Elobey Islands

Elobey Chico and Elobey Grande sit in the Muni estuary near the Gabonese border, and Elobey Chico, the smaller, was the administrative centre of Spanish Guinea's mainland territory in the nineteenth century, with a customs house, offices and trading buildings. The administration moved to Bata and the island emptied. What is left is ruins under vegetation with almost nobody living there. Elobey Chico covers less than a fifth of a square kilometre, which gives some sense of how small the administrative centre actually was. A cemetery survives among the vegetation alongside the buildings.

What you actually see

• The ruined buildings - the customs house and offices of the old capital.
• The abandonment - an administrative centre now essentially empty.
• The estuary setting - the islands in the mangrove-lined water.
• The two islands - Chico with the ruins, Grande larger and forested.

When to go

December to February is the drier season. Tide governs the boat crossing. Vegetation covers the ruins more heavily after the rains.

Honest expectations

The ruins are heavily overgrown and unstable, with no interpretation of any kind. Access needs permits and a boat arranged in Cogo. There are no facilities.

Nearby

Cogo is upstream, and Gabon is across the water.