Sao Tome and Angola (1/2)
This post is part 1 of the "st-ao-2024" series:
I spent nearly 3 weeks exploring Sao Tome and Angola. It was a pretty good trip overall, despite requiring 8 separate flights (round trip). What follows is the time that I spent in Sao Tome, see the second part for Angola.
Day 1
I tried to checkin at a Jetblue kiosk, but it insisted that I needed a visa for Sao Tome. At the counter, they didn't care,
and I had no issues getting all of my boarding passes. SFO terminal 1 has a bizarre setup where the Precheck line is upstairs.
And its understaffed and very slow, so it took 20 minutes to clear security, then go back down stairs.
I was assigned boarding group E for the flight to Boston, but I got in line with A and no one noticed/cared.
The flight was 100% full. Boarding actually started on time and finished 20 minutes before departure. The flight was fine and uneventful.
The guy sitting beside me spent the entire flight watchinh FOX news, so that was fun. We landed a few minutes early.
I got a notification that my TAP flight to Lisbon was now 25 minutes late due to congestion in Lisbon, even though the plane arrived in Boston on time. Thankfully my flight was literally one gate over from where I arrived in Boston, so it was a short walk for my Lisbon flight. The airport was super packed. I ended up getting a sandwich since it was going to be a while before I got food on the flight. Boarding started at 17:50, and we pushed back at 18:40. It started raining as we took off from Boston. The flight was very warm, but otherwise was ok. We landed about 20 minutes late, and then had a bus gate to the terminal.
My flight to Sao Tome boarded on time, but was a lame bus gate. Also, it had a planned stop in Accra, Ghana.
The flight was fine, and i managed to sleep a few hours. I landed in Sao Tome about 10 minutes late.
I had working cell signal for 30 seconds, and then nothing ever since.
Not that it mattered much as the terminal had no place to get a SIM card regardless.
The airport had a janky huge air conditioned tent (i'm guessing leftover from COVID19) where they were checking yellow cards.
Visa was fairly easy (they asked just 3 questions, type of visa, hotel name, and number of days).
When I exited the terminal I easily found the guy holding a sign with my name for the rental.
The big surprise is that they wanted 160 euro in cash as a deposit, and I was not expecting that.
Thankfully the ATM worked, and I was able to get out cash. The car was literally running on fumes, with a dash warning light for empty.
I thought for sure, I was going to run out of gas, but I managed to do the 10 minute drive to the hotel.
Checkin went fine. I asked them about a gas station, and I went there first. There was some drama opening the gas door, but I did manage to get gas.
Dinner was at Papa de Figo, a seafood place just down the road from the hotel. Of course they didn't have much of the menu, so I ended up with a whole generic grilled fish, plantains, rice and some weird eggplant & carrots. It was fine.
Day 2
I slept fairly well until around 6am. My room faces east and the road, and the sun plus morning traffic woke me.
Breakfast was fairly basic (breads granola, fruit, tea).
I decided to explore the city first, although I debated whether to walk or drive. But the weather seemed ok, so I walked. It wasn't that hot (upper 20s) but very humid. There are quite a lot of old, colonial era buildings, but overall, its not dense. Lots of random stray dogs everywhere. I walked along the waterfront, then past the presidential palace (where armed guards were marching), and finally to the national museum.
The museum is on the water front, in a 16th century fort, with a 19th century light house. It cost about $4 to enter, and was very much not worth it. Most of the exhibits were random stuff in glass cases with a few random signs, only in Portuguese. There was an exhibit about their independence (1975) which was fine. The fort itself was kinda small and unimpressive. And to round out the experience, the staff begged me to buy souvenirs as I was leaving.
Afterwards, it was just after 11am, so I decided to drive the north coast road (about 50km), to the end. Overall, the drive was nice. The first third was a nicely paved, 2 land road. Then it turned into an ugly potholed mess, of varying width. Still, the scenery was pretty, with the sea on one side, and jungle on the other. Plus occasional waterfalls, small towns, a huge tunnel through a cliff, and wild pigs scampering about. There wasn't much traffic, beyond motorbikes, old yellow Toyota minivans, and some trucks hauling stuff. Then the road ended abruptly at a large, washed out bridge. I wasn't even sure if the bridge was ok, beyond a toaster sized rock sitting in the middle of the road. I parked, and walked across, and suddenly the bridge became a cliff, about 2/3 of the way, with the remainder laying in the river. The river itself was barely knee deep, and lots of kids were swimming & playing, while women were doing laundry. Apparently the bridge was destroyed in a storm back in 2021.
I drove back after that, and got to the hotel at 3pm, just as it was starting to rain a bit.
For dinner, I went to a portuguese restaurant that was about 10 minutes walk from the hotel. I got an appetizer that had chorizo, whelks in garlic butter, cuttlefish fritters, and cornmeal battered cod and main of seafood curry that had whelks & shrimp. it was all really good.
Day 3
I slept ok until around 4:45am when the power went out. The lack of AC plus a beeping sound kept me up for nearly an hour, when the power was restored. I managed to sleep until 8am. I got breakfast, and then headed out for the day just after 9am.
I drove the full southern coast road. It became obvious early in the drive that the weather in the south is much wetter than up north.
Way more dense foliage everywhere, and it was drizzling periodically the entire drive.
The road was in decent condition for the first hour. I turned off the road, and down a stone road, past a village,
and ended up at the coast. The view was over a cliff to what is known as the 'hell mouth', which is a blowhole.
There were some cool rock formations too. After continuing, the main road started slow degradation, first with potholes,
and then long stretches of stones.
I turned off the road past another village where a pack of kids thought that I was the most fascinating person ever,
as they giggled, and followed me around. I came to see Cascata de Praia Pesqueira, a waterfall plunging over a cliff into the sea.
It was nice, and the scenery in general was pretty, with dense coconut palms everywhere.
The road & weather worsened the further west I drove. There wasn't much traffic, although I did encounter some other tourists driving about as well. Eventually, I came to a clearing, and got a decent view of a 2000ft volcanic plug known as Cão Grande Peak. I reached the south western most town of Porto Alegre just after noon. I was hoping to catch a boat ride out to Rolos Island (where the actual equator passes), but the weather was crap, with wind and rain, causing rough seas. I did see the island off on the horizon though. The drive back went smoothly, and took just under 2 hours. The sun was sorta out by the time I returned to the hotel at 3pm.
Gas stations in this country are nearly invisible. No big signs, and no awnings over the pumps. They're always a pump or 2 beside some generic looking building. And they only take cash.
Day 4
I slept well until 08:30am. While eating breakfast the power went out for about 15 minutes.
The drive today was easy. The hike was not. I drove west on a road that sliced across the center of the island, into the mountains & jungle. The road was in great condition for much of the route, and it took about 40 minutes to reach my first stop, Saint Nicolas Falls. It was really pretty, and right beside the road.
After that, I drove further west, on a stone road to the entrance to Obo National Park. The ranger had me register in their log book, and then at 11:30am, I started hiking towards Lagoa Emelia, the crater of an extinct volcano. Thankfully the temperature was in the low 20s, but the humidity was brutal. The total distance out was barely 2.5 miles, but it felt like much more. The trail was wet & muddy, and extremely overgrown. It was dense jungle, with colorful flowers, and lots of vines. The first half was relatively flat, but then it went up the side of the mountain, and just kept going. Every time I stopped to rest, mosquitoes swarmed me. Near the top were a lot of bamboo. The hike back was easier going down but harder trying not to slip. I almost fell 3 times, but managed to catch myself. I got back to the car at 2pm, and was drenched in sweat. AC felt amazing, and I was back at the hotel just after 3pm.
I went to 'the best' pizza place for dinner. it was ok, but not good. Very thin crust and very few toppings.
Day 5
No clue why, but I didn't sleep well. I woke up a bunch of times, and gave up just before 8am.
I didn't do much of anything today. I decided that I didn't want to drive for nearly an hour for another jungle hike. I relaxed at the hotel for much of the morning. The only reason that I spent 5 nights here was due to the infrequencies of the flight schedules to/from Sao Tome, or I would have left today.
There's a well regarded Italian chocolatier, Claudio Corralo, who is supposed to have a shop to sample locally made chocolate. I drove over there (less than 10 minutes across town). But when I got there I found a sign that they were only open by appointment, something their website & reviews never mentioned. I figured I'd find a cafe, get something small to eat/drink and people watch. I wandered the center of town for a while. But there are no real cafes, just tiny hole in the wall places making food all day, and even those were dead at noon.
When I returned to the car, I found a random young man in the process of washing my car. The front & rear wipers were up, and both side mirrors were folded back. I'm not sure if this is a scam to force people to pay, or just a thing that happens, but I was displeased, and yelled at him NO a few times. I guess that spooked him, and he came towards me with sad puppy eyes. I pushed the wipers down, got into the car, and locked the doors. But when I started the engine, the side mirrors were not returning to their normal position. I yelled at the guy again, while pointing to the mirror, and he pushed it back in place while holding out his hand for money. I drove away.
I was about to return to the hotel when I recalled passing a cafe along the waterfront road leading to the museum. I stopped there and got a latte & chocolate cake, and read a book for a while. There was a steady trickle of teenagers in school uniforms wandering past, and a small group of younger boys begging for food & money. After an hour, it was starting to rain a bit, so I returned to the glorious AC & wifi of the hotel.
For dinner I went to La Bistro, which is supposed to be one of the nicest non touristy restaurants. It was surprisingly good. They made a solid effort to speak english. I got the national beer (Rosema) which comes in bottles without labels. It tasted generic. And I made another attempt at pizza, since multiple google reviews claimed it was good. I got a chorizo pizza. It wasn't awful, prolly better than yesterday.
Day 6
I slept poorly again. I kept waking up in the middle of bizarre dreams repeatedly. I gave up at 7am, got a shower and had breakfast.
I checked out at 9am, and made the 10 minute drive back to the airport. Seeing it in daylight was something. Its so tiny.
The parking area had about 30 spaces, and most were unoccupied. he terminal was tiny as well.
I returned the car, and got my deposit back. Entering the terminal was the typical gauntlet of security theater.
First a passport & ticket check. next I got my boarding pass. Then the 'real' security, where they pulled apart both of my bags,
and confiscated all of my water. Finally I got to the (only) gate, where there were toilets, a gift shop, and a small snack bar.
The free wifi actually worked, after I registered my identity. There was even some AC that sorta worked.
While waiting for my flight a school field trip of what looked like 1st graders toured the terminal, including duty free. They all looked, bored confused and scared.
My plane from Luanda departed 24 minutes late, so of course it would arrive late here, meaning that i would depart late. Somehow they managed to start boarding just 30 minutes late. we all walked out of the terminal and across the tarmac to the stair truck. Oddly they made all of economy board from the rear, and biz class at the front. It was a SW sized plane, but had fewer than 50 passengers. I had the middle seat empty, and lots of passengers were playing musical chairs before we even departed. Then the guy in the window seat got upgraded to biz class because he knew people (he was greeting the pilot), so i had my row empty. Just before departure they walked the cabin spraying insecticide. We took off at 13:15.
The flight was ok. They did drink/snack service, and then we landed just after 4pm. Then we taxiied forever, for a damn bus gate. Best joke is that the entire airport is bus gates, since its an ancient terminal. Also they forced economy to exit from the rear, so I was nearly the last one off. but since it was a bus, everyone had to wait anyway. The bus ride wasn't too far from the terminal, and then the visa line. Thankfully since was nearly the last on the bus, i was nearly first off. Passport control wasn't too bad, other than taking my photo about 6 times. I found an ATM easily, and it worked fine. Then when I exited the arrivals hall, the sign with my name was easy to spot. I found where all the chinese tourists and guest workers have been going.
Luanda is a crazy bonkers contrast of everything. Oil wealth has made it one of the most expensive cities in the world, but its ringed by shanty towns. Huge 6 lane wide streets with traffic lights and sky scrapers are beside wooden shacks and seemingly homeless. The drive to the hotel took about 25 minutes, passing all of that. But Luanda also has a long narrow peninsula jutting into the sea, which is mostly beaches on the ocean side, and clubs, hotels & restaurants on the other side. Plus homeless people living on the beaches.
The hotel wanted me to pay my bill at check in which was not unexpected. What was unexpected is that their card reader didn't work, and they were insisting that I pay 198k kwanza in cash. I didn't plan for this much expense, so I asked where the nearest ATM was, and they insisted it was back on the 'mainland'. Back in the car 10 minutes drive, I got out 240k kwanza (which is about $231) from the ATM, sorta worried that I'm about to get robbed. Thankfully, I wasn't, and then we drove back. I paid the bill and the guy then told me I needed to pay the driver 2k kwanza for the ride to the ATM. I objected, noting that I shouldn't have to pay extra when their card machine was broken. He backed down, and I went up to my room, annoyed by all this drama and nonsense.
At this point it was after, I was getting very hungry, and wanted to find dinner.
I ended up walking for about 15 minutes (past a seemingly good ATM!) to a well reviewed fish place.
Its basically setup where you select your fresh whole fish (price varies based on the type of fish) from a huge ice box,
and then all the sides come with it. I got a passion fruit Caipirinha, which was yummy. The food was very good.
They butterflied the fish and grilled it. It came with fresh lemon, beans, plantain, tarro and a salsa.
Also, my fish choice was a blind buy, since they were listed only in portuguese, and my server could only manage basic english.
Yet, i lucked out as it was a nice oily fish with a lot of flavor.
All trip pictures are posted HERE
This post is part 1 of the "st-ao-2024" series: