While most of Equatorial Guinea’s two regions remain densely covered with the type of forest that made Tarzan swing, the recent discovery of underwater oil looks set to change the face of the country. Bioko lsland has been thoroughly taken over by oil money and an influx of foreign workers, but a trip to the mainland (Rio Muni) is still like taking a step back in time. The only way to get from A to B is to hack and bribe and hold on tight to bush taxis making their way though the jungle. This is real adventure travel, with amazing rewards-rainforest, beaches, traditional African villages and, with some hard hiking and luck, you might get to spend sme time with gorillas.

December to February for slightly drier weather

Hiking in search of gorillas, elephants, chimpanzees, crocodiles and whatever else turns up in the Monte Alen National Park Beachcombing around Luba and other deserted beach towns on Bioko lsland Hanging around Bata, the mainland’s biggest city, where the real action is Taking a pirogue across the estuary between Gabon and Equatorial Guinea to the Village of Cogo Wandering around vibrant Malabo-a town in the heart of the African tropics-with its outdoor bars, thriving nightclubs and colourful markets

Read Mary Kingsley’s 1897 classic Travels Africa, which details her trip spent slogging through the rainforest to gather specimens for a natural history museum

Listen to a traditional orchestra of drums, wooden xylophones, sanzas (a small thumb piano made from bamboo), bow harps and even zithers

Eat wonderful seafood and fresh fruit

Drink beer, brewed palm wine and malamba, made sugarcane

Mbolo (hello)

Corrupt officials; oil; dense rainforest; hardcore travelers; small villages with mud-wattle house; gorillas

Sorcerers are still among the most important community members in Equatorial Guinea; among the country’s most fascinating celebrations is the abira, a ceremony that helps cleanse the community of evil

The inhabitants of Equatorial Guinea have always been divided by geography. On Bioko lsland people generally live in an urban environment, with jobs in government or the oil industry. On the mainland, outside the city of Bata, people live a very traditional African lifestyle, in small villages of mud-wattle houses, with agriculture the main occupation.