Equatorial Guinea tourism has much to offer
Destinations
The world's sixth-least visited country, the small central African destination is a rare wildlife, amazing beaches and architectural idyllic gem
Cut off from the world by decades of dictatorship, the country is home for fascinating travel sites that can satisfy tastes from all ranges.
Oscar Scafidi, author of the first English guidebook for Equatorial Guinea launched on November 4th, declared about the beauty of this remote places:
“There are incredibly isolated beaches where you feel like Indiana Jones.
There’s an incredible sort of mini Dubai being built in the middle of the jungle, and on the other hand it’s a paradise if you're into animals – western lowland gorillas, forest elephants and a sea wildlife unique to the area.
People don’t go because no one knows it’s there. If people knew about it, they’d go.”
Africa’s only Spanish-speaking country stands out for its islands too:
“In Corisco Island, for example, there are Spanish missionary ruins, French architecture and bottles of German gin from the 1800s untouched on the sand. In most countries you’d have crowds of organized tour groups exploiting it, but here it’s just you and the locals”, Scafidi adds.
As more than three-quarters of the country’s one million inhabitants live below the poverty line, tourism influx would be a valuable source of income for Equatorial Guinea.
Jim Louth runs the only UK company offering tourist package holidays in Equatorial Guinea, called Undiscovered Destinations.
“Most tourists will only think of Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa, those sort of places, but the rest of Africa is just as fascinating.
People need to be more informed. It’s a huge continent”, he said.