"Landing in my last independent country! " a Malabo Travel Page by harrymitsidis

Well, I made it to this place after a lot of dreaming about it. On March 19, 2008, Iberia flight 3320 from Madrid landed here at 23.32 and a few minutes later, I was off the plane and in the airport terminal. It was full moon, and I had a full heart. I had been waiting for this place for years, though I never knew that this would be the place actually! I had always wondered where it will be that I can say 'this is my final country'. Originally I had planned for it to be the Maldives, a nice honeymoon...but as dreams of a honeymoon began to look all the more obscure, I did the Maldives a few months before, and was left with a few more little-known African countries to contend with...and Equatorial Guinea was the hardest one visa-wise, but luckily, tenacity ruled the day and, thanks to my father alone, I made it there!

Upon arrival, I was met by a business contact from the country which had arranged the whole invitation procedure. Given that I am very rarely met at airports, this was a pleasant change. He took care of the whole immigration procedure in no time, apparently he knows all the airport staff (and presumably gave them 'gifts' when necessary.

The first thing that struck me here was that the road to the centre was not pot-holed, it was actually in really good condition for African standards. The tropical night was complemented by the full moon and soon I was at my Hotel Bahia (see tip, or rather 'avoid' below) which was one of a few lousy choices but at least cheap. There was a gala on the terrace overlooking the bay, and the music blasting away was...Greek! Elli Kokkinou. I was too tired for questions...this is something to ponder tomorrow when it all sinks in...that I have made it to Malabo! Yes, the world is mine!!!

Well, there really isn't all that much to the place. Having been around Africa, there were a few surprises here in terms of development, some glass buildings and all that have all been put there in the past few years. On the whole, the 'highlight' of the place is the nicely done up Plaza de Independencia, where you can see the Sofitel (bloody expensive) at one end, the cathedral on the other, the sea and a nice government building around a pretty square, replete with benches which are styled with mosaics. It is the instinct of every tourist to take a picture but I truly do not suggest this, the soldiers guarding the presidential palace which stands to the right as you look to the sea from the square will pounce on you...I got a pose by seeking cover by the entrance of the Sofitel and making sure nobody is around!

There is also the market but this is dirty and uninteresting and there are no tourist items at all - not surprising, given there are no tourists here!

There was a church or two being renovated and the town hall which is quite pretty on the eye, in old Spanish style, but otherwise you will be going round in circles and there is little to catch your attention. The up side is that it is all really safe here and you don't need to fret about walking about in the least.

This is one of two pictures I have of myself while I took a break from the heat at cafe Kristania. I was reading a book by the controversial Serbian writer Isidora Bjelica called 'Around the World in 25 Days' which I chose as I thought it is appropriate for the conquest of the world. And there I was reading in Serbian, when an older gentleman approaches me and asks me if I am from Serbia. It turns out that senor Hernando was with the Venezuela embassy in Malabo, and had once upon a time in the late 60s studied in Belgrade and also served at the embassy of his country in Yugoslavia. He married and subsequently divorced, a Serbian woman, and the picture of his daughter revealed a potential Miss World: combining Venezuelan and Serbian genes must be the best of the best!
So we spoke in Serbian in a small (but as good as it gets) cafe in Malabo and then had a picture - and promptly also got one with the local waitress...