Malabo

Malabo occupies a volcanic crater bay on an island far out in the Gulf of Guinea, its old Spanish colonial core of coloured facades wedged tightly between the oil company towers that arrived with the money. The cathedral anchors a small historic quarter that is easily walkable in a single afternoon. A weekly ferry crosses over to the mainland capital whenever conditions genuinely allow it. Photography anywhere near government buildings, the port or the airport is genuinely enforced by police and gets visitors into real trouble, which is worth knowing well before pulling out a phone.