São Tomé & Príncipe: Earth’s most well-hidden paradise
What if I told you there’s a place out there with Greece’s hospitality and Hawaii’s natural wonders, but with none of the tourist nonsense? Shouldn’t you have already heard of it, or otherwise there must be a catch: it’s terribly unsafe, freezing weather, expensive as hell, impossible Visa process or not a sliver of wifi. Even if not, then it is surely a matter of time until it becomes a tourist Mecca, right? Well… no. Here’s why.
🧭️ Backstory
After spending COVID year gapping university and hopping between 10 covid-free exotic tourist-emptied islands, paying fractions of normal pricetags and flipping 5 cars, I thought there’s no way I can find a cooler destination than where I’ve been.
I was desperate. Internship this summer was remote, so with my buddy Adam, we were in pursuit of an impossible preference: a place untouristy but sexy. On top of that, we were a bit picky, we we wanted a place with good surf. We opened a map and zoomed in on the most random of places, read all sorts of travel blogs and somewhere, somehow, we got a glimpse of São Tomé. Information online (even if you translate it to English) is extremely limited, so a leap of faith seemed necessary. I’m writing this blog while on the plane flying out of São Tomé, for one reason only: after reading this, you should visit São Tomé with zero fear or regret.
🌾 Stuck in the past
São Tomé got its independence from colonial Portuguese slavery in 1975. That’s 5 decades ago. That’s yesterday.
In 1975 the government “inheriting” the land, gave a bit of it to each citizen. Where yesterday you were a slave, today you were a land owner. What kind of land? The Portuguese had already forced everyone to farm non-endemic cacao and coffee, so with the prospect of exports and centuries of know-how, growers continued doing what they knew best. People worked in farm villages (let’s call them Roças) and when liberated, they naturally organized themselves into cooperatives.
If you were adventurous and next to the ocean, maybe you would think of cutting down a tree log, carving it by hand into a boat and going fishing to feed your family. That took place five decades ago. How much of São Tomé reality is still like this today? Take a guess.
😊 Utterly, utterly hospitable
Neither hospitable nor safe are often the first words that comes to mind, when one thinks of Africa or hears the $1 daily minimum wage. This north-hemisphere, prejudiced mindset would make you probably second-guess even the fact that São Tomé is ranked as Africa’s safest and most democratic countries.
I do not speak Portuguese, so there was no reason why anyone would bother spending their energy talking to me for more than one minute. Across ages, from kids to high-schoolers to grandmas, everyone was genuinely excited to help, educate or just say hi. Not just to offer services, but more often to just say hi and start a conversation, asking for nothing in return.
🐦 Staggeringly pretty
In the same day, you can be hiking in the rainforest and then head straight down to the beach to surf. Remarkable both black and white sand beaches invite international surfing competitions every year. From your home porch, you lose count of the different bird species you see and hear. While hiking, you end up walking through the most off-the-beaten-track villages, earning curious looks and smiles.
🚸 Kids everywhere
Schools around every corner, host 40-person classes all day long: morning for primary school, afternoon for secondary school, evening for for those who work during the day. It’s no wonder that kids are visible everywhere, from walking back from school, to riding wood-made scooters on the road, to playing football at the local fields. Genuine smiles shine on their faces when they see you and chances are that they’ll ask you for something sweet (“doce, doce!”) to chew on.
🤯 Absolutely no tourists
Throughout my two months there, every single day I wondered how is it possible that this place is so well hidden that no-one knows about it, apart from the Portuguese. It makes no sense!
Pre-pandemic in 2018, there were 33,000 tourist arrivals. Putting that into perspective, this is half the tourism that Sierra Leone gets, thus putting São Tomé & Principe as the 20th least touristy country worldwide. Factoring in the rapidly growing, yet small, population of 210,000 people, this means marks São Tomé & Principe as the 122nd most touristy country per capita.
Why? Why isn’t São Tomé just another Tahiti, Tenerife, Barbados or Réunion? After months of digging, this is the best answers I’ve come to believe:
- Large distance from demand (medium/high GDP per capita countries)
- High air-ticket prices at $400 one-way from Lisbon and only 3 direct flight origins from Lisbon, Angola and Ghana
- Small population of close-tie former colonial powers, with Portugal’s 10M population
Unless one of these items changes dramatically, São Tomé & Principe will continue to be a hidden paradise eternally. And that, is truly mind-blowing.
Safe travels!
