Sao Tome, African Bali — Is It Suitable For Expats?
I recently spent a month in Sao Tome, an island the size of Berlin on the Equator in Africa. It is absolutely beautiful, the weather is nice and the surf is perfect — So I tried to work from there.
Sao Tome is a little paradise nobody seems to know. Neither did I when I was in Dakar. Having “discovered” Senegal, I was eager to travel to more African destinations. A traveller and newfound friend then pointed me towards Sao Tome.
She had lived in Cameroon for a while, and from there, Sao Tome is an island you go to for a holiday. She told me it was safe, beautiful, and warm, and the waves were waiting for my surfboard. That is all I needed to know.
Sao Tome gets its waves from the Antarctic. Accordingly, surf season is the northern hemisphere summer. I decided to go in June, take my surfboard and see what happens.
Before you go there
Getting to Sao Tome is easy when you’re in Lisbon already. Portugal is the former colonial power of Sao Tome. There is a special relationship between the two. This is obvious in the language, as Portuguese is the official language in Sao Tome. Incidentally, Sao Tome is Portuguese for…
