São Tomé e Príncipe

2024: One year in 7 photos

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A Happy New Year to you all! We might be wondering what lies ahead in 2025, but the old year can be neatly packaged.

I’m pulling together 2024 in just seven photographs. It was a year punctuated by more travel since the pandemic, including some unheralded destinations.

Spells at home were spent stalking the changing buildings of Manchester and waiting for the next departure – a rollercoaster ride. 

Do you have just a few photos that bring the year to life?

1. FAMILY HOLIDAY

A family of four enjoy a sunset walk on the shores of Costa Calma in Fuerteventura.

I went on a summer break to the Spanish island of Fuerteventura and observed hundreds of family holidays, including this beautifully-placed one taking their sunset walk along the beach. It was for me an unusually relaxing, enjoyable week in the sun and I found a fascination with resort architecture in this holiday playground.

• See more from this sun-kissed isle here

2. LITTLE CORNER OF THE MARKET
A market street scene in the capital city of São Tomé e Príncipe.

The African island nation of São Tomé e Príncipe was an adventurous trip to a virtually unknown destination. The main island had a lively, chaotic capital city and amidst the natural beauty was still processing its colonial past. I’d found my gateway to seeing more unusual corners of the planet with this memorable visit.

• See more of fabulous São Tomé here

3. CUBES AND THE TOWERA conical tower block and famous yellow of the Cube Houses in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

I visited the Dutch city of Rotterdam with the intent of chasing the city’s varied and bold post-war architecture – and wasn’t disappointed. Even the zany cube houses, seen by millions of tourists, were a delight. Rotterdam, basking in summer sunshine, was a pleasant place to spend a long weekend.

• See more of ravishing Rotterdam here

4. PERAST AND BEYOND

A scenic view of Perast and beyond on the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro.

This was a first trip to Montenegro’s stunning Bay of Kotor – an inland sea with the qualities of an Alpine lake. The town of Perast (pictured) and a beautiful hotel were quieter out of season in April, while my relaxing stay also included a whistle-stop tour of Montenegro’s ruggedly scenic north.

• See much more of Montenegro here

5. TINY ISLAND CAPITAL

Tall palms hold sway over the town of Santo Antonio on Príncipe island.

You can’t visit São Tomé without hopping over to sister island Príncipe – much smaller, less developed and natural. It’s become a far flung destination for small-scale more sustainable tourism and has turned a legacy of plantations into high-end accommodation offering relaxation and adventure. I could easily go back for a two-week holiday.

• See more of this little paradise here

6. CENTRAL HALL, MANCHESTER

An interior view of Manchester Central, the city's former railway station.

The one Manchester highlight that has squeezed into a travel-rich 2024. This building, not far from where I live, started out as a railway station and is a well-known city centre landmark. It was opened to the public this year and stepping inside made its true scale and ingenuity apparent. It’s not all about new skyscrapers in this city.

• See more of this engineering feat here

7. OUTSIDE THE STORE, ANJOUANTwo brightly clothed women outside a neighbourhood general store in Mutsamudu, Comoros Islands.

The final trip of the year took me to a country which took a long time to reach and was barely touched by tourism, possibly the most obscure destination I have ever visited. The Comoros Islands was beautiful, its people fascinating and wonderfully photogenic even in mundane settings. I’m still digesting my visit as 2025 takes hold.

• See more of unknown Comoros here

São Tomé snapshots

/ mikeosbornphoto / 2 Comments

The small, little-known African island nation of São Tomé e Príncipe is a place worth visiting.

My smartphone came along for the ride with my camera and played its part too, even though I’ve been reluctant to make use of its photo-taking abilities.

These portrait format phone snaps are less disciplined and capture some little instant details – and the occasional selfie.

Visit my São Tomé and Príncipe pages to find out more about these warm, engaging islands. Any travel questions? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Tap/click first image to view gallery

Link to more posts about travel on mikeosbornphoto

São Tomé: Holiday paradise?

/ mikeosbornphoto / 10 Comments

Choosing an unusual holiday destination is a bit of a gamble.

But when a country has relatively few visitors, you hope your efforts will be rewarded with something out of this world (and bragging rights!)

So I journeyed from Manchester to Lisbon to catch a six-and-a-half-hour flight to São Tomé e Príncipe, a small island nation off the African coast.

São Tomé is the largest island with the bulk of the country’s 223,000 inhabitants. The journey from the airport was straight through the capital city at dusk, which hummed with life.

Was it worth going the extra mile to see this island? CONTINUE READING BELOW

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My first lasting impression of São Tomé was one of holiday bungalows set in palm-fringed grounds, with a private beach and pool area close by.

Club Santana seemed geared up to European visitors who could happily wile away a fortnight relaxing in the winter sun – and I tapped into that vibe.

But this was also my base to begin exploring the island, which I did courtesy of guide Diego and a driver.

The eastern side of São Tomé is pierced with coastal highlights including the lively Mouth of Hell and broad sandy beaches.

This was also my first taste of the country’s roças. These grand estates were built by the Portuguese during their centuries of rule to exploit São Tomé’s cocoa resources.

Since independence in 1975 the roças have fallen into disrepair, but families are still living in the dilapidated buildings and struggling to make a living. It’s ironic that these colonial throwbacks are now very much on the tourist trail.

A bungalow at the Mucumbli lodge on the island of São Tomé.

My Mucumbli bungalow was surrounded by lush tropical greenery

I visited Roça São João which has been turned into a small hotel and is famous for its multi-course tasting menu. Maybe this is the future for São Tomé’s dessicating colonial leftovers.

There had to be a trip to São Tomé’s capital city, where I was drawn to some crumbling but boldly painted architecture.

It has the chaotic verve of any African city with people going about their daily business under tropical humidity. It’s a lot and you need to keep your wits about you.

I left São Tomé for a number of days to stay on its tranquil smaller sibling Príncipe, returning to a new home and a different set of experiences.

Mucumbli lodge is on the west coast of the island, a verdant oasis with views over the ocean. I had my own bungalow again, with rustic furnishings and a peaceful terrace facing the trees and Atlantic.

Activities here were more energetic, including a hike around the island’s Lagoa Amelia, a rich area of cultivated terraces and dense rainforest.

Seven hours and many slippery paths later, I was proud to have made it and needed a very long shower back at Mucumbli and one of their beautifully cooked, tasty dinners.

Is São Tomé worth the journey?

So did my São Tomé gamble pay off and is it the holiday paradise we haven’t yet discovered?

Well if you want a very exotic couple of weeks basking in the sunshine, that’s possible. The island has some well established accommodation to suit languid Europeans. The quality of food and level of service is impressive.

But there’s so much more this country has to offer, with beautiful landscapes, stunning nature and a compelling history. You’d be missing out if you didn’t venture beyond your relaxing compound.

A word of warning, however. English has only been taught in high schools since 2019 and São Tomé is only used to relatively small numbers of visitors. But well worth considering before tourism really takes over these little islands.

My trip to São Tomé e Príncipe was organised by Archipelago Choice, a small specialist travel agency based here in northern England. International flights to the islands were with Air Portugal and inter-island flights with STP Airways.

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Príncipe: African island gem

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“I’m going to São Tomé e Príncipe.”

“Where on Earth is that? I’ve never heard of it.”

That was the reaction of all my friends when I told them about my travel plans. I’d picked an obscure holiday destination for the average Brit.

In a nutshell, São Tomé e Príncipe is a small African island nation located in the Gulf of Guinea. The country gained its independence in 1975 after centuries under Portuguese rule.

After a hop from Manchester to Lisbon, it was a six-and-a-half hour flight to the warm equatorial climes of São Tomé, the main island.

So what does this largely unheralded country have to offer? First stop is Príncipe, the much smaller partner with a fraction of the population. CONTINUE READING BELOW

Tap/click first image to view gallery

Príncipe is a 40-minute flight in a small passenger plane from São Tomé – or a 14-hour ferry crossing if you’re feeling adventurous or reckless.

The tiny airport is a testament to the island’s remoteness and seclusion, while the good quality road doesn’t last for too long. There’s an abundance of greenery everywhere on this lush, equatorial speck of land.

My home on Príncipe was Roça Sundy, once a plantation owner’s home turned into a small hotel filled with colonial features. Dinner is served on the rear verandah and ceiling fans gently whir throughout. A sumptuous bolthole which I fell in love with.

The front entrance of Roça Sundy, a former plantation house turned into a hotel.

Roça Sundy. My large, lofty room was to the left of the entrance.

The house is surrounded by old cocoa plantation buildings which have fallen into disrepair. Just a small operation now gathers the raw materials and makes them into high quality chocolate, which tastes out of this world.

It was time to explore Príncipe along with a Roça Sundy guide and driver. Essential stops included the view over Praia Banana, a perfect Desert Island Discs beach framed by turquoise waters and dense forest.

Up in the hills overlooking the Atlantic is another sumptuous plantation property called Belo Monte, exuding luxury for those who make the long journey here.

A trip to Santo Antonio, the island’s only city  – more of a sleepy, slightly larger village – was a highlight, with its decaying colonial architecture, zany pastel paintwork and languid inhabitants. 

The northern half of Prìncipe is where most people live. The southern half is ruggedly mountainous and was declared a Biosphere Reserve a decade ago. The best way to view this spectacular volcanic landscape is by boat in the Bay of Needles, a coastal area studded by pristine little beaches.

Was it worth the long journey to see this little-known territory? Absolutely and I’d recommend it to anyone looking to break with the usual holiday destinations. 

Next time: A trip around São Tomé’s main island. Bigger, bolder and busier than little Príncipe with much more to discover from this small nation.

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