Of all the places that might come to mind – Bali, Thailand, the Caribbean perhaps – the small central African nation of Equatorial Guinea, by some accounts the world’s sixth-least visited country, would probably be among the last.
One of Africa’s most closed countries offers just such lures, however, and has become the latest seeking to boost tourism, an increasingly important sector that is moving beyond the cliches of safari parks and skint backpackers.
The added bonus is that you would have the place largely to yourself. Until recently it was cut off from the world by decades of dictatorship.
Best known for a botched coup attempt by Mark Thatcher and the mercenary Simon Mann, and the profligacy of the Obiang family which has ruled since independence in 1968, the country is also home to plenty of hidden gems to lure intrepid travellers.
“There are incredibly isolated beaches where you feel like Indiana Jones,” said Oscar Scafidi, who authored the first English-language guidebook for Equatorial Guinea, which will be launched on 4 November.
“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.”
Africa’s only Spanish-speaking country also stands out in other ways. Its islands became an intense slaving and trade hub where European powers and people from Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia all left their mark.
“In Corisco Island, for example, there are Spanish missionary ruins, French architecture and bottles of German gin from the 1800s untouched on the sand,” Scafidi said. “In most countries you’d have crowds of organised tour groups exploiting it, but here it’s just you and the locals.”
Tourist dollars also provide a means for many impoverished locals to benefit directly, he added.
A population of less than a million and lucrative oil and gas fields mean annual per capita GDP stands at around $22,300 (£14,500) – roughly the same as Portugal - but more than three-quarters of the country’s inhabitants live below the poverty line.
Petrodollars have funded impressive construction projects, including the “mini Dubai” near the president’s birthplace. Alongside a new cathedral, plans are apace for an opera house and a new presidential palace. Scafidi describes Equatorial Guinea’s infrastructure as fantastic.
The journey that led to Scafidi’s guidebook began in 2012, when he took time off teaching in Luanda to do an overland trip that took in the countries along Africa’s Atlantic coast from Angola to Cameroon. Like many others, he had to endure the country’s notorious bureaucracy to get a visa. The government has said policies implemented this year have simplified the process as it tries to diversify the economy away from oil.
One of those to benefit is Jim Louth, who runs the only UK outfit offering package holidays in Equatorial Guinea. Officials have quickly approved visas for tourists travelling with his company, and two maiden trips starting this month soon filled up.
“Most tourists will only think of Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa, those sort of places, but the rest of Africa is just as fascinating,” said Louth, whose Undiscovered Destinations also runs trips to destinations such as Nigeria, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Louth also points to the issue of perceptions. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa led to a number of phone calls from worried clients earlier this year. Despite the fact that it only seriously affected three countries, the outbreak caused a drop-off in visitor numbers thousands of miles away, such as Kenya and Tanzania. “I had people asking me, can I still go to Ethiopia?” Louth said. “People need to be more informed. It’s a huge continent.”
“There’s always an emphasis on a certain type of tourism in Africa, either high-end safaris or backpackers going to Africa to slum it,” said Ruby Audi, a Ghanaian who launched the Hip Africa website to combat such stereotypes.
Meanwhile countries such as Equatorial Guinea remain well off the tourist trail. “People don’t go because no one knows it’s there. If people knew about it, they’d go,” said Scafidi.
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