Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

Hello Everyone!!

Pulled into Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on the 25th. Malabo is on a small island just off the coast of Cameroon (in the Gulf of Guinea). Although EG has a continental footprint (small country wedged in between Nigeria and Cameroon), it’s capital is Malabo and is on this island. EG is an oil rich African nation and the influences of the rich oil companies are everywhere. The language is Spanish and the people are generally very friendly. Fortunately for the crew, there is much less crime here than there was in Nigeria. The sailors have had many opportunities to get out and see the town and countryside. While here, we’ve conducted several training events. Our Operational Specialists helped the EG Navy w/ some basic Search and Rescue training, my engineers went to their local dry dock and helped EG engineers assess some problems w/ their engine on a 30’ patrol boat, and some of our Electrical Technicians helped their communication center tune some of their radios. Additionally, we hosted tours for several dignitaries and local oil company businessmen and executives (and their wives). It seems that the large oil companies (Total, Mobile, and Sunaco) are the main sources of income for the island community. Their mountains and surrounding waters are ripe w/ oil. As I took a bike ride through town, I could see the influx of oil money was supporting a ton of new construction, roads, housing, and government buildings. As always, we hosted a reception on board for all the local dignitaries and government officials. I believe we had over 100 guests last night, but I was late getting back from a local tour last night, so I didn’t attend.

As for liberty, I went out Wednesday night and got to have a pizza and some Coronas ;) It was a nice break from ship routine and food. I had duty the second day, and on Friday I got to head into town on my bike w/ Don and Kevin. We rode from the ship, through the town, and through some of the slums. The poverty in those areas was staggering. Many of the locals still live in corrugated metal roof huts w/ no sewage lines, running water, and trash was everywhere. It really was eye opening. The only redeeming part was that although they were extremely poor, there were still kids out playing soccer and running around being kids. We stopped at one point and handed out some candy.

Yesterday, I took a bus trip w/ about 19 other Sailors to the other side of the island (through the mountains) to a wildlife research center. We got to climb one of the mountains on the island, Basille Mountain (in English translates to “funny mountain”). EG interior is mostly tropical rain forest, so of course we trekked up the side of this enormous mountain through the torrential rain. It took us about 2 hours to get to the top, where we were rewarded w/ a view of a extinct volcano. It is now filled in w/ rain water and looked like a lake, but many years ago had been responsible for creating the island itself. The wildlife refuge we started from was charted through grants from the US government and research money from the local oil companies. They were conducting research on monkeys, bush babies, squirrels, and salamanders, as well as the climate zones and local rain forest vegetation. The center was run by an American Scientist and there were 5-6 US College students there conducting research for summer projects. All in all it was a wonderful day. I was a little tired at the end, but how many other people can say they hiked up an African mountain (OBW, it was 6,350’ to the top!) through a rain forest!!! A great story for Connor when he gets older!!!

We’re here another day before heading off to the next country. Hope all are doing well and I can’t wait to get home. Just 65 days left, but who’s counting ;)

- JR, out...