We woke up early to catch our 9am flight to Príncipe. Not surprisingly for Jan 1, we were the only ones at breakfast at 7am. The buffet included good Portugese bread and a fruit that was new to us (we later figured out it was jackfruit, which is in season right now).
One of the staff went to find the manager so we could check out. He also called for the transport to take us to the airport.
We checked in and went through security. Most of the other passengers were already there. The plane had 33 seats and was completely full - I had pictured a much smaller plane.
Then we waited. The airport folks had mentioned that the flight was delayed by one hour due to weather, so we settled in. Then they came by and said the flight was now delayed until 1pm. Some passengers headed into town for a coffee or snacks (it looked like some had arrived in São Tomé on an overnight flight from Europe, they were jet lagged). We just stayed back as we had water and our devices and it didn't matter to us where we waited.
Then around 11am the flight was delayed again until 2:30. We walked into town (I think the only place I've walked from an international airport to town) and stopped in at Hotel Praia, about 500m from the airport along the main drag. It looked like a fairly large resort hotel and had a restaurant. We both ordered burgers which we figured was harder to mess up than some of the other items.
While we waited for our food, we got the wifi password and checked out the reviews of the place on tripadvisor. Large hotel. Check. Mostly empty. Check. Hour wait for food. Check. However it was really close to the airport and if our flight didn't get out today, it became our backup place for the night.
The burger was a heart attack waiting to happen, beef pattie, bacon, cheese, egg, and a sauce. It was a shock as otherwise we've been eating relatively healthy foods so far on this trip.
Around 1:30pm we headed back to the airport. Went through security and into the gate area. The plane was being readied for the flight, a very good sign. Then we were allowed onto the tarmac, another step closer! There was about a 10 minute wait while they completed the pre-flight checks and then we boarded.
It's only 40 minutes to Príncipe. I had my camera ready but there were too many clouds for any decent pics. We did fly over Bom Bom island on the northeast side on our approach.
There was a medical check as we entered the terminal / small building, just the forehead temperature check. We got our bags and outside were greeted by our driver from Praia Sundy where we were spending the first two nights on Príncipe.
The drive from the airport to Praia Sundy (really, any drive on the island) was really cool. It's a dirt road cut into the side of steep hills, with just barely enough for vehicles to pass. It took about 30 minutes to cover the 5km.
Praia Sundy is our splurge for the trip, which we booked after flights were rearranged and we couldn't get into Makaira for our new dates. It's a brand new sister lodge of Bom Bom and the Roca Sundy, only been open for two weeks.
Because of the flight delays, we weren't able to go out for any excursions today. We looked at booking the turtle viewing for either tonight or tomorrow, but Jan 1 is a big national holiday and so wasn't possible (something to do with the guards).
So we just washed up and headed to the pool bar for drinks. We then went to the restaurant for dinner. They do an excellent job with food here, it's the kind of place that wins awards. They've done a great job of incorporating local ingredients and flavours. Everything we tried over the next day or so was excellent. Chocolate and coffee feature prominently (Príncipe is apparently world-reknowned for both). Anyways we really really enjoyed dinner.
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