São Tomé and Príncipe: exploring ‘the African Galápagos’
Not many people visit this tiny African nation, and anyone worried about overtourism, global swarming, or tourist-friendly contrivances will find a country in which commercial interests and packaged experiences are few and far between. People are friendly, helpful and very happy to see you; we felt very safe everywhere we went.
I did not come here to see a thousand crabs, but in the faint light of my red headlamp, there is no escaping them. With zero light pollution, the night sky glitters like a disco ball, and I am walking on a mile-long beach we reached after an hour-long 4×4 crawl along potholed roads and trails. We follow Davide, our guide, until we find our first visitor from an alien world. She swam across the Atlantic to visit a beach she last saw 25 years ago, and is now digging a nest to deposit 120 eggs that will, in a few months, hatch to start another circle of life – one that is wholly unconcerned with my worries about what 2026 will look like for the humans on our shared piece of rock. We walked back in silence, while she plodded gently through the sand to reach the relative safety of the Atlantic.
That night with the sea turtles was not the only time our trip to Príncipe and São Tomé had us waxing philosophical. The pinch-yourself natural beauty of the beaches, the jungle and the wildlife sits alongside the sometimes painful history of these islands off the West African coast, easily reached with a direct six-hour TAP flight from Lisbon. Everyone speaks Portuguese, which makes it easier to get around, and much of the culture and cuisine will feel familiar to readers of Tomorrow magazine.
The flight from Lisbon arrives in São Tomé, the larger of the two islands, more populated and developed than Príncipe, which is reachable via a short internal flight twice a day. We spent our first day exploring the south of the island, visiting the first of many “is this even real” beaches and a fascinating stop at Roca Agua-Ize. There are dozens of abandoned plantations (Rocas) on São Tomé and Príncipe, including elegant colonial mansions, cocoa factories and hospitals – most of them abandoned after the Portuguese left in 1975, when the country gained independence. There is a jarring romantic quality to these crumbling vestiges of colonialism – as photogenic as they are, they also tell the story of a country that slid into a decades-long period of decay and poverty. How to rebuild and develop a post-plantation economy remains a challenge, and the day-to-day struggle to access clean water and reliable energy sources is a reality for many local communities.
Don’t let that give you the impression that a holiday on São Tomé and Príncipe is difficult or somehow problematic – quite the opposite. Things are improving, and one of the best ways to jump-start the islands’ economic prospects is the development of sustainable tourism, centred on Príncipe’s status as an UNESCO-recognised biosphere, with more endemic species per square mile than any other African nation. The isolation and relative poverty of these islands have preserved a jaw-droppingly beautiful landscape of basalt cliffs, untouched rainforests and unique marine life. We stayed in three beautiful properties managed by the HBD group, which has established a footprint of four small boutique hotels, aimed at preserving the magic while offering visitors a luxury first-row seat to some of the world’s most unique experiences.
You can quite simply enjoy feet-in-the-sand escapism with amazing food, otherworldly gorgeous swimming and snorkelling, and inhale the spirit of leve-leve, the local motto which means something like ‘easy does it’ – a tempting proposition on the powdery beach at Bom Bom, or the world-class restaurant at Sundy Praia. When the beaches and stilted bungalows of Bom Bom Island Resort come into view, time seems to loosen its grip – the feeling is one of quiet disbelief, as if the world has gently slipped into a dream without telling you.
Arriving at Sundy Praia by boat was equally mind-blowing, but in a different, more immersive way. Where Bom Bom feels like a gentle reveal, Sundy Praia feels like stepping inside the landscape itself. The coastline uncovers itself slowly, jungle-clad and untouched, rising straight from the Atlantic, until the beach comes into focus – wide, pale, and utterly wild. From the water, there’s no sense of a resort at all, just nature at its most confident, until the discreet shapes of the villas emerge, almost hidden among the palms.
Another real highlight was the daily excursions and activities. A private guide will drive you to experience the real story of Príncipe, from visits to sustainable cacao and coffee plantations to tours of the Roca Sundy, birdwatching, boat trips to Jurassic Park-like Bay of Needles and, of course, the nighttime sea turtle visit. Our wonderful guide Karlos showed us around Santo Antonio, the smallest capital city in the world, which has a unique charm, blending a Portuguese small town vibe with the vibrancy of African colours and sounds. And sometimes the adventure comes to you – when a small group of Mona monkeys visited us on Sundy Praia just outside our room on Christmas Day.
São Tomé and Príncipe offer a wide range of accommodation options, from simple guesthouses and atmospheric beach lodges to beautifully refurbished plantation houses, catering to travellers across all budgets. On São Tomé Island, these stays are scattered across the island, inviting travellers to slow down, move around, and experience its shifting landscapes – from cocoa plantations and rainforest to wild coastlines and quiet villages.
We left determined to come back, after a wild yet luxurious holiday that felt a million miles away from the glossy sheen of mass tourism. It is unlike any other place we visited – and, like that sea turtle, its beauty is like an indelible homing beacon in our hearts.
Ann is a personal travel planner at High Touch Travel who can help organise and book the trip of a lifetime, a weekend away and everything in between.
ann.botterman@notjusttravel.com
