Welcome to Malabo, on the north coast of the island of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea. Once known as Santa Isabel, it is the oldest city in the country and served for many years as its capital, until Ciudad de la Paz took over that role. Around 297,000 people lived here in 2018. Spanish is the official language, but you will also hear Pichinglis, used as a common language across the island. Above the city rises a volcanic island full of rainforest and wildlife. Let's start in the streets of the old town and then head for the mountains.
St. Elizabeth's Cathedral
Photo: Denis Barthel · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOn Independence Avenue stands St. Elizabeth's Cathedral, considered the largest Christian church in the nation. Construction began in 1897, paid for by parishioners, trading companies and the Spanish government, and it was inaugurated in 1916. The architect, Luis Segarra Llairadó, chose a neo-Gothic style. Look up at the façade, framed by two towers each 40 metres high. The church is named after Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. In January 2020, while restoration work was underway, a fire seriously damaged the building.
Pico Basilé
Photo: Serge Moons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsRising close to Malabo is Pico Basilé, the tallest mountain in Equatorial Guinea at 3,011 metres. It is the summit of the largest and highest of three overlapping shield volcanoes that make up Bioko, and it is the only one of them to have erupted in historic times, most recently in 1923. Once called Clarence Peak, it now forms part of a national park created in 2000. From the very top you can see Mount Cameroon to the north-east, and the summit itself carries a broadcasting station for the national radio and television.
Luba Crater Scientific Reserve
Photo: Bioko Islander · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsLet's travel south into the Gran Caldera de Luba Scientific Reserve, a protected area of 51,000 hectares on Bioko. Much of it is pristine rainforest, rich in plants and animals, with a large population of primates, some found nowhere else. Here is a surprising twist of history: before independence from Spain in 1968, cocoa was the main crop, and many old plantations have since returned to forest. Sadly, the primates are under threat, because demand for bushmeat is growing and the hunting ban is poorly enforced.
Malabo Mosque
Before you is Malabo Mosque, the largest mosque in Equatorial Guinea, with room for two thousand worshippers. Its roots go back to the early 20th century, when Hausa Muslims from Cameroon and Nigeria built a mosque here; they traded African masks and statues and supplied plantations with goods such as medicine. That first mosque was eventually demolished because of its poor condition. In 2014 the First Lady agreed to finance a new building, and the present mosque was officially opened on 21 July 2015.
Bioko
Photo: Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsLet's step back and look at the island as a whole. Bioko, historically known as Fernando Pó, lies 32 kilometres off the coast of Cameroon in the Gulf of Guinea, and 160 kilometres from the mainland part of Equatorial Guinea. Covering about 2,017 square kilometres, it is the fourth largest island in Africa, after Madagascar, Socotra and Tenerife. It belongs to the Cameroon line of volcanoes, so its whole landscape is volcanic. Around 335,000 people lived here at the 2015 census, with Malabo on the north coast.
Lomakuume
