Hiking up Pico de Sao Tome

Rainforest view

The Pico de Sao Tome stands at an altitude of 2024 meters and is an imposing reminder of the islands volcanic past. Interestingly, even though the archipelago is politically is a part of Africa, geographically it was never a part of mainland Africa. The islands rose out of the sea due to volcanic activity and explain the high level of endemism among its flora and fauna.

The peak lay inside the Obo National Park which was created in 2006 to preserve the unique biodiversity in the archipelago and occupies an area of 295 square kilometers comprising the two islands which makes up around 30% of the total land of the country. The low-key entrance to the park was indicated by a wooden plaque lying by the wayside.

Francisco and I made sure to have a hearty breakfast and soon it was time to start walking. We passed a few farms where we picked up veggies like carrot, beans and tomatoes that would come in handy for dinner at the top of the mountains later that evening.

Lago Amelia

A couple hours of hiking through the forest and we reached Lago Amelia (Lake Amelia), a volcanic crater lake. Upon getting there I was a little nonplussed as I was expecting to see a body of water but instead this place looked more like a marshy forest clearing. Confused I asked him if this was the lake and when we nodded in agreement I asked where the water was. He smiled and took me to the center of the lake where a pole was placed inside a pipe by researchers and pulled it out. What he wanted to show me was that there was water under the vegetation we were standing on. From what I understood (since he spoke only Portuguese) was that this lake used to be a conventional crater lake thousands of years ago and then gradually silt and vegetation covered it up to make a unique ecosystem. This uniqueness added to the already isolated nature of islands meant that the lake ecosystem is one of a kind in the world. Some of the plant and animal species are evidently found only in this crater lake.

A couple of the endemic plants...Giant fern and Begonia

Francisco showing the water

Lago Amelia is a hallowed ground for a botanist but unfortunately for me I am not one, so I was not able to truly appreciate this unique place I was standing on.

We got back on the trail towards the peak and the hike got progressively more difficult. Soon we passed from secondary to primary rain forest characterized by bigger trees. The primary forest then gave way to cloud forest and it felt as if we were climbing up towards the heaven. It was the start of the rainy season so there was a think cloud cover for most of the hike and this made scenic views were difficult to come by. Photography was made even more difficult due to the cloud cover and poor lighting so I might not have the best collections of pictures for this leg of my travel.

Wild flower

Francisco on one of the several narrow ridges

The last third of the hike was really difficult where we had to climb along the ridge of the mountains and the ground was really slick due to the moist conditions. The one benefit of the cloud cover was that I could not see the precipitous drop off either side of the mountain ridge as we were climbing. I don’t think I have acrophobia but I believe the hike seemed much safer than what it probably was.

This section of the hike was a four limb hike as we had to grip roots, trees and just about anything we could hold on to pull us up. It was as if we were climbing on a combination of rocks and trees reminding me a little of a hike on the Isla de Ometepe in Nicaragua.

One of the rare times when the clouds gave way

When the clouds did clear up for a few minutes, it was possible to admire the stunning views of the coastline and the vertical Phonolithic rock tower rising abruptly from the southern rain forests.
After a whole day of hiking, we finally reached the camp site not far from the peak and pitched the tent and next it was time to collect water and firewood for dinner. Judging by the tasty spaghetti that he cooked, I concur that Francisco was an excellent cook as well.

The next morning, right before the sun came out; we started our ascent to the peak which was a 20 minute hike. Unfortunately the views were obscured by the clouds so we quickly returned back to the camp and had our breakfast with the excellent Monte Café coffee, packed up and started descending. By late afternoon we had to be at the coastal town of Neves which lay northwest of island.

Northern coastline of Sao Tome island

Forest covered with moss at higher altitude

The descent should have been a lot easier but due a bad choice of footwear I struggled to keep myself on foot. At one point Francisco and I had a friendly competition going to see who would slips and fall the least.

We encounter a dodgy moment about halfway down the peak when Francisco suddenly let out a shrill alarming shout as he stumbled to the ground. Since it was a narrow pass on the ridge I though that he had probably slipped. In the chaos I could not even understand what he was shouting in Portuguese until I saw a shiny black band slither a couple feet away in the undergrowth. I immediately took a couple steps back knowing what the ruckus was all about. It was a Black Cobra or Cobra Preta as it’s called in Portuguese and it had passed through Francisco’s feet. Now wonder he was pale and heaving heavily. Interestingly the cobra climbed a nearby tree and stared at us from a higher position seemingly knowing that it was in its element and at a better vantage point.

Black Cobra

Phonolithic towers

Before the introduction of the Black Cobra by the Portuguese there were no indigenous venomous snakes on these islands and I was left shaking my head in bewilderment at whoever’s ‘brilliant’ idea it was to introduce these snakes as a pest control.

That was not the only piece of luck we had on the hike since rain had largely stayed away until that time but its as if the mountains wanted us to have a piece of the real deal so the heavens opened up to a huge downpour in the early afternoon.



Snake skin



Cacao tree with the fruits

Climbing down was difficult enough due to the steep slippery slope but it was made terribly difficult by the rains. After stashing my electronic stuff safely away from the rain I turned back towards the sky and winked and said “Is that all…..that’s all you got?

Seemingly, the rains Gods took offence to my challenge so the rain got even heavier and the terrain more slippery. Some part of the trail was so bad that I gave up descending normally and turned around with my chest and toes facing the ground on all for limbs as if doing push ups and proceeded to just skidded my way down. Not the best technique but it was effective.

Enedmic grub...not to be eaten though.

Eventually we made our way to the town of Neves through all the rain and got a taxi back to Sao Tome city. One brave soul finally agree to sit beside a Blanco (White man) covered in mud.
I got down at a town called as Guadalupe as I wanted to go to the fishing village of Morro Peixe hoping to see the sea turtles that night. Francisco proceeded to Sao Tome and then back home to Monte Café that evening. Thus ended the eventful hike up Sao Tome and Principe’s highest peak.