São Tomé and Príncipe (STP for short) consists of two main islands about 259 km apart straddling the Equator off the Atlantic coast of Central Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, west of Gabon. The country sees few tourists: in 2016, there were an estimated 13,000 visitors to the country. The equator lies immediately south of São Tomé Island, passing through an islet named Ilhéu das Rolas.
The Portuguese were the first settlers of these previously uninhabited islands in the late 15th century. Attracting settlers proved difficult, however, and most of the earliest inhabitants were “undesirables” sent from Portugal, mostly Jews. The Portuguese brought in slaves from Africa to cultivate sugar, coffee and cocoa. Nearly all of its current residents are descended from people from different countries taken to the islands by the Portuguese from 1470 onwards.
In 1990, STP was one of the first African nations to undertake democratic reforms, and it has maintained democratic government since then with only a one-week interruption. The country’s culture, customs, and music fuse European and African influences. São Toméans are known for ússua and socopé rhythms, while Príncipe is home to the dêxa beat. São Tomé and Príncipe is a nation of about 202,000 people (2018).
Trees cover almost 90% of the islands. The main crop on São Tomé is cocoa, representing about 95% of agricultural exports. Other export crops include copra, palm kernels, and coffee.
Visa. Several African countries, US and Europe may enter without a visa for up to 15 days. Chinese citizens can get a visa on arrival. Nationals of other countries need an eVisa before arrival: http://www.smf.st/virtualvisa/
Capital: Sao Tome
Currency: New dobra “nDb” (STN). Pegged to the euro since 2010. A restricted currency.
There are no ATMs that take overseas cards. Bring sufficient cash in Euro. Cash withdrawal with a Visa may be possible at the main bank in São Tomé.
Pestana hotels may offer a cash advance for a 5% commission and a bod exchange rate.
Many money changers are around Independence Square.
Hotels expect payment in Euro cash, rather than UD$ (accept 100$ bills in banks) but you will get change in Dobra. The big resorts accept cards.
Almost no places accept Visa.
International Bank at Independence Square has 3 ATM outside (24Dobra), and one would accept an ATM card.
Population: 192.9 thousand
Language. Portuguese official, native for half , 95% speak it.
Forro is a Portuguese-based creole – native for 43%, a second language for 85%.
English is virtually non-existent and spoken by people in the tourist industry/hotels.
Country Code +239
Climate. Tropical—hot and humid with average 27 °C (80.6 °F) and little daily variation. The rainy season is from October to May.
History. Discovered and claimed by Portugal in the late 15th century, the islands had a sugar-based economy that gave way to coffee and cocoa in the 19th century — all grown with plantation slave labor, a form of which lingered into the 20th century. Although independence was achieved in 1975, democratic reforms were not instituted until the late 1980s, and the first free elections were held in 1991.
Economy. This small poor island economy has become increasingly dependent on cocoa since independence in 1975. However, cocoa production has substantially declined because of drought and mismanagement. The resulting shortage of cocoa for export has created a persistent balance-of-payments problem. São Tomé has to import all fuels, most manufactured goods, consumer goods, and a substantial amount of food. Over the years, it has been unable to service its foreign debt and has had to depend on concessional aid and debt rescheduling. São Tomé benefited from $200 million in debt relief in December 2000 under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program.
Getting here was an adventure. From Algiers, I flew on Air France via Paris CDG to Douala, Cameroon, a long-ago booked flight on the West Africa Tour. As I had been to Cameroon previously, I had cancelled from that expensive tour and decided to go to Sao Tome, so was transiting Douala.
The Douala Airport was a disaster. I had not printed out my flights which was required to pass a security guard. The airport had no wifi so I couldn’t access the flight schedule. I whined and he finally let me through. Cameroon required a PCR which I didn’t have as I hoped it would not be necessary with a transit. I wrote transit and actually got a stamp and then had a rapid test (negative). Immigration was long and my passport was held by the police as again I didn’t have a printed flight schedule. I went to a cell phone store and had it printed. The transit visa required an entire passport page but allowed one to leave the airport for up to 72 hours and stay in a hotel. I didn’t want to do that so stayed in the VIP lounge in the airport for 20,000 CFA (~31€). It is very small and consists of a leather couch and love seat (and doesn’t normally allow sleeping) but had great air conditioning in this oppressive humid heat. I actually slept well.
My flight schedule with Asky Airlines involved two transfers (Lome, Benin and Libreville, Gabon).
5/11/22 DLA-LFW @10:55-11:40 KP35
In the transit area of Lome Airport, I smoked half a cigarette in the bathroom. I appreciate that this contravened the rules – there were actually no smoking signs on each cubicle door. As a heavily addicted smoker, I have smoked in literally hundreds of bathrooms at airports where there are no smoking areas.
I believe that a carefully orchestrated plot exists in the airport. Are there cameras over each cubicle? I say that as there was no bathroom attendant when I entered, but one appeared instantly after I left the bathroom. He immediately called the police who escorted me to the second floor outside a bathroom to wait for the “chief”. He was very threatening and demanded to cancel my flights.
This extreme reaction is part of the scam. Just for smoking half a cigarette, I would lose my upcoming two flights to Sao Tome, would have to stay in Lome until a new flight was possible (I had no visa as I was transiting), would have to pay for booked accommodation etc etc. The eventual cost would have been over $1000.
I whined that this was a ridiculous penalty. I was taken into the handicapped bathroom and the threat continued with another policeman present. He didn’t specifically ask for money until I mentioned it but then money became the issue. I only had about 14,000 CFA on my person. He wanted $100. As that is all I had, he took that. Surprisingly, he gave me back my cigarettes and lighter.
LFW-LBV @1:55-4:55 KP60
LBV-TMS @17:35-17:35 KP60
9/11/22 TMS-LBV @7:00-9:00 KP61
LBV-LFW @9:40-10:40 KP61
LFW-DLA @12:20-15:05 KP34
So I was back in Douala with another transit to CAR the next day.
SĀO TOMÉ CITY (Saint Thomas) – the capital and largest city, has a 15th-century cathedral, the national museum, and the Presidential Palaceis. Public art – painting and carvings by local artists, in addition to old Portuguese statues, can be found throughout the city. Photographers love the city’s quaint colonial-style architecture.
Claudio Corallo Chocolate. Tours of chocolate factory on request. Has own plantation on Principe.
Claudio Corallo (born 1951) is an Italian businessman and an agricultural engineer and created the chocolate and coffee refinery called “Claudio Corallo Cacao and Coffee”.In December 1992, he moved to São Tomé and Príncipe where he started to cultivate cocoa, which was already under cultivation in the archipelago. He then bought an abandoned cocoa plantation of 120 hectares (300 acres) in Terreiro Velho (Old Farm) next to Novo Estrela on the island of Príncipe. He produced a product with high quality that was considered the world’s best chocolate. He controlled the production process from tree to table.
Corallo discovered that the island of São Tomé was able to produce coffee of high quality. He proceeded to buy property in Nova Moca southwest of Monte Café, the coffee-producing area. He developed its coffee and chocolate crop and built a refined gastronomy industry, Claudio Corallo Cacao e Coffee.
Fort São Sebastião. Built in 1575, the fort was refurbished in 2006 and is now the São Tomé National Museum. The fort is absolutely beautiful at night. There is a small courtyard surrounded by 2-story buildings. I saw no mention of a museum. Outside in the square are 9 cannons, an obelisk and 3 statues of a soldier and other Portuguese.
São Sebastião Lighthouse. Part of the fort, it has a red top and can only be visited from inside the fort.
Se Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Graça de Sao Tome. With 2 bell towers, this large church has 3 naves and a cross. It is big inside. The most remarkable thing are the Portuguese blue tiles that form a large semi-circle over the top of the altar area and wainscotting along both side and back walls.
Market. This large market has a vegetable/fruit area and many desks with dudes sitting there in front of large computer monitors and boom boxes. Don’t ask me what their purpose is. I was looking for a short-sleeved shirt/top and had had no success at the many clothes shops in downtown. I actually found something of reasonable style that fit (the only size large in all of Sao Tome City.
Church of Our Lady of Conception. Downtown is this pink church with one bell tower. The outside was all peeling print and some windows were broken so it is not sure if it even functions anymore.
Pantufo Church
COVID: PCR done in the National laboratory in the central part of São Tomé city. After an hour’s search for the lab (actually in the port authority building, the PCR cost a whopping 110€ with a result by 5 pm. I needed it to enter CAR.
Outside Sao Tome City
Obo National Park. Bird-watching, climb 2,024-meter Pico de Sao Tome, trek to a secluded waterfall, or try to spot as many of the island’s 109 species of orchids as you can.
Plantations. Essential to see colonial-era roças, from centuries-old buildings slowly being overgrown by rainforest to refurbished ones.
• Monte Cafe Plantation. Has a coffee museum and is cool in the mountains.
• Água Izé. House Museums/Plantation.
São Nicolau Waterfall
Cão Grande Peak. (Portuguese for “Great Dog Peak”) is a landmark needle-shaped volcanic plug peak in Parque Natural Obô de São Tomé. Its summit is 663 m (2,175 ft) above sea level, and it rises about 370 m (1,210 ft) over the surrounding terrain. The volcanic plug was formed by magma solidifying in the vent of an active volcano. The nearest village is Vila Clotilde, 3 km to the east.
The volcanic plug is quite a recent phenomenon, having formed as part of the Cameroon line of volcanoes roughly three and a half million years ago in the Pliocene. Its composition is mainly phonolite (also called clinkstone in vernacular English).
The moss growing on the rocks due to high moisture content, and the presence of snakes, make climbing here very difficult. The first attempt to climb Pico Cão Grande was in 1975 by a Portuguese team of climbers, and the first successful climb was completed by a Japanese group of climbers in Feb 1991.
In June 2016, Gareth Leah, from England, and Sergio Almada, from Mexico, established a new bolt-protected route on the peak. The pair spent four weeks on the peak producing a route which they named Nubivagant (“ascent into the clouds”). The route is 15 pitches (455 metres) in length and is graded F8b (5.13d). They climbed all but three pitches clean. The route is both extremely long and technically very demanding, and their climb was plagued with difficulties, including snakebites and blown battery chargers. The most difficult portions of the climb are in the first 100 meters, after which the difficulty drops considerably.
In July 2018, the Spanish brothers Iker and Eneko Pou completed a multi-day team redpoint ascent of a new route. They established the route ground up and without use of aid or removable bolts. The route is called Leve Leve and graded F8b+ (5.14a).
SAO TOME (EPS report)
A beautiful island but very poor. Many rent a car to see the island but the roads are poor and take a long time despite the short distances.
Food. No restaurants are advertised outside of Sao Tome City and you have to ask the locals.
Good fish restaurants in São Tomé City. One in Parque Popular, another Papa Figo on Avenida das Naçoes Unidas.
Camoes on Rus Angola good food and coffee.
Chokolade Factory Claudio Coralo on the seaboard a little west of the center.
The only restaurants near Casa Luis were Filomar (poor menu in Portuguese only), and Restaurant Atlantique, a Chinese restaurant with excellent food, but rather expensive.
Accommodation. Opulent resorts in northern and southern extremes, on the small island of Ilheu das Rolas,
Casa Luiz. Halfway to the airport, good with a very good breakfast and fast wifi when there was power. If there was a blackout and the generator off, there was no wifi.
Inhame Eco Lodge, where you can arrange a boat to Rolas Island.Sweet Guest House. OK as in the center of the city but breakfast was not worth 8€ extra. There is a guest kitchen.
Hotel Mucumbli. The best local boutique on offer with a good restaurant and nice private/quiet rooms next to a black sand beach (Las playas salvajes más lindas). Get to the black sand beach by a path right from the hotel, a 5 minute walk. Rather remote
Roça São João dos Angolares most impressive on a former plantation.
Internet was spotty as whole sections of the island lose power regularly but hotels have generators. My guest house turned the generator off during the day and luckily on my last day, there was no blackout and I had internet most of the day.
SEE
São Tomé and Príncipe were uninhabited prior to colonization by the Portuguese in the 1490s. Since then, much of the landscape has remained unchanged or, where former plantations once stood, reclaimed by the rainforests. The islands are covered by lush rainforests. With a small population and very few tourists, it is a tropical paradise.
The waters are clear and rich with life and good diving, fishing and boat tours. Hike in the forests. Walk in the towns as traffic is light.
Diving and snorkelling See dolphins, large green turtles, underwater caves.
Just offshore are coral reefs. The waters between other islands and the mainland reach 2,000 meters.
Bird watching: 135 species in 40 families.
Rent a car to visit all the inner part of the island. There are two main rental cars carriers – Tortuga is one and they bring the car and drop off at your hotel. 35€. All the cars are jeep style needed on some inner route. Basically 3 main routes in the island to see amazing tropical landscapes, some historical sites, very gentle people, very safe, lovely country. 300 km all the way but you’ll need time to stop at every single sightseeing site.
I rented a car and drove only on the west road to the island.
All-inclusive tour through Casa Luiz down road EN2 to the south end and over to Rolas Island. 08.30 to 17:30. Driver spoke very good English, Alberto WhatsApp +239 9911881. 150 €
Roça Agua Izy. Old Portuguese cocoa farm and a fascinating village around it. Built 1910/1920. It is most famous for the large hospital that is decaying slowly. An hour by car from the capital.
Boca do Inferno “Hell Mouth” See only at high tide, as at low tide. there is nothing to see.
Seven Wave Beach ‘Sete Ondas’.
Sovjet Radar station. Abandoned. Now Radio America has a number of big antennas in Sao Tomé City, broadcasting to mainland Africa.
Villages are passed in a poor area, inhabited by very black persons as light brown people in the capital. (Portuguese genes).
The roads are very poor the farther south you go.
Rolas Island. Arriive by boat, 10-15 minutes from The Eco Lodge. 35€ included in the ‘all inclusive’ tour!. It would probably be much cheaper if you can find someone in the nearby village to sail you.
• Monument to Admiral Coutinho 2 seconds South of the equator.
• The Equator is on the hill right behind the village. A short walk in the jungle uphill
Diving and snorkelling See dolphins, large green turtles, underwater caves.
Just offshore are coral reefs. The waters between other islands and the mainland reach 2,000 meters.
Bird watching: 135 species in 40 families.
PRINCIPE
Travel to Principe is by STP airlines (book on their webpage). It is a small plane and doesn’t fly every day. Airport is close to town, might take 1-2 hours to walk to town, transfer included in the resorts.
PRÍNCIPE
SANTO ANTÓNIO (Saint Anthony) – the main city of Príncipe Island, it is known for its colonial architecture and for its churches.
Santo Antonio Principe Catholic Church
Principe Ecological Zone.
Banana Beach. Isolated beaches in Príncipe are breathtakingly beautiful.
Eddington’s Plaque*, Sundy Plantation, Príncipe Island. In 1919, Arthur Stanley Eddington visited Príncipe to test Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. During a solar eclipse, they could see stars behind the sun, which helped to prove it true. There is now an informational plaque on the site.
Accommodation. In Santo António, the capital of Príncipe, several small pousadas (B&Bs) can be found. Hotels in towns can be found on Booking.com, cheaper hotels are not listed. A decent hotel costs 50 € on Booking.com. Opulent resorts Ilha Bom Bom off Príncipe. The resorts don’t open until October.
Roca Belomonte Hotel was open.
Resendial Mira Rio in the ‘center’ of Santo Antonio. Very good included breakfast, and also very good dinners. Probably the only place in town to serve food aimed at tourists.
There are plenty of grand resorts in São Tomé and on Principe. They are pricey but have great beaches, snorkelling and maybe diving. They are far from the city Iife.
See
An information center is in Santo Antonio near the post office and former governor’s mansion.
Tour to see the northern part of the island from 9 to 15. 60 €. WhatsApp 00239 9924438 speaks a little Spanish. The guesthouse wanted 60 + diesel €
Beautiful beaches, lots of bad road, several resorts
Roça Sandy is the most interesting, with a fine museum and a chocolate shop
Hiking trails into the center of the island. UNESCO bio reserve.
Get In.
By plane. Lisbon: STP Airways (banned from operating in EU in 2019), TAP. Flights to Luanda (Angola), Accra (Ghana) and Libreville (Gabon). ASKY offers service from Douala, Cameroon via Lome and Libreville.
Príncipe Airport (PCP) has only domestic flights from São Tomé on STP. Not daily so a stay on Principe is determined by flights.
Get Around.
Share taxis depart when full. Rent a car or scooter to explore. Roads are paved but not in good condition.
Cargo boats to Principe take 10-hours, are overnight and not particularly safe. Faster charter boats take 3.5h. Príncipe has fewer roads, many not paved.
Stay Safe. Safety is not an issue and violent crime in public is almost unheard of.