African Cruise

Photos by Philip and Yoko Galvin

4.  São Tomé Principe

São Tomé is the capital of São Tomé Principe (Democratic Republic of São Tomé) which is in the Gulf of Guinea. Once São Tomé Principe was under Portugal’s reign but now it is an independent country just as Angola (Luanda) was. The islands were discovered by Portugues explorers Joao de Santarem and Pedro Escobar in 1470 and gradually was colonized by Portuguese. Apparently, it later served as a vital commercial and trade center for the Atlantic slave trade. In 1975, São Tomé Principe attained peaceful independence and has since remained one of Africa’s most stable and democratic countries. The country is ideal for cultivation of sugar, coffee and cocoa due to the rich volcanic soil and proximity to the equator.

On the day we visited, it was predicted to have rain in São Tomé, but luckily the weather cooperated with us, and we even saw bright blue sky at times. Apparently, 9 months of year it rains around this area (including Luanda where we were a couple of days prior), but we did not have a drop of rain in either city.

Before we left Calgary, we tried to book an excursion in São Tomé through the cruise ship, but it was booked fully so we were planning to wander around by ourselves.  When the ship arrived at the port of São Tomé, we had to take a tender as the water close to the island was too shallow. In the tender, we met a nice Portuguese couple and began to chat with them. We walked with them to the tourist office where we could use free internet to find out where to visit. While walking together, we began to discuss with the couple about the possibility of taking a taxi together to tour around the island. They agreed.

                                                                                                                 Government Building

Before we tried to find a taxi, we visited a Catholic church nearby. Some local children followed us around and asked for some spare change.  Around the church, there were some taxi drivers who were soliciting tourists to take a tour with them. There, the husband of the Portuguese couple we met decided to negotiate with one of the taxi drivers, and after the price was settled, we all got into a taxi. We were so relieved that we did not have to deal with any taxi drivers as it seemed that they had a reputation for telling the tourists one price but after the tour, they would ask for much more than the negotiated price. In fact, we witnessed other tourists arguing over the fare after their tour with their taxi driver when we returned at the port a few hours later.

Right beside the church, we saw a group of people (including a bride), sitting at the park bench. We wondered whether they are about to have a wedding at the church.

                                                                                                    Wedding Party?

First, our taxi took us to one of the coffee plantations on a hill. After visiting the café and purchasing some souvenirs there, the taxi drivert told us that our next stop will be Saint Nicolas Waterfall.  Along the roads to the waterfall, there must have been multiple schools as there were many children walking in the center of the roads. Because there were no sidewalks around there, the children walked freely on the road. To us, it was very dangerous as the taxi driver seemed not to slow down when he saw them on the roads. The only thing he did to avoid the accident was to honk his car horn endlessly to warn them. Despite our concern that our taxi may cause an accident, the children seemed not to be bothered by this at all.

                                                                                                                       Coffee Seeds

After the coffee plantation, the taxi continued to drive on narrower roads with many more children along the road. The taxi finally arrived at St; Nicolas Waterfall. Seeing many large waters falls in various countries in our other travels, we didn’t find it impressive but regardless it was nice to see the beautiful sight.

           Cacao Fruit

After visiting the waterfall, the taxi driver took us to downtown close to the church where we visited early on our travel.

                                                                                       Bananas, anyone?

Then onto the resort area where there were well maintained calm beaches and a hill ithat was occupied by the houses with pink roofs. Those houses were surruonded by green trees. After we drove through the cluttered sights in downtown, these sights were comforting. At the same time, we thought that it wouldn’t matter where we went, as long as we could see the body of clean water, green trees and colorful flowers, it looks beautiful.  Because it was God’s creation.

After visiting the resirt area, the taxi driver took us back to downtown. 

Overall, what we noticed the most in São Tomé was poverty. The sidewalks were uneven, houses were not well kept, and we saw many small shops with people gathering around idly. Apparently, the Chinese government is now funding the country in many ways, and we even saw a bank that was run by a Chinese company. We noticed another indication that the country was influenced by Chinese government - the bottom of the large trees along the roads were painted white. We knew it had something to do with China as we saw the same sights in Beijing. The bark of each tree along the highway and main road were painted in white to reflect the lights so there was no need to place streetlights along the road. How clever and cost efficient, we thought.