Príncipe – São Tomé and Príncipe

I am a surprisingly trusting person, one that can put his safety in the hands of others and pretty much relax. You must therefore understand the sheer terror I felt as we drove down from the interior to the international airport to catch a 9am flight to Principe. The driver was mental, I have no idea what he was trying to prove as he tore through the narrow roads, if anything speeding up whenever pedestrians came into view which, being Africa, is often. I lost count of the times I thought we would lose a wing mirror during a decapitation event. At one point we overtook an overtaking car, on a single carriageway road, through a town. I sat in the front questioning whether I should speak up, but I was almost equally terrified of losing macho traveller points with the three lovely ladies sat in the back. Maybe they were having a great time and didn’t want grandad up front ruining it. Thankfully we made it to the airport without any known casualties. The middle-aged driver had a colossal grin on his face, no doubt ignited by his own sense of relief. The girls looked as pale as I felt. It was about to get worse for one of them who is as terrified of flying as I am spiders. I love flying, and so I couldn’t wait to board the little 18-seater turboprop that spent its day ferrying people between Sao Tome and Principe. The pilot throttled up and released the breaks at exactly 9am (our departure time) and 30-minutes later we cruised into Principe. This is an island with barely 9,000 residents and only has to deal with a share of approximately 30,000 tourists that visit both it and its bigger sibling Sao Tome. In fact, the whole island is designated a UNESCO Biosphere. Therefore, it is a wonderfully peaceful, genuine place to visit, even more so than Sao Tome which had been mighty impressive. 

We nipped into town, checked into the hotel, and headed straight back out the door to go exploring. A short drive along mud roads delivered us to a spot where we continued on foot up a hillside amongst open forest. The heat was relentless once more. Eventually we arrived at the impressive Oque Pipi Waterfall, well, it would have been if there was any water dropping from its 50-metres. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful spot. The plunge pool provided the very best of places to cool off with a swim. The little water that was falling cooled the air, and the sheer height of the cliffs provided sanctuaries of shade from the beating sun. We were the only ones there, but this wasn’t good enough apparently. After some minutes, monkeys were spotted high up on the cliff, jumping from the small trees and bushes that dared to grow from the rock. We strolled back down to whence we came and began strolling through deep green vegetation until it opened up to reveal yet another stunning beach. Here we relaxed with a light lunch, believe it or not, an excellent sandwich, and then had some free time to enjoy the beach and go for a swim. Despite the island’s UNESCO status, the beach was the worse we’d been to with plastic litter liberally floating just beyond the surf and defacing the beach. Litter washing up on remote shores is well documented and reported, but it’s no less devastating to see it first-hand. By 4.30pm we were back at the hotel, a lovely, comfortable affair with a temperamental electricity supply. Why an island with so much sun should have power supply issues during daylight hours is beyond me. With the town’s carbon juice generator attempting to do its thing for Net Zero by simply breaking down, the hotel’s backup carbon juice generator tried in vain to keep up with 14 European tourists arriving back, putting the air-conditioners on full blast, and attempting showers. By 5.30pm people had either succeeded or given up. Either way we filled up the local bar, emptied its small stock of beers, and headed to the restaurant for a very good feed. 

A day was spent hiking from one incredible beach to the next, stopping for swims, sandwiches, fresh coconuts, snorkelling, a nap and, the read of a book if ever feeling particularly enthusiastic about thinking. It was the perfect preparation for the following day. Papagaio Peak is one of the tallest peaks on Principe, although at 680 metres it only required around 500 metres of hiking up from us. Simple. Apart from the thick tropical forest that trapped heat like a sauna, the muddy tracks, the downed trees, and the steep climbs that in some places meant grabbing onto the courtesy rope left in place for those not so blessed with my abundance of energy and stubbornness. Just as we summited, the heavens opened, sparing no one. Not that it mattered, it was pointless putting a raincoat on as I was already dripping with sweat. From the top we were met with incredible views of thick, grey, menacing cloud that continued to batter us with heavy rain. We persisted a while longer, walking along a ridge that offered a view in a different direction that looked slightly more welcoming and the opportunity to see the coastline. The hike back down took nearly as long as going up due to the steep sections of trail that had become treacherous from the downpour. With the worse of it behind us our guide than got momentarily lost, an incident made less of a problem by the rain having eased. Four hours later, after 10 kilometres of hiking, we emerged from the forest looking like we had spent the past month surviving a plane crash in the wilderness. It was awesome. 

For such a small island there is so much to do. Stinking from sweat, rain, and mud, we were only part way down our to-do list. A short drive took us down the wet muddy roads and deposited us at glass bead workshop. The girls went wild but I, having seen such a place in Ghana only a few weeks ago, and desperate for a lunch was less enthusiastic. Lunch over the past couple of days had only been a sandwich and a banana. A damn good sandwich, but short on quantity considering we were knocking out a few kilometres of hiking throughout the day. From the glass beads we drove down to another beach and by 3pm I found myself sat on a log overlooking a brilliant but moody tropical view with a plate full of fresh fish, rice, and veggies. Despite requesting only a can of coke to drink, the boys had made sure to pack a few bottles of beer just in case I changed my mind, and change my mind I did. I couldn’t have been happier. 

The previous afternoon we had finished the day at a luxury resort up in the hills that offered insane views of the island and the obvious accompanying luxury one would expect from a luxury hotel. It was therefore odd that we were there, smelling, and looking like Muammar Gaddafi in a drainpipe. However, the resort had a wonderful little museum featuring everything a visitor may want to learn about the island, and it was open to the public. It was well worth the visit, although a large part of the group got caught up in the moment and headed off in search of posh ice-cream while upsetting themselves over the fact our hotel wasn’t quite as good. Fast-forward 24 hours and we found ourselves at yet another luxury resort tucked away in the jungle, in the same physical state as the evening before, only far worse. This visit was briefer, due to the fact we were spent for the day, but no less interesting than the museum. This luxury hotel was on the same spot where Sir Arthur Eddington took observations of the stars during a solar eclipse in 1919. Good for him you say. However, it was these observations – that is the apparent shifting of star’s positions – that confirmed Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and its description of curvatures in spacetime. Of course, as someone who finds this stuff extremely interesting, loves tropical utopias, and couldn’t be happier in an African country, I could probably allow myself to one day return to the island and spend a good number of nights at the luxury hotel. You know, as research, and to back up my prejudices. For now, it was back to our simpler hotel, full of hope that there was enough power to get the shower flowing. 

19^th February 2024