AfrinkongThe Gran Caldera
A collapsed volcanic crater in the south of Bioko, forested, and reached only on foot.
Central & West Africa · Afrinkong
Equatorial Guinea
A volcanic island, and turtles on the black sand.
Bioko is a volcanic island with cloud forest, seven primate species and four nesting turtle species on its southern beaches; the mainland at Monte Alen holds gorillas and forest elephant.
Where it is
Africa · Central & West Africa · Equatorial Guinea
The land in brief
- Spans
- 220 km E–W, 150 km N–S
- Latitude
- 2°N to 1°N
- Borders
- 2 countries
- Sea
- Has a coast
- Best time
- The dry seasons. Turtle nesting on Bioko's south runs November to February.
Also in Central & West Africa
CameroonAfrica in miniatureCentral African RepublicDzanga Bai, and the forest elephantsChadZakouma, and the lakes of OuniangaCongoOdzala, and the western lowland gorillaDR CongoVirunga, Nyiragongo, and the okapi
Compare Equatorial Guinea with another countryAll fifty-four, worked through the same twenty-seven categories.When to come
JFMAMJJASOND
The dry seasons. Turtle nesting on Bioko's south runs November to February.
01Highlights
What Equatorial Guinea is known for.
Six of the twenty-seven, and the ones most people come for. The rest are below — and none of them is filler.
Wildlife
Seven Primates on One Island
Bioko has seven species, several of them found on that island and nowhere else.
Pico Basile
3,011 metres, the island's volcano, with a road most of the way up it.
Black Sand and Turtles
Four species nest on Bioko's southern beaches — leatherback, green, olive ridley and hawksbill.
Forests & Rainforest
Cloud Forest and Lowland
Cloud forest above a thousand metres on Bioko, and Congo Basin forest on the mainland.
Culture
Spanish, Fang and Bubi
The only Spanish-speaking country in Africa, with Fang on the mainland and Bubi on Bioko.
02Experiences
25 ways to spend the time.
Every country we cover works through the same twenty-seven categories, so you can hold two of them side by side and compare like with like rather than one brochure against another. Compare Equatorial Guinea with another → The two not listed here are the hero picture and the case for going, which has a section of its own below.
Landscapes
- The Gran CalderaA collapsed volcanic crater in the south of Bioko, forested, and reached only on foot.
- Pico Basile3,011 metres, the island's volcano, with a road most of the way up it.
- IladyiA 250-metre cascade off the caldera rim in the south of Bioko.
- The Wele and the MuniThe Wele runs across the mainland; the Muni estuary marks the Gabonese border.
- Black Sand and TurtlesFour species nest on Bioko's southern beaches — leatherback, green, olive ridley and hawksbill.
- Cloud Forest and LowlandCloud forest above a thousand metres on Bioko, and Congo Basin forest on the mainland.
Wildlife
- Seven Primates on One IslandBioko has seven species, several of them found on that island and nowhere else.
- Monte AlenMainland forest with gorilla, chimpanzee and forest elephant, walked rather than driven.
- The Bioko Biodiversity ProgrammeUniversity-run monitoring of the turtle beaches and primates since 1998.
- Walking BiokoThe south of the island has no roads. Everything there is done on foot.
People and culture
- Spanish, Fang and BubiThe only Spanish-speaking country in Africa, with Fang on the mainland and Bubi on Bioko.
- The BubiBioko's first people, with their own language, and a history separate from the mainland.
- The AbiraA Bubi purification ceremony, danced with drums and rattles.
- Carving and BasketryFang carving on the mainland, and Bubi basketry and wooden bells on Bioko.
- Pepe Soup and MalambaPepper soup with fish, and malamba — palm wine sweetened with cane.
- Beach and ForestArena Blanca on Bioko is calm and shaded, and Pico Basile is drivable.
- Sunday After MassMalabo empties into the streets after the cathedral, and stays there.
Places
- Malabo and BataThe island capital in a drowned crater, and the mainland's largest city on the coast.
- Spanish ColonialMalabo's cathedral, customs house and shuttered merchant houses, in a Gulf of Guinea version of Spain.
- Colonial MalaboSanta Isabel was a Spanish port town, and the cathedral and customs house still stand.
- Nothing Listed YetNo World Heritage sites, and a colonial architecture that has been very little studied.
Ways to travel
- Trekking the CalderaThree days on foot from Ureca to the Gran Caldera, through forest, with no road at all.
- Business Hotels, MostlyMalabo and Bata have good hotels built for the oil industry, and Bioko's south has none.
- Black Sand and GreenUreca in the rain, which is most of the time — the wettest place in Africa.
- AnnobonA volcanic island six hundred kilometres out, with a crater lake and four flights a month.
03Why go
The case for Equatorial Guinea.
Why Visit This Country
Why Equatorial Guinea
Four turtle species on one black beach, under a forest with drills in it.
Hidden Gems
Annobon
A volcanic island six hundred kilometres out, with a crater lake and four flights a month.
Eco Tourism
The Bioko Biodiversity Programme
University-run monitoring of the turtle beaches and primates since 1998.
Heritage
Nothing Listed Yet
No World Heritage sites, and a colonial architecture that has been very little studied.
04Go deeper
All of Equatorial Guinea, four ways in.
Who would take youAfrinkong
The ground is ours right across Africa: your vehicle, your driver for the whole journey, and the days shaped around what you came for.
In Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia you travel with companies of our own as well.
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Begin
Your Equatorial Guinea starts here.
Tell us the month, or simply the thing you want to see, and a guide who works there will answer.