Sao Tome and Principe

São Tomé and Príncipe may be two separate islands but together they form one African island nation. They sit in the Atlantic Ocean, just north of the Equator, about 150 miles off the coast of Gabon. The islands are part of a volcanic chain known as the ‘Cameroon Line’ which runs from Mount Cameroon in the north, to the island of Bioko, through São Tomé and Príncipe, then onward to Annobón. These little-known outposts are clothed in lush tropical rainforest and fringed by white sandy beaches and colourful coral reefs. They are ‘the Galápagos of Africa’, their long isolation from the mainland freeing them to their own unique evolutionary path and allowing the creation of a suite of birds and other wildlife found nowhere else on Earth. Indeed, 28 endemic species of birds can be found on São Tomé and Príncipe (depending on which taxonomy is followed), together with an interesting variety of others that also live on the African mainland. Besides being a birders’ paradise, this beautiful archipelago is also home to a fascinating assemblage of endemic reptiles, amphibians and plants.

Many of the once extensive sugar cane, cocoa and coffee plantations in the coastal areas on both islands have long been abandoned and are now clothed in secondary forest which harbours a wealth of birds. Further inland, the mountainous interiors are covered in extensive tracts of rainforest which cling to the precipitous slopes of towering volcanoes, their summits so often obscured within a veil of mist or cloud. 

Our 11-day holiday will begin with an afternoon flight to Lisbon and an overnight stay. The next day, we will take an early morning flight from the Portuguese capital to São Tomé, where we will spend our first two nights at a well-appointed boutique hotel within walking distance of one of the island’s idyllic beaches. The hotel gardens and immediate surroundings should produce our first endemics in the form of São Tomé Prinia, Newton’s Sunbird and São Tomé Thrush alongside other, widespread, African species such as Blue Waxbill and Yellow-fronted Canary. Further afield, we will venture into the northern section of the Obo National Park in the São Toméan highlands. The road from the town of São Tomé winds its way up the mountain, through fields, villages and coffee plantations, to the botanical research centre at Bom Sucesso. This is the starting point of the trail into the Obo National Park and is a good place in which to find São Tome Speirops, São Tomé White-eye and São Tomé Oriole. We will follow the trail towards Pico de São Tomé, the island’s highest peak, where we will be looking for São Tomé Spinetail, Giant Sunbird and the exquisite São Tomé Paradise Flycatcher. Higher up the mountain lies a spectacular crater lake which is a good place from which to survey the forest canopy in the hope of seeing São Tomé Green Pigeon, São Tomé Olive Pigeon and Emerald Cuckoo. With luck on our side, we might even hear (or better, see) the elusive São Tomé Scops Owl!

Next, a short flight will take us to Príncipe, where we will spend three nights. It was on this island in 1919, during a total eclipse of the sun, that British astronomer Arthur Eddington corroborated Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity for the first time, his photographs of the eclipse revealing bending of the starlight that accorded with Einstein’s predictions! The atmosphere on Príncipe is very relaxed, and we will spend the next few days exploring the nearby ‘roças’ (large plantation estates) as well as the island’s unspoilt forests. Here we will be searching for species such as Príncipe Sunbird, Dohrn’s Thrush-babbler, Príncipe Speirops and Príncipe Golden Weaver. 

We then return to São Tomé and head south, basing ourselves within striking distance of the highland forests of Monte Carmo for a 2-night stay. This is set to be an exciting, yet challenging, couple of days as we seek São Tomé's top four endemics: Dwarf Olive Ibis, São Tomé Short-tail, São Tomé Fiscal and perhaps even São Tomé Grosbeak. We can expect repeated encounters with many of the other now familiar endemics as we explore these lush forests, before returning north to take our flight home.

After a week of enjoying the islands’ vibrant tropical forests and deserted and unspoiled beaches, we must reluctantly depart, flying back to London via Lisbon.