The equatorial island nobody knows — shade-grown cacao, roça ruins and birdsong at dawn
São Tomé is the capital of São Tomé and Príncipe, a two-island nation straddling the equator in the Gulf of Guinea that produces some of the world's finest cacao and has more endemic bird species per square kilometre than almost anywhere on earth. The city is a ruinous beauty — Portuguese colonial roças (plantation manor houses) crumble gorgeously among mango trees, the Mercado Municipal overflows with flying fish and breadfruit, and the hiking trails into Pico de São Tomé's cloud forest are among the most spectacular in Africa. The cuisine blends West African and Portuguese influences: calul…
São Tomé and Príncipe were uninhabited when Portuguese explorers arrived in 1470, making them the first African colony to be developed entirely from scratch — the Portuguese brought enslaved Africans to build the sugar plantations that would make the island the world's largest sugar producer by the late 16th century. The roças (plantation complexes) that still dot both islands are the physical legacy of this economy. After centuries of Portuguese rule the islands gained independence in 1975 and became one of Africa's rare successful multi-party democracies. The cacao industry now focuses on f…