Malabo

An island that belongs to Equatorial Guinea, Malabo was one of the least developed places I have ever been to. At the time we went there, in mid 2000, the place did not have a hotel with enough rooms to accommodate the 15 of us, so we were usually split between two hotels. Hard mattresses and leeches glued on windows, the hotel rooms were not the most welcoming, but the best in town. Since then things have improved, at least in the accommodation department, as oil companies were looking into exploiting the place, and Hilton and Sofitel became part of the scenery.
Tired after the 15-16 hours flights from Houston, Texas, my colleagues and I would hardly feel like exploring, but the effort made paid off in interesting experiences. From the fish market that I could not enter because of the flies and the smell that turned my stomach around, to the outside local market where all kinds of birds and animals (including monkeys) were sold alive to be cooked

later, all was part of a different life style, totally foreign to us.

We were strange to them, as most did not get to see white people often and I saw a mother pointing to me and telling her child “blanca, blanca”. Am I that pale? LOL

From our hotel location we passed shacks and a stream of garbage in order to explore further. We saw people aligned to take water from a village well, carrying buckets and plastic cans, kids washing each other in front of their modest homes, all friendly, waving at us and laughing. We were even invited to a wedding as we were passing by, but sadly too tired

and under-dressed to accept the sweet invitation.