WHERE THE GREEN IS EVEN GREENER!

If the Island of São Tomé is described as a green one, what can we say about Príncipe? You  will not find a green that is greener. It is an untouched Island, almost virgin, with few inhabitants and has dreaming beaches. To travel to the archipelago without visiting the island of Príncipe is a kind of sin!

The island of Príncipe is one of three existing oceanic volcanic islands of the Gulf of Guinea and is geologically the oldest of the group, formed 31 million years ago.

Príncipe is 20km long and 12km wide.

Príncipe is the smaller, northern major island of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa. It has an area of 136 square kilometres and a population of approximately 5,000.

The north of the island is flatter and contains the majority of the human population. The south holds the ecological santuary, the country first UNESCO Biosphere reserve.

In 2012, the whole island of Príncipe and surrounding waters and islets were classified as a Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO — a classification that has helped promote sustainable development goals in the country’s smaller island.

It seams as if that the Island of Príncipe had stopped in time. It is an absolute quietness distributed in 20km by 19km and is in the north that there is some life. The only existing road is a tarred highway of 12 kilometres length that connects the airport to the city of Santo Antonio, the Islet of Bom Bom and the plantation Sundy. The remaining are rails of beaten earth. But those who arrived by lowpowered aircraft have a surprising eyesight from the air that provides them an idea of what they are going to discover. And as they approach the runway, they can see the bungalows of Bom Bom, the small houses of the city and the velvety turquoise colour of the sea close to the coast.

The Príncipe southern region reminds a separate world. It is the most exclusive and remote area, more far away and in the oldest fashion one can imagine, in spite of the smallness of the Island. The only access to the south countryside is by jeep. Usually, the limit is given by the plantation Sao Joaquim, whose population still produces the Palm oil. But what call your attention are the surrounding scenarios as if they were magic: in an orderly queue, you find aligned the most impressive peaks of the Island Mountain Pai, Mountain Filho, Peak Fanado, Peak Mesa, Barriga Branca, Brito Barriga, Monte Papagaio and Fundão. The exception is the highest point of the Island (the Peak of Príncipe, 948 metres high), that is far from there. 

As you approach in an old twin-prop 18-seat Dornier, it emerges from the clouds like a Caribbean Treasure Island, a patch of green in the endless blue with white waves breaking in numerous bays. Forest covers virtually everything, running right down to the shore, a jumble of palms, oka, and many other species.