Luba (Equatorial Guinea)
Luba (or San Carlos de Luba) is the second largest city on the island of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea, located 52 kilometers from the city of Malabo, being the capital of the province of Bioko Sur, a coastal, sunny and welcoming city.
History
The Bay of Luba was discovered in 1471 by the Portuguese explorer Fernando Poo. In the bay of Boloko, the Count of Arjelejos (Brigadier Don Fernando Felipe de los Santos Toro) disembarked on October 24, 1778 to take possession of the Territories of the Gulf of Guinea, aboard the ships Santa Catalina, Soledad and the brig Santiago taking possession of the place in the name of Carlos III, thus building a small town in the bay. The citadel was baptized as San Carlos because the Brigadier Count of Argelejos and Lieutenant Colonel Primo de Rivera disembarked for the first time, hoisting the Spanish flag, on those Fernandina beaches, under the reign of Carlos III. In honor of the Spanish king, this name was given to the population of the bay.
With the dictatorship of Francisco Macías, the name was changed to San Carlos de Luba in honor of Luba, chief (botuku) of the Bubi town of Balaché, who led a revolt against the Spanish in 1910 (his body rests at the entrance of the city to Luba). There are also several streets in cities in the country, with the name of Botuku Luba, in his memory. In January 1998 there was a Bubi revolt whose main events occurred in Luba.
Interesting facts
The estimated population in 2003 was 6,800. It is located on the west coast, below volcanic peaks, and is a port for the logging industry and since 2002 for the oil industry. It was an important international tourist center during the Spanish colonization.
Tourism
- Maritime Walk,
- Colonial Hospital,
- Club Nautico de Luba,
- Luba Casino,
- Water fountain,
- Claret College,
- Monument to the Count of Algiers,
- Luba Church.
Curiosities
The white sand beach or playa de aleña is striking, a very long beach of approximately 4 km.
Creation in 2004 of a new terminal in the port of Luba for oil tankers.
In 2010 construction began on a new highway from Luba via Belebú Balachá to the Caldera de Luba Scientific Reserve in San Antonio de Ureca, near the southern coast of the island of Bioko.
The Great Caldera
During the years from 1960 to 1968, three expeditions were carried out inside the Gran Caldera de San Carlos (now Luba). The expeditions were carried out in the periods 1962-1963 and 1965-1966, with the participation of the then journalist Luis Marhuenda, several Claretian priests and a professional photographer, with a profusion of publications in text and images in the then local press and radio. The interior of the Gran Caldera was reached and marking milestones were left.
In those days, the jungles inside the Gran Caldera were truly virgin and no European had penetrated them until then. The data is published and can be consulted in issues of the monthly magazine of the time "La Guinea Española", edited by the Claretian Order.
Expeditions in the Gran Caldera in the sixties
- Expedición de Herminio García Sastre
May 8 to 15, 1962, made up of:
- Herminio García Sastre
- Luís Jiménez Marhuenda
- Ramón Burcet
- Look at it Atik
- Father Viñas
- Thomas Siabú
- Expedition of the Spanish Mountain Federation
22 to 28 January 1963, made up of:
- Herminio García Sastre
- Father Viñas
- Pedro Gavilán
- Francisco Díaz
- Bruno Etingue
- Fernando Fernández
- Benigno Palomar
- Luís Jiménez Marhuenda
- Thomas Siabú
- Leoncio Riako (then 18 years old)
- Raimundo Ebiolé
- Expedición de Herminio García Sastre y J. M. Fernández Loaysa (Teniente de Navío)
February 19 to 24, 1963, made up of:
- J. M. Fernández Loaysa
- Herminio García Sastre
- Raimundo Ebiolé
and others
- Expedition of the Catholic Mission
2 to 13 January 1966, made up of:
- Brother Agustín Fernández
- Father José María Viñas
- Brother Felipe Núñez
- Brother Manuel Blanco
- Brother Manuel Cabreros
- Raimundo Ebiolé
- Thomas Siabú
- Leoncio Riako