Travel

The Drive Up the North of Sao Tome

My first day on Sao Tome was a thrill, trust me! ‘ I just had sketchy plans heading to Sao Tome but Travel Buddy Annabelle who I met over the internet had the most figured out. She had made prior plans and arrangements and all I did was get ready. I met her up at her guest house and off we went up the North of Sao Tome. Our first stop was a colonial styled plantation house and trust me there are a lot of these in Sao Tome. I really do not remember what this one was called but we took some pictures and left.

Our drive was in a rented car which came with a driver who spoke Portuguese but hardly any English. Annabelle studied languages in school and chatted quite well with him. All I did for the most was take in the scenery and interrupted a bit to ask some questions. I kinda felt a bit bored on our bumpy drive down the North of Sao Tome and at this point, I decided I had to take a language class.

Sao tome is a small rustic country with nature at its best. The vegetation and air here is so pure, your lungs will thank you. Carbon monoxide and exhaust fumes are limited. Heck I could even count the number of cars that passed us during our drive. I was surprised to see that the locals wash in the streams and most of the houses were made out of wood.

The trip up the north is quite a stretch but the stops made it exciting. Of the stops we made, nothing was as exciting as the blue lagoon which is called Lagoa Azul in Portuguese. It was the prettiest water body I have seen and totally worth the time we spent there.

If not that we still had a long stretch ahead of us, I literally wanted to hop in behind this bunch and go have a swim in there.

Fishing is a major occupation in Sao Tome. I saw these cute fishes that would definitely have looked cute in an aquarium rather than ice cold dead on a wooden canoe but then people gotta eat you know and I wished for a second that I could go fishing with a local.

We did a little bit of hiking to the blue lagoon light house watched the amazing view and took some pictures.

We stopped by for lunch at a local crab restaurant called Santola and we had an amazing lunch. I mean fine dinning like I had here is pretty awesome but there is nothing like food being tasty and filling at the same time. I ordered fish and plantain fritas (which was pretty much plantain chips really popular and quite annoying if you ask me) the fish was however amazing and it has got to be the best fish I have ever had. Annabelle ordered some crabs which I tried after taking crab eating lessons and it was pretty good also. Santola is fine restaurant with pretty African decor and I totally recommend them if you ever in the North of Sao Tome.

After lunch, we drove further north and bumped into a waterfall just by the roadside. I was amazed at how one can casually just drive by a water fall on the street. This was the height, I just wanted to pack my things and relocate here. Water falls are usually located inside dense forests and getting to one requires at least a bit of hiking, trekking or driving.

There are public transportation to the North of Sao Tome however I would recommend hiring a car as those wouldn’t make stops for you to take in the sights.

If you are a into cycling, rent a bike and head out. There are also quad bikes for rent for day trips in Sao Tome. Another option is bargaining and hiring a motorbike with the rider for a day.