Malabo

Malabo is the capital of Equatorial Guinea, on the north coast of Bioko Island in the Gulf of Guinea. Pico Basilé, a volcano covered in cloud forest, rises behind the city to the highest point of the country.

The Bubi people lived on Bioko before Europeans arrived. The British founded the town in 1827 as Port Clarence, and when Spain took control of the island it was renamed Santa Isabel. Under Spanish rule cocoa plantations covered the slopes of the island, and the town grew as the port for their crop. Its streets were laid out on a grid around a central square, and many of its colonial buildings date from the early 20th century. Equatorial Guinea became independent in the late 1960s, and in 1973 the city was renamed Malabo after the last king of the Bubi.

Cocoa from the farms of Bioko was for long the main export of the island and is still grown on its slopes, and coffee is grown in the highlands. The port of Malabo, enlarged in the 2000s, handles goods for the island and supply ships for the offshore fields.

The Cathedral of Santa Isabel, a Gothic revival church finished in the early 20th century, has two tall towers on the main square of the old town. Colonial houses with wooden balconies and pastel walls line the streets near the harbor. The Paseo Marítimo, a seaside promenade, runs along the bay with parks and sports grounds. The forests in the reserves of southern Bioko are home to rare monkeys and to sea turtles that nest on its beaches.