A rude man resulted in a final Chinese lunch in Africa
To be honest, if it hadn’t been for a rude Portuguese man, we’d never have chosen to have lunch at the Chinese restaurant, Atlántico. We had returned to Omali Lodge on the African island of Sâo Tomé where we had a day room booked until our evening flight home. Unfortunately, by the time we had […]…
Discovering Principe
Whilst staying on the small, little known African island of Principe, we split our time between Roça Sundy and Sundy Praia. Our nine nights allowed us to experience the seven signature experiences included in our package. These are scheduled by the activities manager, and the numbers participating varied considerably. The CACAO ROUTE This half day […]…
Staying in a converted cacao plantation house on Principe
After a short stay on the African island of Sâo Tomé, we flew to the country’s second island, Principe, for nine nights. Here we divided our time between two hotels, both part of the Here Be Dragons (HBD) group: Roça Sunday and Sundy Praia. Roça Sunday was only a 15-minute drive from the tiny airport, […]…
STP Airways hop between Sāo Tomé and Principe
The little known, and second smallest African country, Sāo Tomé and Principe, comprises of two small islands. Separated by nearly 100 miles, the easiest way of travelling between them is a 40-minute flight. With only two flights a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, tickets go quickly, as there are only […]…
A tour of Sāo Tomé’s interior
Whilst staying for five nights on the little-known African island of Sāo Tomé, we enjoyed a series of excursions organised by a local agency, Navetur. Our fourth outing to the island’s interior provided a mix of history, nature and an insight into what had been one of the country’s largest industries – coffee. Having left […]…
A tour of northern Sāo Tomé
Whilst staying for five nights on the small, little-known African island of Sāo Tomé, we enjoyed a series of excursions organised by a local agency, Navetur. For our third trip, we visited the northern part of the island. Until independence from the Portuguese in 1975, Sāo Tomé had a thriving cocoa and coffee industry, which […]…
Exploring Sāo Tomé’s east coast and a stupendous lunch
Whilst staying for five nights on the small, little known African island of Sāo Tomé, we enjoyed a series of excursions organised by a local agency, Navetur. After a somewhat nauseas trip the first day, due to the quality of the vehicle and roads, we hoped our second excursion would be smoother. The signs were […]…
Great for winter sunshine
We booked a package holiday with TUI to this resort for some relaxation & winter sun. Accommodation Our room was very spacious, on the first floor overlooking the pool area. The room had a very comfortable king sized bed, with lounge area consisting of couch, coffee table and two armchairs. There is a fridge, refilled […]…
Standing on the equator in Sāo Tomé
Whilst staying for five nights on the small African island of Sāo Tomé, we had a series of excursions organised by a local agency, Navetur. Our first trip was to the Ilhéu das Rolas (or Rolas Islet) where we could stand on the equator mark. Our guide was Hamilton, with Nino behind the wheel of […]…
An ideal hotel on the African island of São Tomé
São Tomé and Príncipe, consists of two archipelagos, 140km apart, off the west coast of central Africa. Following a tour of Sierra Leone, we spent two weeks enjoying winter sun on both islands. Omali Lodge is part of the HBD (Here Be Dragons) Group and we also stayed at two of their other properties on […]…
A simple life in Rogbonko Village
Whilst on a tour of Sierra Leone we visited the village of Rogbonko. The name means ‘village in the forest’ and getting there from the nearest town of Makeni, was quite a journey. The first 30 minutes was a paved road, but after turning off at Magburaka, the next 30 minutes involved a bumpy dirt […]…
Five African countries in twelve hours
Before we’d even flown with Ethiopian Airlines strategic partner, ASKY Airlines, our experience was poor. Our flight from Sierra Leone (Lungi) to Sāo Tomé, was cancelled which meant not only changing our itinerary, but touching down in Ghana (Accra), Togo (Lome) and Gabon (Libreville). Subsequent changes meant departing at 5am instead of a more reasonable […]…
