São Tomé & Principe

Two dots in the ocean

December  2024

I decided to explore this island country on a solo trip that gave me the freedom to move around without a schedule and enjoy the place to the fullest.

After a beautiful 24 hours in Lisbon, I board the flight to the island, a former Portuguese colony. Entering the country is a simple matter as no visa is required, while an employee intends to exchange currency for me unofficially. I have arranged with the landlord of the room where I will be staying to come and pick me up for a fee of €10. Fortunately, I made this choice, because the accommodation is in a completely wrong location on Google Maps. A strange African, sea breeze carries me along the way. Arriving in the dark, we cross some courtyards to end up in the room, which is of very simple standards and not particularly clean. The owner speaks little English and I suggest we go for a walk for beers. The neighboring bar is empty but it is enough for me. Later we will walk to the center of the small town where a crowd is crowded and having fun with music and beer. It is Saturday night.

The next morning they bring me the rental car to the accommodation, such service I have rarely had. It is a small Suzuki with which I hope to explore the island. The road trip begins. My first stop is at the mobile phone company, where I purchase a SIM card for the local network. In the small town, however, I prefer to explore on foot, impressed by the beautiful colonial buildings that have been preserved and among them a few modern buildings. The center of São Tomé is the 16th century cathedral, where Sunday mass is held today. A drive takes me to another monument, the São Sebastião Fortress, built in 1566 and now home to the National Museum. The city’s shores are bathed in warm ocean waters, but where there are beaches, they are not inviting for swimming and the waters are murky. Exploring the city by car, I now come across an open-air market, which gives me the opportunity to mingle with the friendly locals and take a few photos of the colorful merchandise scattered on the ground, mostly second-hand shoes.

Despite the great interest, at some point I decide to leave and head towards the south of the island, without knowing what conditions I will encounter.

The road in this section is good, and crosses areas of impressive natural beauty, with incredibly dense jungle in many places, but also others where palm oil plantations have unfortunately replaced the local flora. A few small villages bring me back to the world of people, as the buildings do not resemble anything from the modern era.

I make several stops to get in touch with people.

At some point I have identified some points of interest on the map. While looking for them, some young people try to sell me tour services. I think I do not need them, but I decide to help financially a young child who speaks some basic English. It turns out to be a good choice as it helps me navigate through the rough cobblestones of the settlement and find the buildings of Roça Água-Izé, an almost abandoned plant production unit, with old factories, hospitals, houses, which have been occupied by the local residents and are in a state of ruin.

I wander around the hospital building, impressive and scary at the same time, now hosting the souls of birds, the human presence is evidenced by the laundry spread out and a few children sliding on the curved parapet of the staircase.

After the tour, I inform the young guide that I intend to go to the nearby Boca de Inferno (Mouth of Hell) and he offers to accompany me. It is a rocky formation where the ocean wave is compressed and violently erupts through a large hole.

Further on, a path leads to a bar with a wooden terrace and panoramic views from above. It’s closed, but a young woman rushes to open it as soon as she sees me, and I get a much-needed cold beer.

I say goodbye to my local friend and continue south without knowing where I will end up or where I will sleep. Finally, before the light even sets, I see for the first time the country’s landmark, Pico Cão Grande . The peak of the granite formation emerges sporadically above the dense vegetation, at one point I see it right in front of me on the road’s horizon. A little further down is the point with the unobstructed view. The sight is spectacular, a landscape that resembles the Cretaceous period of the earth. No trace of civilization is discernible, except of course for the road itself and a deserted shack at its side. My vision travels above the foliage of banana and palm trees, under the large birds that hover in the cloudy sky, contributing to the dramatic scenery, dominated by the sharp, smooth rock that rises through the jungle.

It’s hard to take my eyes off this natural wonder, it’s hard to ground my mind in the reality.

But I have to spend the night somewhere, and the road from this point onward deteriorates sharply. So for today I decide to head back, to the settlement of Sao Joao de Angolares, which is about 20km away and where I will manage to find a simple but wonderful accommodation. An elevated wooden room will give me a stunning view and in the small restaurant that operates here, I will enjoy the 5 dishes of the day, with a whole cooked octopus as the main course.

I wake up with the light of day admiring the jungle that engulfs the surroundings and gazing at the sandy beach that extends below. I follow the path that leads there, some children are playing football and others are washing clothes in the river that leads to the sea. A little further on is an old pier and a few more ruined colonial buildings. I climb the path that leads to the village. The residents are all cheerful, some slightly shy with the photos, as they all return my good morning. The place smells badly of human and animal waste, carried by dirty water from the previous rain. The weather seems to be preparing for rain again, but nothing distracts me from this exciting walk. Once again I feel that I am in my element, that ignoring these conditions of poverty, I am absorbed by the bliss of the people, searching for where this inexplicable happiness comes from! But no matter how much I enter this world, no matter how much I play with the children and socialize with the adults, there will always be an impassable gap. It is not the color of our skin that separates us, it is not our souls that are different, but poverty is a reality that cannot be overlooked, and my own position, no matter how humbled, will never be the same as that of people struggling for the basics of survival.

With these mixed feelings I start driving towards the far south, passing of course again by the viewpoint of the monolith Pico Cao Grande.

This is where the driving adventure begins, as the road surface disappears and is replaced by a loose layer of black gravel, what is left of the road infrastructure that was probably built by the Portuguese at one time. The construction had good specifications, as a result of which a concrete curb with a rainwater channel is maintained at the ends of the road and whose extension onto the road is enough for one wheel of the small car. The car is completely unsuitable for this rough road, with both wheels on the curb I try to reduce the strain from the stones and potholes of the central part of the road. In some places the curb becomes very uneven and the vehicle leans to a dangerous degree, so it takes foresight to know when to follow this trick and when to get off the curb in time. I am very worried about damaging the car and having to pay for it, while the fact that the road has almost no other vehicles passing in case of emergency worries me even more. At a certain uphill point I get off to inspect the difficult passage and I hear behind me the loud honking and roaring of the engine of a truck loaded with workers and palm oil fruits in the body. They shout at me to clear the road but I don’t have time to do so, neither will it be easy even after the truck has passed.

After much effort I reach the last village, named Porto Alegre. It is a small fishing village with a few shacks, I have to continue a little further until I find the 2-3 lodges that exist in the area. The road practically ends in Porto Alegre, from there I drive on varied terrain, from steep, rocky slopes to a muddy dirt road and an area with coconut trees that is used as a football field. I don’t dare to continue beyond the first lodge that has small, simple bungalows and I negotiate the price on the phone with the owner who is away. The lodge also has a specific menu which again includes octopus. The two beaches that are adjacent to the lodge are extremely exotic and the waters are a stunning turquoise. A verdant peninsula separates the two beaches and as I’m there, I hear a loud noise behind me. A coconut fell from the tree, dragging branches with it, fortunately some distance from me.

After settling into my room, I walk to Porto Alegre in search of a boatman who can take me the next day to the nearby island of Ilhéu das Rolas. However, the locals don’t seem to be particularly interested in me, nor are they interested in giving up fishing and offering tourism services. Furthermore, it is difficult to communicate in their language.

The sky dawns with a cloudy mood and the wind makes the sea rough. My desire to visit the island opposite evaporates in the tropical Beauforts. However, two other lodge residents have already arranged with a boatman and so we will share the boat. In the end, the waves are not so prohibitive for this boating and the drizzle does not deter me. The interesting thing about the island of Ilhéu das Rolas is that the equator passes through there. There is even a monument on a hill that marks the spot, but it is actually about 100 meters further away. The monument is at a point with a nice view and consists of a marble pillar and a mosaic floor that represents the globe and the compass. In fact, by convention it is considered that the first meridian also passes here, that is, it is the point 0, 0. In reality, the meridian is 6 degrees away from the island and the point is in the sea. A hike through the rainforest leads us to some beautiful beaches. Along the way, all the mosquitoes that had not bitten me in the previous days, did so now, as a result of which I was “embroidered”, on every part of my body that was exposed.

Returning to the island of Sao Tome, I enjoy the scenery and the beach a little more and take another walk in the village. My fellow passengers on the boat discover that the tire on their jeep is flat. Miraculously, my own small car made it through the journey unscathed.

I look for gasoline in the small village because I don’t have enough to return to the capital. Of course, there is no gas station, but the fuel is sold in glass bottles.

The road back to town is stressing me again, but now I know the condition and that gives me a dose of confidence. After stopping at the famous viewpoint, I continue with some stops at various villages, one of which is hosting a large event that I don’t understand what it’s about. I approach the capital late in the afternoon under torrential rain. The weather conditions, combined with rush hour as citizens finish their daily work, make driving conditions very difficult. I can’t ignore the fact that I’m in Africa and the road at its edges may hide various traps, obstacles or open manholes that are not visible. After struggling to find the room I’ve closed and carry my bag in the rain, I leave again after a while to find food. The image of the city is very different now, almost no one is walking on the streets, it seems that it is not particularly “alive” on weekday evenings. I finally find a restaurant that is almost empty, but there is no need for a bar.

Full of beautiful images and carefree moments with myself, I enjoy the last of the few days I spent in São Tomé, taking trips by car, without a destination.

I will not visit the other island, Principe, as the flights are few and with frequent cancellations. Besides, the next stop of the trip awaits me, which is Angola, and where I will meet the three fellow travelers with whom we will explore it together. After I drop off the car and check in, I discover that the TAG (Angola airlines) flight to Luanda, after multiple departure time changes, is delayed by about 3 hours, which means that it is impossible for me to catch the domestic flight to the southern city of Lubango, and my fellow travelers on that flight. But that is another story, of another Portuguese-speaking African country, but quite different from the small and charming São Tomé.

 ©Alexandros Tsoutis