Equatorial Guinea was another country, I’d been forced off the group tour that I’d booked, by my ex. This on reflection, was a major positive as it meant I had the freedom to choose my own itinerary and timings and thankfully eat, drink and be merry without him being around! I planned to go in October when work was quiet - although this was now no longer a problem since I'd finished my job in Oman at the end of September. The evisa system was brand new and most definitely having teething problems. But… after many attempts at uploading the same documents again and again, my visa materialised! This was amazing given the amount of times I’d received the VFS (company managing the visas) telling me I had 4 hours to upload a document before I would have to start over, reapply and pay again! Even if the email came at 2am - they say “jump” you say, “how high!”
I left London in the evening, slept most of the way to Addis Ababa and the flew again across Africa to Doula and then Malabo. My London flight was super late and I only had 45 mins to transit in Addis - I had to run! Arriving in Malabo, I was surprised to find my guide was waiting for me (always a bonus!) and we went straight to the hotel. I showered, changed and we headed out into the modern capital city.
Equatorial Guinea is the only former Spanish colony in Africa. It comprises of islands and a square shaped space on continental Africa. I was going to be on Bioko island for 5 days and I was super excited. Malabo was unlike any African city I’ve been to. Firstly the Spanish influence, but secondly the modern nature and infrastructure that is lacking in most African countries. The whole island had great roads, and electricity. The people all seemed to be living in houses - some wooden, mostly concrete. And people were friendly, not aggressive or sitting around doing nothing, they were working, busy, occupied. The president of this country, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, was the second president since independence from the Spanish and took power after killing his uncle, a man who tried to exile whites and intelligent people. Obiang, has used the funds from oil and gas to transform the country (or at least what I’ve seen on Bioko Island) into a functioning economy, with good roads, free healthcare, and free education. Trying to bring this African country ahead of its neighbours and indeed most African countries. There is a general feel of support for him although is called be seen as a pseudo dictatorship. But what happens next will be interesting. He is the longest serving president in the world and his son is apparently a playboy that is not particularly popular! We shall see!
Malabo had lots of sights to see, the presidential palace (no photos!) and many different buildings showing the history of the country and its development. The river denoted what used to be the “black” side of the river and the “white” side. After the first president tried to drive out all the whites and intelligent people, the capital became very mixed - a far better combination.
After doing a city tour we headed to the nearby beach resort for some chilled out beach time with amazing views out to see and the other islands around Bioko.
The next day was meant to be hiking to the crater lake of the volcano on Bioko island. The weather had been really stormy over night so it wouldn’t be possible, but instead, we’d be going round the island...
The island was not particularly big but had a beautiful coast line - majority black sandy beaches, but a golden sand beach too! The black sand was also rocky with granite rocks scattering the beach and coast line, which in contrast to the sea and greenery, looked stunning.
We stopped at Riaba, which was a village beach/lake resort that was a pet project for the First Lady, She had created the viallgend jobs in order to get locals jobs and an income and also create homes and holiday homes for local guineans. It was nearly finished and in its final stages of development. They also grew cacao beans to make coffee.
The next stop was the golden beach - the only one on the island and ir went on for miles and we walked a large part of it, me, mainly walking in the water barefoot , the guide whom hated water, walking slowly on the plants next to the beach in his shoes! The tide was coming in, so at some point we were turned around as there was nowhere else to go!
We continued on to Luba, which was a town in the more colonial style buildings It had a local market, although it was not particularly well stocked and there seemed that there was little local interest for the traditional life, and more interest in the oil & gas jobs that brought in far more money.
The capital also had a man made national park and this was how we started the next morning. The ponds and lakes all dug out by humans and manicured to look very smart. There were geckos everywhere! I love geckos, so spent ages photographing the different types and colours - some would pose, others wouldn’t! :)
The park was beautiful and the rain held off (EG is one of the rainiest countries in Africa! The final part we saw was an area with a number of statues that represented parts of different tribes cultures. Some were two levelled statues others changed as they progressed skywards, but overall very creative representations of tribe life. I was quite mezmerised.
This had been a great way to start the day and I was now ready for our drive up Pico Basile where the temperatures would drop considerably, and we would see no-one! The locals don't like the cold!! I know how they feel ;).
We drove tup to the church, called the Church of the Mother Basile, which although incredibly misty, you could see see the beauty of the statue in front of the church. The mist cleared and reappeared constantly and without warning which added to the mystery of the location along with being the only people there!
After literally freezing (clearly wasn't;t dressed properly!) we starting moving down thru the Parque National de Pico and went to view points at various points. By now, the sun was starting to burn off the mist and the views were quite spectacular. We still had not seen another person or car by this point! Pretty cool!
It was another beautiful day on the island, but I was most looking forward to the next day - which was the Ureka National Park and the waterfalls! The final stop was a view of Malabo from the mountain when we got a clear spot to see the city from above.
I spent a nice evening at the hotel and in the pool and enjoyed chilling out watching the sunset.
Ureka National Park is really a highlight of Bioko Island. It is in the Southern most point and stretches from east to west. It has a number of waterfalls and we were going to see a few of them. It was the furthest drive we had done (around 2 hours) as it was the total opposite end of the island, but this only meant seeing more of the beautiful scenery. Again it was raining, which I had now come to expect but I was ready for a nice day! We had multiple stops to ensure that we had permission from the chiefs to be allowed into the various areas of the park we wanted to explore.
The first stop was a large waterfalls that Brough cold fresh water down into the warm salty sea water - across the black rocks and volcanic sand mixing the freshwater, seawater and rain all at the same time. Quite spectacular.
After we had wandered the beach, mainly in the warmer sea water, but sometimes into the cooler freshwater, it was time to visit one of the other waterfalls. This now was a lot smaller, (In height) but a lot wider and was surrounded by forest. It was so different in contrast to the first one, but equally as beautiful in its own way!
This one, we had to hike along the river to get to and it was super slippery. Carrying only hand luggage on my adventures, I hadn't Brough hiking boots with me - only trainers so I was slipping and sliding all over the place!
The last stop was at a beautiful bamboo forest on the way back to Malabo. I had seen such places in other countries - namely Japan, but I always find them quite awesome - Bamboo, literally just never stops growing!!!
The final day was just for souvenir shopping and relaxing by the pool. Bioko island wasn't;t big and I felt that I had seen everything it had to offer. I would love to go and visit the continental part of Equatorial Guinea and see if that part is also developed far greater than most African countries I've been to, but that will be another adventure in the future.,,
Off to Chad and a totally different experience at the Gerewol festival.
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