Sao Tome & Principe: The forgotten chocolate islands

Approaching the island (and city) of Sao Tome

Folks who have heard about my latest travel to the islands of Sao Tome & Principe, by now know about this place but if any of my friends are reading my latest post I am sure that they might have a question or two about it.

I have heard several expressions from colleagues and friends when I told them I was going there; top of them being…And what is that? Is that a city? What corner of the planet is this place at?

Sao Tome International Airport

Beach day by the Fort

I think I can summarize it best from the following conversation I had at a Western Union office when I was trying to send cash to Sao Tome. Apologies for some of you who have heard or read it before but I just had to post it.

Me: I want to transfer some money to Sao Tome & Principe
Man at counter: Ok, is it in Europe or America?
Me: No, it's in Africa
Man at counter: Ok, which country is this place at in Africa?
Me: No, it's a country by itself
Man at counter: "Looks at me as if I am going to Mars"

Feista by the São Sebastião Fort which is now a museum

Perhaps, I shouldn’t be so critical of others knowledge of geography as a friend rightly pointed out to me. To people who want an easy answer, Sao Tome & Principe (STP) is a tiny two island nation that lies off the coast of Gabon in the Gulf of Guinea. It is infact the second smallest nation in Africa after Seychelles and was a Portuguese colony when it used to be referred to as the chocolate islands since it was the largest exporter of cacao in its heydays. This all rapidly changed for the worse as the country gained Independence in 1974 and with the exit of the Portuguese, these islands gradually slipped into oblivion to most of the world.

Dive from an abandoned boat around the bay

As the year 2012 rolled along, it seemed as though I had some unfinished business with this country since I was originally planning to go there last June when I was in Gabon. Due to visa and connection frustrations I had to drop the plan but I had already done my research so it seemed like a good choice especially since this home leave in March was going to be a quick one and came quickly on the heels of my last one in Ethiopia.


 

Kids by the central Cathedral

Going back to sending the money to STP, the reason was that a travel agency could put in an application for an airport visa for me. It’s funny that the country has massive trade imbalances and wants to attract tourists and their cash injection but on the other hand has only 6 diplomatic missions in the world. To make matters even more weird, the country does not issue visa on arrival at the airport. Common logic would say that they would encourage visa on arrival but evidently any tourist who comes without a visa or a pre-arranged application for airport visa is sent back on the same flight. Strange are the ways of border and immigrations control!

Streets of Sao Tome city

Flying there is difficult on another count as only a few carriers fly into the capital of Sao Tome & Principe, also called as Sao Tome and it was a little bit of a struggle to find any connections from Liberia which itself has poor connections but not as bad as STP. After looking at various permutations and combinations I got a lucky break when I learnt that Air Nigeria had recently started a flight from Lagos to Sao Tome. This made getting there comparatively super easy as Air Nigeria is also one of the few carriers that flies to Monrovia. All I had to do was get a transit visa for Nigeria and spend a night in Lagos.

Colonial buildings in the center of town

Fruitseller (the purple type is cooked as shown below)

I got in to Lagos late in the evening and the city reminded me very much of Mumbai. They same hustle and bustle, the same humidity and the same rush of crowds. After checking into the hotel, I wanted to go to a restaurant in the Victoria Island area of Lagos for dinner but was persuaded by the hotel staff and a fellow Indian guest not to take a cab as they feared I would get mugged. I was on my first day of the leave so I relented and decided to have dinner with the Indian guest who gave me a very good insight into the lives of Indians working in Nigeria.

The ubiquitous yellow taxis

The purple fruit, grilled bananas and
Buzios do Mar (Sea Snails) in the vessel

Next day arriving in Sao Tome, it felt a world away from Lagos. I wonder if it had something to do with the fact that Lagos as a city has a population of 8 million while Sao Tome and Principe as a country has only 160 thousands inhabitants. The city based around a bay has well preserved Portuguese architecture and an extremely laid back Latin feel to it. I got in on a Sunday afternoon and right in time for a big open air fiesta which takes place by the fort every Sunday. The fiesta was a combination of a beach day turned into regular party as the sun set with copious amounts of alcohol and dancing.

Lay-Boss, my moto-taxi driver. When the
rains comes out in these parts, so do the
banana leaves. We did what the locals do!

Rural homes

The next day was spent exploring the city, changing my cash into the local currency (Dobra) and finding a guide and camping gear for my hike up the Pico de Sao Tome, the highest peak on the island and reputedly the highest one that existed in the Portuguese colonial empire.

By early afternoon I had met with the director of the Obo Park and arranged a guide and the camping gear. Next, I got a moto-taxi to drop me off at a place called as Bom Sucesso where the guide would be waiting for me. Bom Sucesso was a botanical garden sitting picturesquely in the hills surrounded by coffee and cocoa plantations and that’s where the hike would begin the next day. It was a surreal sight as our motorbike, bumpy as it was, wound its way through the clobberstone path laid by the slaves during the Portuguese colonial era and the mist started to descent all around.

Farmland in the hills

On the way to Bom Sucesso

Francisco, the guide was waiting for me as I arrived at Bom Sucesso. After receiving me, Francisco told me he had to go back to his house located about an hour away by foot to prepare for the hike the next morning. I decided to join him hoping to get a good warm up for the big hike plus I got to stock up on some food for the next couple days.

Monte Cafe

Francisco's kids

As we walked down to his house located in the now decrepit plantation of Monte Café it was very interesting to see the unique trait of sharing among the Sao Tomeans. There seems to be a real feeling of community and sharing among them. We encountered several occasions when Francisco approached anyone eating anything (banana, jackfruit, etc) and readily got a chunk (which he duly shared with me). I think it works both ways as I am sure Francisco would do the same if someone approached him too.

Coffee from Monte Cafe...pretty good

Francisco soon made it and we had dinner together before calling it an early night.

After stocking up and wandering around Monte Café, I informed Francisco I would walk back to Bom Sucesso alone while he continued preparing for the hike. On my way back I met some farmers who had just harvested banana and collected land snails. I wanted to buy some bananas but did not have the right change so the guy just gave it to me. I gave him whatever change I had and offered to take his pictures. Their sense of sharing was quite humbling.

Nightfall at Bom Sucesso was priceless as I sat on a wooden bench in pitch darkness picturing what part of planet earth I was on, listening to the night insects and wondering how the hike was going to pan out the next couple days.