to Brazil as a slave in the 19th century.
Next year the 99-year-old hopes she can take part in a first-of-its-kind cruise making the reverse journey back to her father’s homeland.
“My father was enslaved and he obeyed … everything they (the enslavers) told him to do he did,” Costa says at her home in Santos, the coastal Brazilian city where her father ended up after the brutal voyage across the Atlantic.
From the 16th to the 19th century, Brazil received around five million enslaved Africans, more than any other country.

Most were forcibly transported in inhumane conditions from Angola, in southwestern Africa, aboard Portuguese vessels.
The organisers of “A Grande Travessia”, or the Great Passage, are seeking to charter a cruise ship to depart from Santos and stop in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador on Brazil’s east coast before making its way to Luanda, Angola’s capital.
Dagoberto Jose Fonseca, 63, a professor at Sao Paulo’s State University UNESP, is the mastermind behind the cruise, which is planned for December 1 to December 21, 2025.
“We want to resume the maritime routes of the past to build another future,” Fonseca says.
Fonseca has been in talks with Angolan and Brazilian authorities, who support the initiative, and with cruise companies. Financial support will be required to charter the cruise ship.
The country that colonised us, Portugal, never had any interest in seeing this history discussed publicly
Afonso Vita, Angolan expert on slavery heritage tourism
Anielle Franco, Brazil’s minister of racial equality, says the project is aligned with the government’s “Rotas Negras” or Black Routes programme, which promotes tourism that values Afro-Brazilian history and culture.
The project envisages inviting around 2,000 passengers, including students, academics, businesspeople, descendants of those enslaved and leaders of Afro-Brazilian religions.
Planned activities on board include workshops, round-table discussions, networking opportunities and tributes to the over 2.5 million who lost their lives in the gruelling “Middle Passage”.

“My expectation is to learn about my past,” says Mary Francisca do Careno, one of the black academics set to go on the cruise, adding she hopes the trip provides answers to questions she has about her heritage.
Afonso Vita, an Angolan expert on slavery heritage tourism, says the cruise would help his country confront its past, and accused former coloniser Portugal of trying to avoid the topic.
“The country that colonised us, Portugal, never had any interest in seeing this history, which tarnishes its image, discussed publicly,” Vita says.

Earlier this year, Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said his country was responsible for crimes committed during transatlantic slavery and the colonial era, and suggested there was a need for reparations.
But the Portuguese government has rejected initiating any reparation process.
Both Vita and Fonseca urged the Portuguese government to get involved in the cruise project.
Portugal’s economy ministry, which oversees tourism, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Organisers see the cruise as part of a wider movement fighting for reparations over transatlantic slavery and European colonialism.
The debate over whether there should be reparations to address historical wrongs and their legacies is long-standing and remains highly divisive, but support for reparations has been gaining momentum worldwide.
“A project such as this … invites us to reflect on reparations, as well as on the recognition and strengthening of the identity of black people,” Brazil’s Franco says.


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History

Organisers of a journey retracing the slave trade route between Angola and Brazil hope to hire a cruise liner for the trip. Photo: Reuters

Helena da Costa, 99, whose father was forcibly taken to Brazil from Africa in the 1800s, hopes to be on the cruise Dagoberto Jose Fonseca (right) is organising. Photo: Reuters

Dagoberto Jose Fonseca, a professor at Sao Paulo’s State University UNESP, is the mastermind behind the cruise. Photo: Reuters

Brazil’s minister of racial equality, Anielle Franco, with the country’s president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Photo: Instagram/@aniellefranco

Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has suggested there’s a need for reparations to be paid to the countries Portugal exploited during the transatlantic slave trade, but so far nothing has been done to that end. Photo: EPA-EFE

The port of Santos, from where the cruise is planned to depart on December 1, 2025. Photo: Reuters

Russians replace wealthy Western visitors on Venezuela’s down-at-heel holiday island

An abandoned hotel on Margarita Island, Venezuela. The Caribbean paradise is in decline after years of devaluations, inflation and the collapse of public services. Photo: AFP

Many of Margarita Island’s hotels now stand abandoned, in scenes very different to when the island used to be a playground for American tourists. Photo: AFP

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A street lined with closed businesses on Margarita Island. Venezuela’s GDP has dropped 80 per cent over the last decade. Photo: AFP

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A man paddles a kayak on El Yaque Beach on Margarita Island. The island used to be called the “jewel of the Caribbean”. Photo: AFP

A sign written in Russian at El Yaque Beach in Margarita Island. The island is now trying to woo Russian, Cuban and Polish tourists. Photo: AFP

A sign advertising kitesurfing written in Russian. Lessons are offered in Russian, Turkish, Polish and Chinese on the island. Photo: AFP

A man kitesurfs at El Yaque Beach on Margarita Island. Photo: AFP

5 must-visit Nanjing landmarks, from a breathtaking palace to an emperor’s resting place

Niushoushan’s domed Usnisa Palace in Nanjing, China, houses a sacred Buddhist relic. Photo: Instagram @fabionodariphoto

The nine-metre reclining Buddha on the ground floor of the Usnisa Palace, in Nanjing, eastern China, one of the must-see landmarks for visitors to the city. Photo: Cyril Ip

Niushoushan Cultural Tourism Zone was built on the site of a Tang dynasty Buddhist temple that was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion in the 1850s. Photo: Instagram/@fabionodariphoto

The Great Usnisa Hall features a 1.8-metre tall stupa. Photo: Instagram/@fabionodariphoto

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The Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum offers a glimpse into the opulent lifestyles of past emperors. Photo: Xiaohongshu/ @120716137

The Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum is the final resting place of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, and his wife, Empress Ma. Photo: Xiaohongshu/@108358147

Fuzimiao is a serene oasis dedicated to the philosopher Confucius. Photo: Xiaohongshu/@865946553

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How a Japanese hot springs resort in Nikko is going from ruin to revival

A bath at a hot springs resort in Kinugawa Onsen, Nikko, Japan. Photo: Instagram/zuyu_and_taco

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Many hotels in Kunagawa Onsen were left abandoned after the bursting of the bubble economy in the early 1990s. Photo: Instagram/_abandonedplaces

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The suspension bridge near Kinugawaonsen Station. Photo: Instagram/seenbytownii

Shenzhen travel guide: how to get a visa on arrival, which apps to download and cashless payment in the Chinese city

To get to places in Shenzhen like Dongmen Pedestrian Street (above), Hong Kong residents without the right visa can apply for one on arrival. That’s not all you need to know - we break down the essentials for your trip from Hong Kong. Photo: Shutterstock

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Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

The Great Passage cruise will make the transatlantic trip millions were forced into in reverse, in the name of education and accountability


The Great Passage cruise will make the transatlantic trip millions were forced into in reverse, in the name of education and accountability.


Brazil

Angola

Africa

Portugal