Any Travels

Sao Tome and Principe are two small islands close to the coast of West Africa. They are very beautiful and hardly see tourists. That should be enough reason to go there, don't you think. Sao vicente is a small islands, and the capital city, also called Sao Tome only has 25,000 inhabitants; Principe is even smaller.

Sao tome is of volcanic origin and the cloud capped volcanoes, thick jungle and empty beaches are stunningly beautiful. Principe is flatter but the beaches are somewhat better and the chances of meeting fellow foreigners are even slimmer.

Sao tome
The capital is a picturesque little town on the northeast coast of the main island. Nestled on a bay, it is full of badly neglected Portuguese colonial buildings but superbly maintained parks and gardens. The town centre is small enough to negotiate on foot in a couple of hours.

Worth seeing are the 16th century cathedral, and the National Museum in the 400 year-old Fort Sao Sebastiao on the peninsula, about 1.2km (0.7mi) from the centre of town. It has a good range of displays on agriculture, religion, handcrafts and juju, and a hard hitting display on the slave trade.

Great beaches are all around the island, but the best ones are found at prai das Pombas.

Principe
You can walk anywhere in a day on this small island. Because outside visitors are so rare, you'll attract a lot of attention from locals, who may follow you and expect a tip, although they will be friendly. Santo Antonio is the capital, with similar architecture to Sao Tome, if more run down.

Santo Antonio is about the size of a large European village, and there are several reasonably priced pensaos, making it a place to hang your bag. Air Sao Tome e Principe has four flights a week between the islands, and there are infrequent ferries.

Culture

Despite leaving so little in the way of infrastructure and bare necessities for survival, the Portuguese left a strong cultural legacy. Portuguese (as well as a form of Creole) is spoken throughout the islands and Roman Catholicism is the major religion. Several theatre companies are active in the capital and tour regularly to the provinces. Popular Saotomese music is a blend of Latin and African rhythms, and sounds similar to the music of Cape Verde. Gilberto Gil Umbelina, the most famous popular recording artist, has played widely overseas.

Fried fish figures largely in the diet, as does tropical fruit such as avocadoes, pineapples and especially bananas. A lot of canned food is brought in from Portugal, but local bakeries supply a good range of bread.