Going Away to Sao Tome and Principe

Amidst the hectic pace of the modern lifestyle, one often seeks to get away from everything that reminds him or her of the humdrum of everyday life.  This often involves a weekend trip to the beach, or day hike through the nearest nature reserve.  But then, there are the occasional wanderlust callings that can’t be satisfied by the typical weekend getaway.  Where then could you go for that unusual getaway?

African Island Getaway

If out-of-the-ordinary vacations are your kind of thing, then a trip down to Sao Tome and Principe (STP) is right up your alley.  For most people, island getaways are usually pictured in some idyllic setting, somewhere in the Caribbean or other tropical clime.  This picture includes sparkling waters, long stretches of sand, beach umbrellas, and summer cocktails.  All of this, just a few steps from the beachside bar and the 5-star hotel room with satellite TV and 24-hour room service.  However, one doesn’t usually imagine island getaways in bungalows with no electricity and sharing the beach with giant sea turtles.  However, if you’re going on an African island getaway, you usually expect to share the surroundings with the local wildlife.

Gearing Up for STP

Ok, so this isn’t going to be the easiest vacation to set up.  Getting a visa through official channels takes a bit of time-- more than a week if you’re going to do it through correspondence.  Then there are the medical check-ups that you have to get before you’re allowed to travel to STP.  Yellow fever and malaria are two things you have to make sure you need to cover with vaccines and prophylactic antibiotics, respectively. 

Going to Sao Tome, a tropical island whose southern tip is right on the equator, means that you’re going to be packing light, comfortable clothing for the day, and probably something that covers up your arms and legs to protect yourselves from the mosquitoes at night.  You’ll need something similar for hikes through the mountains and forests.  There’ll be other activities on the island, and some of them are going to require some special equipment, so pack those, too, if you plan to take those up during your stay.

Of course, make sure to pack the usual tourist gear.  Take note that the locals speak Portuguese, Creole, and a bit of Spanish or French.  If you’re not multilingual, then bring along a travel dictionary.  Currency-wise, you can only exchange US dollars and Euros.  The local currency changers, including the black market vendors, won’t change anything else to dobras.  And make sure to use all your local bills or have them re-exchanged before you go, since they can’t be exchanged outside STP.
A Week’s Stay  

Getting to Sao Tome means traveling through Lisbon, Portugal via weekly flights with TAP Air Portugal.  Thrice weekly flights are available via Gabon, but if you book via Lisbon, that means you’ll have to stay at least a week.  It’s the perfect excuse for a long vacation.

There are several places to stay in on Sao Tome, and a few more on smaller Principe.  With tourism the only local industry that remains profitable, the options vary from renovated plantation houses outside the city, to guesthouses within the city, to high-end hotels found along the coast.  Staying in the hotels means you get the usual service that you might expect from tourist destinations, English-speaking staff, access to private beaches, slightly more choices with regard to cuisine choices, and arranged activities.  All of this comes at the expected premium price.

However, you can stay longer on Sao Tome without burning a hole in your pocket.  Guesthouses will provide basic tourist accommodations, with some frills in the slightly more upscale places, while still keeping you close enough to touch base with the locals.  Most of them are located in the capital city of Sao Tome, and most every other place will be accessible via the various modes of transport.

Of course, if you want an authentic Santomean experience, why not immerse yourself in the local culture by befriending some of the locals and renting out a room with one of the families?  The people living along the outskirts of the urban areas will be living in homesteads.  Short of staying on Sao Tome for an extended period of time, homestead living on the island will give you a glimpse of how the Santomeans have coped and are coping with their present condition.

From Point A to Point Sea

White and black sand beaches dot the shoreline of Sao Tome.  One reason that you’re in STP in the first place is to get away from crowds.  And nothing says getting away from other people than having a beach all to your self.  You don’t have to book yourself into a high-end hotel to get a beach all to yourself. 

Of course, getting to the beach, as well as the various parts of Sao Tome, will require transport.  Sharing a cab with 4 other people is a great way to interact with other tourists or with the local folk.  There are also buses that go to major points on the island.  You can rent a 4WD vehicle to get yourself around the island, but it won’t be a difficult matter to befriend some of the locals and strike a bargain if they’re going to be headed your way.  If you’re staying in a homestead with a family lucky enough to have a vehicle, you can try to include use of their vehicle in your accommodations. 

There are also other beaches on the other islands of Principe and Illhue das Rolas.  Be sure to visit the latter for the monument that stands on the Earth’s mapped equator.  Ferry transports, although irregular, are available to these other islands.  You can also charter boats or take the interisland flights provided by Air Sao Tome e Principe. 

Life In and Around the Waters

There are a lot of other things that the waters of Sao Tome can offer the adventurous traveler.  Lazing around the beach might be enough for some people, but remember that you are spending a week here.  It would be a shame to miss out on the wildlife. 

Boat cruises and diving trips can be arranged that will take you to places where you can appreciate the fauna of the waters around Sao Tome.  Again, you can befriend one of the local fishermen in one of the many small seaside villages to take you out if you have your own gear and would like to explore the waters on your own.  They would also know which places are good for diving, and again, you can probably get a great bargain compared to organized trips.  If you’re the water-loving type, then staying in a homestead in a fishing village might be right up your alley.

Another thing that the local fishermen can probably clue you in on would be when and where it would be good to look for migrating dolphins and humpback whales.  As unpredictable nature can get, don’t expect to see them the first time around that you try.  Hedge your bets and go around sometime around July-October to have better chances to spot these marine mammals. 

Dawn Safari

One of the more unique attractions that Sao Tome offers is the chance to observe giant sea turtles make their way to the beach.  Make your way down south to Praia Jale, which features an expansive beach where endangered species of giant sea turtles go to lay eggs.  You can book a bungalow and ask the caretakers to wake you up in the morning when the turtles show up.  It is a very rustic experience to spend a night at the Jale Ecolodge.  There’s no electricity, and your water supply is dependent on the catch of the rainfall.  Food is catered from the nearby town. 

Living the Leve-leve

There are three plantation houses on the island of Sao Tome, and one on Principe.  Nothing says getting away than stripping down to bare basics and directly experiencing the local culture and learning about its history.  Staying in a plantation house means that you’re sharing a bathroom or two with the residents of three or four other bedrooms.  This also means no electricity.  You’ll be staying in renovated colonial-style architecture house that was built during the time when cocoa became the major produce of the island, and STP was the world’s 3rd largest producer of cocoa.  From here you can hike into the forests, and if you’re interested in the wildlife, can view the different species of birds that inhabit the island.

The people retain an attitude of leve-leve (easy-easy).  Friendly and smiling, the people hold on to their cultural roots and their slow-paced life.  Theirs is not a return-to-the-land type of lifestyle as much as that their lives never really left their ties with the land.  And yet these are people who are not unwilling to share.  They offer up their culture to any and all visitors, from their festivals featuring the traditional tchiloli plays to their traditional Creole food.

The Homesteads of Sao Tome

Since the independence of the country and the fall of the cocoa industry, the people of the islands have fallen on hard times.  Even the coffee industry, which boasts one of the better beans available for export in the world, is unable to lift the economy.  Overall, the country is dependent on international aid to sustain the economy. 

When the Portuguese pulled out of Sao Tome and Principe, bringing with them their capital and technology, the plantations and the industries that sustained the Santomean economy all but collapsed.  The Marxist government that took over from the former colonial power then took over the lansa formerly owned by the landowners and corporations.  Most of it was designated as state-owned land, while a smaller portion was parceled off to the former farmers and workers of the plantations.

With a government barely able to keep the country afloat, much less provide for the needs of the population, the farmers resorted to homesteading to survive.  Relying on their own skills, their small bit of land, and whatever material resources were left to them, the Santomeans established self-reliant communities reliant on the produce of the land.  These homesteads depended on the basic skills and knowledge passed on from generation to generation of farmers and fishermen that have lived on the island since they were brought over from nearby continental Africa.

With very little in the way of government support, the families of neighboring homesteads formed loose communities outside the few cities of Sao Tome.  These small local groups eventually formed into small villages and towns, with the homesteads loosely organized to take advantage of the available resources and produce that the land could offer.  Thus, some villages would produce cocoa, others coffee, others the seasonal crops that made up the usual subsistence of the people.  Seaside villages were mainly involved with seasteading, with most of the families basically living off the resources that the sea had to offer.  These communities, while hardly flourishing, continue to survive mainly by trade with other communities and the nearby urban centers.

Homesteads are not only found in the areas that lie outside of urban Sao Tome.  Poverty is still very much prevalent in the general population, even with the change to a more democratic form of government.  The urban poor of Sao Tome's cities also fall back on homesteads to provide for the basic needs.  These can be found in communities along the outskirts of the cities and larger towns.  Skilled workers are not in abundance, and there's hardly enough work to go around anyway.  There are still quite a number of families that subsist on what they can produce from their own small plot of land, selling off or trading for other basic commodities that they cannot produce on their own.

Enjoying Creole

Staying with one of the families will surely expose you to the local cuisine.  This might be limited to whatever their homestead might be producing, but you’ll be sure to get authentic Santomean Creole cooking as part of your exposure to the culture.

There are also many restaurants and bars that serve the local cuisine.  It’s better to know the names of the restaurants and other places in the city that you want to go to.  Although there are street names, people aren’t really familiar with the names.  They are more familiar with the names of the establishments you may want to go to.  If you’ve been looking for a place where you can leave the fast food lifestyle behind, STP is the right place, as there are no fast food outlets here. 

Paradise Under The Sun

Other high-end activities like big-game fishing and private island tours are also available on the island, courtesy of the luxury hotels that have been established in the past years, as tourism becomes a potentially lucrative industry for the country.  Guided tours can bring you to the more notable cultural and natural landmarks if you would rather follow a guide around without having to figure things out on your own. 

Sao Tome and Principe offers unspoiled simplicity and beauty within and beyond its shores.  In the past few years, petroleum finds off its coasts have caused some sectors to fear that the influx of oil companies might threaten the balance of nature of STP.  So far, since political and commercial wrangling has hampered these developments, the islands remain quiet and homestead living relatively unchanged.   

For now, Sao Tome and Principe remains an off-the-beaten-path destination.  For the world-weary traveler, these islands will provide an escape that offers both the usual tourist settings and unusual cultural experiences.  Whether you opt to stay in the usual tourist accommodations or immerse yourself in a Santomean homestead, you will be richly rewarded. Certainly the effort of traveling to the unusual destination will pay off nicely with the chance to live the leve-leve yourself.