Street Scenes in Malabo

They say that, on a good day, the capital city of Malabo has something like 100,000 or so people living there. Based on what we've seen driving through about noontime, I'd say that children must probably make up about half the population. They're everywhere, all in their various colorful school uniforms. I'm not sure how it is that they alll seem to be out on the streets at that time of day, but I'm guessing that they must be on half-day schedules to make use of limited school facilities.

There's not much ostentatious about Malabo. It's a very humble place, where the people are nice and crime's not a problem. And there are a few pretty nice hotels, all with rates calibrated for the significant number of guests from the oil community. And there are a handful of restaurants, offering a variety of cuisines ranging from Chinese to Senegalese to Philippino, to include a couple of the more local places such as the "Candy Place" and the "Pizza Place." Whether it's food or a room for the night, though, there are no bargains here. The cost of living is, rather unfortunately, based on newfound and considerable oil wealth, and not on the average Equatoguinean citizen who is anything but wealthy.