The Wandering Scot

An occasional travel journal

  • Bioko: Fernando Poo

    ¡Hola! from the island of Bioko, formerly Fernando Poo, formerly Fernando Pó.

    Readers of the Illuminatus Trilogy may remember the tagline “Where the hell is Fernando Poo?”

    Yes, it really exists! It’s a former Spanish colony, now part of Equatorial Guinea.

    Under Portuguese colonial rule, Bioko was known as Fernando Pó, after a Portuguese explorer. But following a transfer to Spanish rule in 1778 it officially became Fernando Poo. Perhaps due to some misplaced sense of delicacy, the English speaking world has mostly stuck with the “Fernando Po” form.

    The name “Fernando Poo” can still be seen on Spanish colonial-era stamps and monuments.

    The island is small, Spanish speaking, and Mostly Harmless. The main city, Malabo, was actually still the capital of Equatorial Guinea when I booked my flights in May, but apparently anticipating my arrival, they cunningly moved the capital to a new safe location on the mainland. Grump.

    Monument commemorating the 1778 Spanish arrival on “Fernando Poo”

  • Benin: Porto Novo Mask Festival

    Today I had a very entertaining visit to the Porto Novo Mask festival. It’s a modern vehicle for preserving genuine local traditions. The masked figures represent various spirits.

    My favorites were the the Zangbeto or “night watchmen” . These are guardian spirits, who may patrol villages, acting as an unofficial police force. They enjoy whirling and chasing and being chased by dancers:

    An inquisitive Zangbeto

    A particularly rambunctious Zangbeto

    The Egungun are more solemn and represent the spirits of departed ancestors:

    And there are a variety of other styles too:

    Kpodji guèguè (stilt dancer)

    Guèlèdè (who honor the Great Mother)

    While walking around the city, I was accosted by a few wandering spirits of the dead. Fortunately they were willing to be placated with small cash offerings. 🙂 These mundane transactions were graciously mediated through human assistants.

    I’m on a four country West African tour organized by Evans Tours of Lagos. We didn’t have the Mask Festival on my original itinerary, but when Evans realized I’d be nearby on one of the festival days, he very kindly adjusted my schedule so I could attend. Thank you!

  • Benin: A Giant Amazon

    I’m in Cotonou, Benin, which boasts a 30 meter (96 ft) tall tribute to the Dahomey Amazons. This was an elite all-woman royal guard regiment, which existed from the 17th to 19th c. in the Dahomey Kingdom.

    The statue is seriously impressive.

  • Manaus: Meeting of the Waters

    I’m in Manaus, Brazil, on the Rio Negro.

    The Rio Negro is “only” 3km wide at Manaus. But that’s before it meets its big brother, the main Amazon.

    I took a river trip today to see the Meeting of Waters, where the dark black water of the Rio Negro meets the clay-brown water of the main Amazon. The two distinctively colored waters flow side-by-side for miles before fully merging. It is an extremely striking effect.

    I’ve read about this many times, so it was great to see it in person!

    Graham on the Mighty Amazon

  • Manaus: Teatro Amazonas

    I’m in Manaus, Brazil. Today I visited the Teatro Amazonas, the very grand, very over-the-top “Opera House in the Jungle”. It was built in the 1890s, at the height of the Brazilian rubber boom. The wealthy Rubber Barons wanted an Opera House to impress the world. And they got it!

    I took a tour in the afternoon and in the evening enjoyed a fine performance of Grieg’s Peer Gynt.

    An unexpected tour bonus is their giant Lego model!

  • São Tomé

    Olá from the island nation of São Tomé e Príncipe!

    Despite being only about 150 miles from the African mainland, São Tomé was uninhabited when it was discovered by the Portuguese around 1470.  So it was one of the rare colonial settlements that was genuinely on “vacant land”.

    It retains many traces of its Portuguese colonial past, such as Forte de São Sebastião, originating from around 1566.

    I ran across a colonial-era memorial to Prince Henry the Navigator that is identical to one I saw half the world away in East Timor.  A reminder of the range of the Portuguese territories in the Age of Exploration!

    The island’s iconic image is the narrow tower of the Pico Cão Grande, an old volcano core, now rising 370 meters above the surrounding land.  It is quite striking, and my through-the-clouds photo does it poor justice!

  • Across the Mighty Congo

    I took a successful ferry ride across the Mighty Congo River, from Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) to Brazzaville (Republic of Congo).  I had carefully propitiated the river god with a delicious raisin pastry at breakfast, and was rewarded with smooth waters.

    Sadly, even a river god can’t help with the DRC bureaucracy.  This crossing is notorious for weird regulations and officials who deny all knowledge of English.  Fortunately I had a Francophone tour guide, and he had hired a “fixer” to make Customary Arrangements.  Even with that it took about an hour on each side and much patience to get through.

    The river ride was in a “pirogue” (canoe) which fortunately turned out to mean a small fast ferry.  It was all tolerably safe.  We were even required to wear life-jackets. Which I think was a good sign.

    To be honest, there aren’t very many tourists sights in either Kinshasa or Brazzaville, so I can’t really recommend them, but I did want to see the Mighty Congo itself, and the ferry was a good way to do it!

    The Mighty and Benevolent Congo

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