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Sao Tome and Principe

Greetings from off the coast of Angola. We dropped anchor in Sao Tome, Sao Principe November 29, 2022 from Togo with a day at sea in between. São Tomé and Príncipe, two separate islands, which are Portuguese-speaking island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa.

São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for "Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities.

The two main islands of São Tomé and Sao Príncipe, 93 miles apart and about140 miles off the northwestern coast of Gabon. With a population of 201,800 Sao Príncipe is the second-smallest and second-least populous African sovereign state after Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean.

São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for "Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities.

The people of São Tomé and Príncipe are predominantly of African and Portuguese with Indian and Ceylon descent, with most practicing Catholicism.

The main town of Sao Tome. The chief exports are cocoa, coffee, copra, and palm products, while there is also a fishing industry.

Once we leave the main town it becomes tropical in the higher elevations. We arrive at the Roca Monte Cafe Plantation at an altitude of 1800 feet.

Children of the plantation. There is a school that accommodates 150 children. These are children of the workers on the plantation.

Kids are kids.. love to show off.

The plantation is a hillside village of plantation houses, it offers a small museum and formal tour of the coffee production process ,the arabica variety grows well at this1800 foot altitude. The tour nicely ties the entire plantation together, including a school with 150 children. Tastings at the small gift shop.

The buildings are very old and in bad condition due to the elements at 1800 feet.

While we were waiting to take the tour of the coffee plantation the rain poured down.

Here you see in the distance it almost looks like a tornado of rain headed our way.

Monte Café Plantation is pleasant to visit. We learned the factors affecting the taste, aroma, and quality of their coffee beans. We learned how the coffee beans are dried, sorted and roated before export.

Here you see some of the original equipment from the coffee plantation. The weather conditions of Monte Café, Coffee Mountain, hamlet were optimal for cultivating Arabica and, to a lesser extent, Robusta coffee varieties. In 1858, the property became the largest and earliest coffee plantation in Sao Tomé, thanks to the enormous development of coffee.

Inside the museum, the photographs depicting the slave trade, the colonial coffee processing machinery, and the ruins of the old complex transported me mentally to the coffee plantation run by the Portuguese in the 1860s.

The locals were dance to music played by a couple of the locals.

We next drove higher into the tropical forests to Sao Nicolau waterfall, an idyllic post card setting.

The students were just leaving schools as we drove back into down for lunch into town.

Always a friendly wave and smile.

Close back into town at Sao Tome city.

Past some nicer residential districts

We are passing the center of town. Locals and kids congregating.

Lots of motorcycles. The unemployement rate in Sao Tome is around 20%.

Looks like a grandmother sharing some time with her grandchildren.

We arrive for lunch in town at the Hotel Pestana Sao tome siting right on the bay.

View from the hotel patio, our ship the Regent Seven Seas Voyager, in the distance with a small boat passing in between the ship and the hotel beach area.

The infinity pool at the hotel. We were fortunate to have a nice lunch with local dishes prepared for us. The pool was in front of the dining room and then the ocean, What a view.

These flowers were in the lobby grown locally. I believe they are Torch Ginger. Absolutely beautiful.

After lunch we toured the Sao Sebastiao Museum, close to the hotel, These 3 Portuguese statues looking out to the sea were near the entrance to the museum building. .

Our local guide, who ironically was from Switzerland, explained details of the museum for us. São Sebastião Museum is a museum, housed in a 16th-century fortress in the central part of the city. It contains religious art and colonial-era artifacts. The fortress was built in 1566 by the Portuguese in order to protect the port and city of São Tomé against pirate attacks.

Some of the old artifacts on display within the museum. If that furniture could only talk.

The light house, which is built into the fortress is São Sebastião Lighthouse at the southeastern end of Ana Chaves Bay in São Tomé. The lighthouse is a 18 foot high white round tower with a red lantern. It was built in 1928.

We then stopped y the fishing village of Pantufo where fish were laid out to dry on a wall to dry under the sun next to the beach.

Amazing there were no flies in and around the fish as they dried under the sun.

Naturally when a group of of tourists show up kids seem to come out of no where. They enjoyed posing for photos. Even more when I showed them the photo of them.

A local lady displaying for us the fish after they have been cooked. They were very good.

This lady was kind enough to tell us about the village and how important the fishing is to them for their livelihoods.

A young teenager gazing off at the ocean.

A group talking and having fun in the afternoon. Notice our ship anchored off shore in the distance.

This lady has just finished cooking the fish on the barbecue behind the tree. She prepared more samples for us to try and hopefully sell to others as they came along.

More kids milling around checking out the tourists that just happen to stop in their small village, very close into Sao Tome. .

We stopped back in town at the Our Lady of Conception Church. A group from the Congo performing a Congolese dance for us.

The beginning of the dance.

Everyone is happy and in a good mood.

A good guy is dressed as a local bringing in crops for his family and village.

Here he is in front of everyone.

An evil spirit appears and attacks the good guy. After a time of trying to get rid of the evil spirit a battle takes place in the next couple of photos.

Finally all is good and the evil spirit is taken away and the village celebrates.

Finale celebrations of the entire dance group.

A male and Female police officer came along as we were in front of the church. They kept looking at me so I went over and made friends with them and asked if I could take a photo of them. They agreed. I showed the photo to them and they were smiling at last.

Our Lady of Grace Cathedral. It is aross the street from the Presidential Palce.

The Presidential Palace. We were told not take photos of the palace. They had good reason. I had discovered a day before our arrival, on line, in Sao Tome that an over throw of the government, an inssurection , had taken place the day before we arrived. The government fought the coup attempt as four men, including the former President of the outgoing Assembly tried to over throw the government. Four were arrested and a number of others were arrested. I had asked the guide about this. He at first refused to say anthing. I told him I would tell everyone. He told me please this is the first cruise ship of tourists to arrive since the covid started 2 1/2 years before.

Interior of the Our Lady of Grace Cathedral. I told our guide I would not tell anyone until we were leaving Africa which I did. I could not believe that no one on the ship knew except the Bridge. They desperately needed tourism to return to Sao Tome and if word got out about the coup they would not come. I agreed.

A small group put on a skit for us. It was never explained by anyone what it was about. It took place in the main square in Sao Tome.

Another view of the park where the skit was being performed for us.

Downtown area of Sao Tome. We depart Sao tome and head for Walvis Bay, Namibia. We will have 3 days at sea.

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