According to our guide book and our favourite Rome travel site (romewise.com), Boxing Day is one of the lesser-crowded days to visit the Colosseum, Forum and Palatino, so that's where we headed after a late breakfast.
We knew the way having walked there yesterday. Our hotel is pretty centrally located - it's been about a 20-25 minute walk to everything we've seen.
Waited about five minutes in line to buy our ticket. One ticket covers entry to all three (Colosseum, Forum, Palatino), valid for two consecutive days, for €12 / person. They accepted credit card too!
First we explored the Forum. It's quite the collection of ruins, in various states of restoration. It's up there on the list of things to see in the world. It was very uncrowded - in some places we were all alone with the view. I was able to get some tourist-free pics which I wasn't expecting.
Palatino hill was more crowded, but not overbearingly so. There was lots of railing space for views overlooking the forum, I think in high season you have to wait for your turn.
There was a long line up to enter the Colosseum, so we decided to go for lunch and then come back near close. Yesterday we had stumbled across a restaurant in a small plaza down the back streets, so we tried it out. We had a salumi platter, and a artichoke & pecorino pizza. Both were excellent so we booked there for dinner.
By the time we got back to the Colosseum it was about 3:45pm. The last entry is at 3:30pm so we headed back to our hotel.
There were more locals at the restaurant (Vinando), who are usually smartly dressed. So for the first time on a trip I actually ironed a shirt and wore a jacket. Dinner was good. We ordered fried anchovies, ocoptus / potato / carrot salad (the hit of the meal, pasta (orecchiette with mussels) and main (grilled calamari). Lost in translation was that we were splitting the pasta and main so they came out at the same time.
We were very close to home (about a five minute walk) but made a couple wrong turns so it took a bit longer. Another good eating day in Rome!
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
Rome, Italy — Christmas Day
Merry Christmas! We woke up and caught the end of breakfast, it looked like most of the other people in the hotel had the same idea.
Most places are closed on Christmas but for many sights the outside is just as impressive. We started wandering through the Jewish Ghetto, there's some excavated ruins, as well as the actual synagogue that's a beautiful building.
Then walked down to Piazza Venezia, along the way climbed the many stairs to Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli. The weather was perfect for sightseeing, sunny and about 14C.
Then the long approach down Via del Fori Imperiali to the Colosseum. On the right the road overlooks the Forum. There's a subway line under construction that blocks the classic view of the Colosseum, but there's plenty of other vantage points.
It was almost 2pm so we looked for a place for lunch. Most restaurants were either closed or serving the traditional large Christmas lunch. We found a little pizzeria with yummy sandwiches, wine by the glass and beer on tap. A lot of locals dropped by, walking their dogs, have a quick espresso or glass of wine. They had the best espresso we've had so far in Rome.
We decided to hang out by the Colosseum and wait for the sun to set. Our hotel gives guests a Android phone with free local calls and data, so we were able to look up the sunset time (4:44pm), about an hour. We also called to make a reservation for dinner at La Tavernetta 29. It's a popular restaurant and we were only able to get in for 10pm.
Settled on the best location to watch the sunset over the Colosseum. Took a lot of very similar pictures. We could probably string them together and make a movie from stills. Heather's iPhone took much better pictures than my camera, especially with the contrast between the sky and shadows.
We weren't quite dressed for standing around in the cold, and we're getting frozen by the time the sky changed colour for the pictures we wanted. Retraced our route back down Via del Fori Imperiali and back to our hotel. A hot shower fixed us up, and then we relaxed / napped before our late Christmas dinner.
Dinner was excellent, our favourite meal to date. Had starters of artichokes, and a caprese salad, then ravioli with truffles, and grilled lamb for the main. At the end the restaurant kept coming over with free stuff - a lemon sorbet, then a cake, and a shot of limoncello to finish. It was all very good, and another late night for us.
Most places are closed on Christmas but for many sights the outside is just as impressive. We started wandering through the Jewish Ghetto, there's some excavated ruins, as well as the actual synagogue that's a beautiful building.
Then walked down to Piazza Venezia, along the way climbed the many stairs to Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli. The weather was perfect for sightseeing, sunny and about 14C.
Then the long approach down Via del Fori Imperiali to the Colosseum. On the right the road overlooks the Forum. There's a subway line under construction that blocks the classic view of the Colosseum, but there's plenty of other vantage points.
It was almost 2pm so we looked for a place for lunch. Most restaurants were either closed or serving the traditional large Christmas lunch. We found a little pizzeria with yummy sandwiches, wine by the glass and beer on tap. A lot of locals dropped by, walking their dogs, have a quick espresso or glass of wine. They had the best espresso we've had so far in Rome.
We decided to hang out by the Colosseum and wait for the sun to set. Our hotel gives guests a Android phone with free local calls and data, so we were able to look up the sunset time (4:44pm), about an hour. We also called to make a reservation for dinner at La Tavernetta 29. It's a popular restaurant and we were only able to get in for 10pm.
Settled on the best location to watch the sunset over the Colosseum. Took a lot of very similar pictures. We could probably string them together and make a movie from stills. Heather's iPhone took much better pictures than my camera, especially with the contrast between the sky and shadows.
We weren't quite dressed for standing around in the cold, and we're getting frozen by the time the sky changed colour for the pictures we wanted. Retraced our route back down Via del Fori Imperiali and back to our hotel. A hot shower fixed us up, and then we relaxed / napped before our late Christmas dinner.
Dinner was excellent, our favourite meal to date. Had starters of artichokes, and a caprese salad, then ravioli with truffles, and grilled lamb for the main. At the end the restaurant kept coming over with free stuff - a lemon sorbet, then a cake, and a shot of limoncello to finish. It was all very good, and another late night for us.
Monday, December 24, 2018
Rome, Italy — Midnight Mass
We woke up around 8:30am. I had been up since about 3am, jetlagged, so was a bit groggy. The breakfast buffet was good, we both had a cappuccino (when in Rome).
We had to be in line for Midnight Mass by 6pm, so we had planned our day around that.
Walked over to the Christmas Market in Piazza Navona. There's lots of great old buildings surrounding the plaza. We were still new to Rome and not yet tired of churches and cathedrals so stopped into the church fronting the plaza, Sant'Agnese in Agone.
Then walked over a block and into San Luigi dei Francesi, another nice random church. It's amazing how every block has an amazing old church that elsewhere could be the main sight in a town and here it's just a church, not even great enough to garner a mention in the guide book.
Another couple blocks down and we were at the Pantheon. It was the busiest so far of the sights we visited, but wasn't overwhelmingly busy. I didn't find the sight itself particularly amazing but I think it's architecturally significant for the size of the roof at the time.
It was getting close to 2pm so we got back to our hotel, and then out for lunch. We didn't feel like venturing too far and so had lunch at Yotvata, less than a minute walk. Tried the artichokes in a couple dishes, they are in season now. This time we had two appetizers, one pasta and two mains (yesterday had done 2-2-1 but it was too much pasta). However here it was way too much fish for the main, we could have easily gone 2-1-1 for apps/pasta/main.
Got home, and the jetlag and lack of sleep last night got to us and we napped for an hour or two.
Our alarm woke us up to get ready for midnight mass. We dressed in layers because we didn't know how long we would wait outside, or how hot/cold it would be inside with 15,000 people. We had also brought our iPhones to catch up on reading in the line ups.
Got to the Vatican around 5:30ish. There was already about a thousand people in line, waiting for the security checkpoint to open. Waited about 20 minutes, and then found out we were in the wrong line. The line up we were in was for general admission to St Peter's Square. There's a separate line near the left colonnade for ticket holders for the basilica. So we went to line up there. This security checkpoint was open, and in about ten minutes we were through!
The excitement lasted about 30 seconds when we realized we now had to line up again, this time to enter the basilica. So we got in line. The doors open at 7pm. We didn't have long to wait, as it was already about 6:45pm what with our waiting in wrong lineups and the security check.
We knew it was 7pm because the bells ring rather loudly on the hour. We had read that the line surges for the first ten minutes and then it's okay. Sure enough, everyone pushed forward. The little old nuns in particular seemed to have sharpened their elbows. Anyways we didn't get trampled and made it through the first of many ticket checks.
We quickly walked to the front of the basilica (other people were running to get good seats). Our tickets were checked by Swiss Guard after Swiss Guard at every turn and corner. And then we were in the basilica!
Got a very nice program for the mass, which more than made up for the lack of production quality in the ticket.
There were seats too (when we visited yesterday, and probably normally, the chairs are removed to allow easier flow of tourists. We weren't sure if they put in seats for the mass).
We wanted seats near the blocked-off centre aisle to get a good look at the procession of cardinals and the pope. We ended up about 15 rows from the front, and 7 seats from the aisle. Not bad indeed. Although, there was still about 20 rows of clergy in front of the general assembly, and the altar itself is very large. I'd say we were about 250ft from the pope, so he was pretty small to see at that distance.
Settled in for the wait until the start of mass at 9:30pm. There was an orchestra and a choir, although it was over a sound system so didn't get a feel for the acoustics of the basilica. I tried to find the toilets, but it was harder than our ticket pick up process. So gave up and went back to our seats. (From overhearing other attendees, there's only about 4 toilets for 15,000 people, and the wait was over 90 minutes).
Around 9pm they said the rosary, in either Latin or Italian, not sure. At precisely 9:30pm, the TV lights came on (I'm not kidding, it was like a sporting event with a press booth and multiple camera angles) and the procession of clergy began. Eventually that led way to the cardinals, and finally the pope. To be honest I don't watch the news that much anymore and I don't really know what the pope looks like. I assumed I'd be able to tell by his papal hat or robe, but couldn't pick him out of the line up of cardinals. I only figured out it was the pope because of the security detail surrounding him.
The mass was mostly in Latin, except for the prayers of the faithful which had languages from around the world. The fancy program we received on entry had the English translation on opposite pages which made it easier to follow. It was only the homily that we didn't understand, although we could see all the press updating their social media after the pope was done.
I found it a bit distracting with most people taking pics throughout mass (except at holy times like the blessing of the Eucharist), in particular those taking pics on their iPads.
They did serve communion, via the dozens of clergy. Each row shunted along to the central aisle to receive communion.
They cut out the last few pages of the mass, due to time. TV scheduling wins again, the mass had to complete in 90 minutes as another program was starting on TV at 11pm. So they skipped over the last few prayers, a couple hymns were cut, mass ended and we went in peace. (Actually, that line got cut too so mass just ended).
It took some time to exit, but finally we made it out. We walked back to Trastevere and searched out a restaurant whose kitchen was still open. Found I think the only one open past midnight and split a pizza, which was very good.
Read through the rest of the program and realized that by attending midnight mass we get a Plenary Indulgence. I had to google it and I'm still not clear.
We got home rather late for us around 2am and fell fast asleep.
We had to be in line for Midnight Mass by 6pm, so we had planned our day around that.
Walked over to the Christmas Market in Piazza Navona. There's lots of great old buildings surrounding the plaza. We were still new to Rome and not yet tired of churches and cathedrals so stopped into the church fronting the plaza, Sant'Agnese in Agone.
Then walked over a block and into San Luigi dei Francesi, another nice random church. It's amazing how every block has an amazing old church that elsewhere could be the main sight in a town and here it's just a church, not even great enough to garner a mention in the guide book.
Another couple blocks down and we were at the Pantheon. It was the busiest so far of the sights we visited, but wasn't overwhelmingly busy. I didn't find the sight itself particularly amazing but I think it's architecturally significant for the size of the roof at the time.
It was getting close to 2pm so we got back to our hotel, and then out for lunch. We didn't feel like venturing too far and so had lunch at Yotvata, less than a minute walk. Tried the artichokes in a couple dishes, they are in season now. This time we had two appetizers, one pasta and two mains (yesterday had done 2-2-1 but it was too much pasta). However here it was way too much fish for the main, we could have easily gone 2-1-1 for apps/pasta/main.
Got home, and the jetlag and lack of sleep last night got to us and we napped for an hour or two.
Our alarm woke us up to get ready for midnight mass. We dressed in layers because we didn't know how long we would wait outside, or how hot/cold it would be inside with 15,000 people. We had also brought our iPhones to catch up on reading in the line ups.
Got to the Vatican around 5:30ish. There was already about a thousand people in line, waiting for the security checkpoint to open. Waited about 20 minutes, and then found out we were in the wrong line. The line up we were in was for general admission to St Peter's Square. There's a separate line near the left colonnade for ticket holders for the basilica. So we went to line up there. This security checkpoint was open, and in about ten minutes we were through!
The excitement lasted about 30 seconds when we realized we now had to line up again, this time to enter the basilica. So we got in line. The doors open at 7pm. We didn't have long to wait, as it was already about 6:45pm what with our waiting in wrong lineups and the security check.
We knew it was 7pm because the bells ring rather loudly on the hour. We had read that the line surges for the first ten minutes and then it's okay. Sure enough, everyone pushed forward. The little old nuns in particular seemed to have sharpened their elbows. Anyways we didn't get trampled and made it through the first of many ticket checks.
We quickly walked to the front of the basilica (other people were running to get good seats). Our tickets were checked by Swiss Guard after Swiss Guard at every turn and corner. And then we were in the basilica!
Got a very nice program for the mass, which more than made up for the lack of production quality in the ticket.
There were seats too (when we visited yesterday, and probably normally, the chairs are removed to allow easier flow of tourists. We weren't sure if they put in seats for the mass).
We wanted seats near the blocked-off centre aisle to get a good look at the procession of cardinals and the pope. We ended up about 15 rows from the front, and 7 seats from the aisle. Not bad indeed. Although, there was still about 20 rows of clergy in front of the general assembly, and the altar itself is very large. I'd say we were about 250ft from the pope, so he was pretty small to see at that distance.
Settled in for the wait until the start of mass at 9:30pm. There was an orchestra and a choir, although it was over a sound system so didn't get a feel for the acoustics of the basilica. I tried to find the toilets, but it was harder than our ticket pick up process. So gave up and went back to our seats. (From overhearing other attendees, there's only about 4 toilets for 15,000 people, and the wait was over 90 minutes).
Around 9pm they said the rosary, in either Latin or Italian, not sure. At precisely 9:30pm, the TV lights came on (I'm not kidding, it was like a sporting event with a press booth and multiple camera angles) and the procession of clergy began. Eventually that led way to the cardinals, and finally the pope. To be honest I don't watch the news that much anymore and I don't really know what the pope looks like. I assumed I'd be able to tell by his papal hat or robe, but couldn't pick him out of the line up of cardinals. I only figured out it was the pope because of the security detail surrounding him.
The mass was mostly in Latin, except for the prayers of the faithful which had languages from around the world. The fancy program we received on entry had the English translation on opposite pages which made it easier to follow. It was only the homily that we didn't understand, although we could see all the press updating their social media after the pope was done.
I found it a bit distracting with most people taking pics throughout mass (except at holy times like the blessing of the Eucharist), in particular those taking pics on their iPads.
They did serve communion, via the dozens of clergy. Each row shunted along to the central aisle to receive communion.
They cut out the last few pages of the mass, due to time. TV scheduling wins again, the mass had to complete in 90 minutes as another program was starting on TV at 11pm. So they skipped over the last few prayers, a couple hymns were cut, mass ended and we went in peace. (Actually, that line got cut too so mass just ended).
It took some time to exit, but finally we made it out. We walked back to Trastevere and searched out a restaurant whose kitchen was still open. Found I think the only one open past midnight and split a pizza, which was very good.
Read through the rest of the program and realized that by attending midnight mass we get a Plenary Indulgence. I had to google it and I'm still not clear.
We got home rather late for us around 2am and fell fast asleep.
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Rome, Italy — St Peter's Basilica
We landed at Fuimicino a few minutes early, just before noon. It was pretty quick to get our luggage and exit the terminal (I guess cause Italy and Amsterdam are both part of Schengen it was like a domestic flight). We didn't see our names on any of the driver's signs so texted him (our very organized hotel had sent us his info earlier). He was at another terminal but came over quickly and we were on our way to the hotel!
There was not much traffic and it took less than 30 minutes to reach Hotel Monte Cenci in central Rome. The hotel is up a small winding street that the taxi van barely fit. It was only 1pm and our room wasn't ready so we had a coffee on the 5th floor rooftop terrace. The hotel manager dropped by to chat and welcome us.
Because it was so quick to reach the hotel we still had time to pick up our tickets for midnight mass (the ticket office closes at 4pm). Our hotel room was ready by now so we freshened up and then headed out.
It was a nice 25 minute walk along the Tiber to the Vatican. The instructions in the email from the ticket people said to go to the Bronze Door where the right-hand Bernini colonnade begins. But is that the right side facing the basilica or from the basilica's perspective? Does the colonnade begin at the basilica or the street?
There was a long line up that I didn't think we had go through. But it turned out everyone entering the grounds goes through security, including just to pick up tickets. It wasn't that long to get through, about 20 minutes.
Then we were on a Bronze Door hunt. It was on the right side facing the basilica, and from the colonnade pillar closest to the basilica. Only one person could enter, so Heather went through the Bronze Door, guarded by Swiss Guards with big swords. Heather had a bag of sand the same weight as the envelope and hop-scotched in, while I stayed outside, took some pics and yelled after her, in the Latin alphabet, "Jehovah" begins with an I *
* some of these things may have actually happened in an Indiana Jones movie or a Dan Brown novel; this whole ticket process seemed rather elaborate.
A couple minutes later Heather emerged with our tickets! I was hoping for some fancy ticket gold-embossed with hand written calligraphy, but it was regular stock blue paper.
We walked up to the front of the basilica for a good vantage for pics of the square. Then we noticed that it was possible to enter the foyer of the basilica so in we went. Wandered around a bit. There was hardly any other tourists around. It was still possible to climb the rotunda so we bought our tickets (there were only two groups in line ahead of us, and they took the elevator. I think normally even just the ticket line has huge lineups).
It's a quick four minute walk up to the base of the dome, about 50m above the papal altar. We only passed by two other tourists going down. I could see this being a long slow walk at other times. We walked around the circumference, with great views down. There's a 10ft high fence so pics weren't possible, although it was one of the few times I would have used a selfie stick.
It's then another 50 or so metres to the top of the dome. This is a more awkward climb, as the corridor slants inwards and narrows to about 30" in places. The last bit is up a circular staircase with a rope down the middle for assistance. Luckily both going up and down we didn't pass anyone going in the other direction. I could see it being stinking hot in the summer too - at this time of year it was fine.
We reached the top in ten minutes, and we were greeted with great views outside of St Peter's Square. The sun was low in the horizon and so the lighting was great.
We took the same awkward climb back down, and exited into a large room with nice artwork. Took us a few seconds to realize we were now in St Peter's Basilica! There might have been twenty other tourists inside. So we walked around, took lots of pics, planned out our seating strategy for tomorrow.
Finally we headed back to our hotel, washed up, and headed out to dinner in Trastevere. It's a popular place for restaurants, just across the Tiber from our hotel. Dinner was good, the wine was excellent, we even had espresso (after 3pm!)
Not a bad start at all to our little trip, considering our flight had just touched down hours earlier.
There was not much traffic and it took less than 30 minutes to reach Hotel Monte Cenci in central Rome. The hotel is up a small winding street that the taxi van barely fit. It was only 1pm and our room wasn't ready so we had a coffee on the 5th floor rooftop terrace. The hotel manager dropped by to chat and welcome us.
Because it was so quick to reach the hotel we still had time to pick up our tickets for midnight mass (the ticket office closes at 4pm). Our hotel room was ready by now so we freshened up and then headed out.
It was a nice 25 minute walk along the Tiber to the Vatican. The instructions in the email from the ticket people said to go to the Bronze Door where the right-hand Bernini colonnade begins. But is that the right side facing the basilica or from the basilica's perspective? Does the colonnade begin at the basilica or the street?
There was a long line up that I didn't think we had go through. But it turned out everyone entering the grounds goes through security, including just to pick up tickets. It wasn't that long to get through, about 20 minutes.
Then we were on a Bronze Door hunt. It was on the right side facing the basilica, and from the colonnade pillar closest to the basilica. Only one person could enter, so Heather went through the Bronze Door, guarded by Swiss Guards with big swords. Heather had a bag of sand the same weight as the envelope and hop-scotched in, while I stayed outside, took some pics and yelled after her, in the Latin alphabet, "Jehovah" begins with an I *
* some of these things may have actually happened in an Indiana Jones movie or a Dan Brown novel; this whole ticket process seemed rather elaborate.
A couple minutes later Heather emerged with our tickets! I was hoping for some fancy ticket gold-embossed with hand written calligraphy, but it was regular stock blue paper.
We walked up to the front of the basilica for a good vantage for pics of the square. Then we noticed that it was possible to enter the foyer of the basilica so in we went. Wandered around a bit. There was hardly any other tourists around. It was still possible to climb the rotunda so we bought our tickets (there were only two groups in line ahead of us, and they took the elevator. I think normally even just the ticket line has huge lineups).
It's a quick four minute walk up to the base of the dome, about 50m above the papal altar. We only passed by two other tourists going down. I could see this being a long slow walk at other times. We walked around the circumference, with great views down. There's a 10ft high fence so pics weren't possible, although it was one of the few times I would have used a selfie stick.
It's then another 50 or so metres to the top of the dome. This is a more awkward climb, as the corridor slants inwards and narrows to about 30" in places. The last bit is up a circular staircase with a rope down the middle for assistance. Luckily both going up and down we didn't pass anyone going in the other direction. I could see it being stinking hot in the summer too - at this time of year it was fine.
We reached the top in ten minutes, and we were greeted with great views outside of St Peter's Square. The sun was low in the horizon and so the lighting was great.
We took the same awkward climb back down, and exited into a large room with nice artwork. Took us a few seconds to realize we were now in St Peter's Basilica! There might have been twenty other tourists inside. So we walked around, took lots of pics, planned out our seating strategy for tomorrow.
Finally we headed back to our hotel, washed up, and headed out to dinner in Trastevere. It's a popular place for restaurants, just across the Tiber from our hotel. Dinner was good, the wine was excellent, we even had espresso (after 3pm!)
Not a bad start at all to our little trip, considering our flight had just touched down hours earlier.
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Toronto, Canada
We're off to Rome for two weeks, mostly for the food and the sights. We were also lucky to get tickets for Midnight Mass at St Peter's Basilica, it's one of the few things we have actually planned.
It's a bit of a process to apply for tickets for Midnight Mass. You need to download an application and then fax (!) it to the Vatican. We signed up for an online fax service and started faxing. There's probably only one fax machine at the Vatican and not surprisingly busy most of the time. Thank goodness for auto resend, it took about 50 attempts. Then about two weeks later, we received an email response that we had been accepted! (I also thought it was cool to receive an email from a .va email address). In the email were instructions on how to pick up our tickets before mass.
Packing was much more straightforward than our other trips - it's just the clothes we'd wear at home. The weather in Rome around Christmas is a little warmer than Toronto, highs of 15C and lows around 4C. Normally about 50% of the days are rainy but according to my iPhone the weather looks good for the next week or so.
Our flight was Saturday at 6pm, so we weren't rushed to leave right after work on Friday. There's no direct flights from Toronto to Rome in the winter so we flew through Amsterdam. In between changing planes we went through passport control and got our passports stamped.
It's a bit of a process to apply for tickets for Midnight Mass. You need to download an application and then fax (!) it to the Vatican. We signed up for an online fax service and started faxing. There's probably only one fax machine at the Vatican and not surprisingly busy most of the time. Thank goodness for auto resend, it took about 50 attempts. Then about two weeks later, we received an email response that we had been accepted! (I also thought it was cool to receive an email from a .va email address). In the email were instructions on how to pick up our tickets before mass.
Packing was much more straightforward than our other trips - it's just the clothes we'd wear at home. The weather in Rome around Christmas is a little warmer than Toronto, highs of 15C and lows around 4C. Normally about 50% of the days are rainy but according to my iPhone the weather looks good for the next week or so.
Our flight was Saturday at 6pm, so we weren't rushed to leave right after work on Friday. There's no direct flights from Toronto to Rome in the winter so we flew through Amsterdam. In between changing planes we went through passport control and got our passports stamped.
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Toronto, Canada
We've been home for a week now. Our flight arrived back in Toronto on Sunday evening and I went to work on Monday so didn't get a chance to finish up the trip blog until this weekend.
My favourite experiences on this trip
There were lots more cool experiences, it seemed like this trip had a lot more unexpected cool things than most (maybe due to lack of any details on tourist attractions for either country on the web, we didn't have any expectations).
We had picked Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe because they rank near the bottom of the list for international tourist arrivals in the world. In both countries there were very few other tourists who weren't expats or visiting expats. It took quite of bit of emailing to organize the trip. It was the most difficulty I've had trying to arrange local flights -- the flight schedule was only posted two months in advance, and Canadian credit cards didn't work on their website. I couldn't find a local travel agency or local hotel that would book on our behalf, and finally found one (1) travel agency that could book the flights, Africa's Eden. They also had a relationship with Loango and the Roca Belo Monte in Principe, and we ended up booking half the trip through them. Payments for hotels for both countries was either through bank transfer or Paypal. Fortunately you can now do international money transfers through online banking, in the past it meant a trip to an actual bank in person and a steep fee.
We were lucky with the weather -- we really just had one day rained-out in Tassi. The other couple times it rained it didn't impact us (and actually added to the atmosphere at Roça de São João). The temperature wasn't too hot (I think the hottest was 30C) but it was very humid everywhere.
We didn't really see much of Gabon, just the capital and one national park. Despite all the stories on the web, we had no issues getting our visas (multiple entry visas at that). We had to submit a lot of documentation, but no more than what we've done for some other countries like Mozambique or Djibouti. With the visa in our passports we had no problems at the border. We both really liked Libreville, it has a nice buzz to it, although maybe a little short on things to see. Once you get outside the capital, there's plenty to do in Gabon's 13 national parks (10% of its land area!). Loango was really cool. We were lucky that they've just recently (mid-2017) habitualized lowland gorillas and that we got to see them on our excursion. If we had more time we would have liked to have visited some of the other national parks.
Principe was a lot of fun. We were really busy with activities -- stand-up paddle boarding, snorkeling, quad biking, trekking, turtle watching. Somehow we also found time to relax by the beach, and have candle-lit dinners in the courtyard at the Roca :) We really liked the charm of Roca Belo Monte, they've done a great job of restoring it. I was surprised at how much we enjoyed the turtle nesting -- I think because it's organized through researchers who take care to minimize the impact to the turtles. All the beaches on Principe were amazingly clean, and the water was really calm. We were also lucky (yet again) to get into the Praia Sundy -- I think their website accidentally let us book into their soft launch. The kitchen at Praia Sundy was amazing.
Sao Tome was a little more touristed, although that's relative to Principe. I'm glad we rented a car, it's a great way to see the island independently. The roads are in good condition and paved. For most of the trip we were staying at full board places (Loango, Principe) so it was nice to check out the food scene in Sao Tome. We had great seafood everywhere.
Overall it was a really relaxing trip!
My favourite experiences on this trip
- Tracking lowland gorillas in Loango
- Akaka river cruise
- Bird watching excursion with Praia Sundy
- Turtle nesting on Praia Grande
- Chocolate tasting at Claudio Corallo
- Quad biking around Principe
- 11-course degustation menu at Roça de São João in Sao Tome
There were lots more cool experiences, it seemed like this trip had a lot more unexpected cool things than most (maybe due to lack of any details on tourist attractions for either country on the web, we didn't have any expectations).
We had picked Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe because they rank near the bottom of the list for international tourist arrivals in the world. In both countries there were very few other tourists who weren't expats or visiting expats. It took quite of bit of emailing to organize the trip. It was the most difficulty I've had trying to arrange local flights -- the flight schedule was only posted two months in advance, and Canadian credit cards didn't work on their website. I couldn't find a local travel agency or local hotel that would book on our behalf, and finally found one (1) travel agency that could book the flights, Africa's Eden. They also had a relationship with Loango and the Roca Belo Monte in Principe, and we ended up booking half the trip through them. Payments for hotels for both countries was either through bank transfer or Paypal. Fortunately you can now do international money transfers through online banking, in the past it meant a trip to an actual bank in person and a steep fee.
We were lucky with the weather -- we really just had one day rained-out in Tassi. The other couple times it rained it didn't impact us (and actually added to the atmosphere at Roça de São João). The temperature wasn't too hot (I think the hottest was 30C) but it was very humid everywhere.
We didn't really see much of Gabon, just the capital and one national park. Despite all the stories on the web, we had no issues getting our visas (multiple entry visas at that). We had to submit a lot of documentation, but no more than what we've done for some other countries like Mozambique or Djibouti. With the visa in our passports we had no problems at the border. We both really liked Libreville, it has a nice buzz to it, although maybe a little short on things to see. Once you get outside the capital, there's plenty to do in Gabon's 13 national parks (10% of its land area!). Loango was really cool. We were lucky that they've just recently (mid-2017) habitualized lowland gorillas and that we got to see them on our excursion. If we had more time we would have liked to have visited some of the other national parks.
Principe was a lot of fun. We were really busy with activities -- stand-up paddle boarding, snorkeling, quad biking, trekking, turtle watching. Somehow we also found time to relax by the beach, and have candle-lit dinners in the courtyard at the Roca :) We really liked the charm of Roca Belo Monte, they've done a great job of restoring it. I was surprised at how much we enjoyed the turtle nesting -- I think because it's organized through researchers who take care to minimize the impact to the turtles. All the beaches on Principe were amazingly clean, and the water was really calm. We were also lucky (yet again) to get into the Praia Sundy -- I think their website accidentally let us book into their soft launch. The kitchen at Praia Sundy was amazing.
Sao Tome was a little more touristed, although that's relative to Principe. I'm glad we rented a car, it's a great way to see the island independently. The roads are in good condition and paved. For most of the trip we were staying at full board places (Loango, Principe) so it was nice to check out the food scene in Sao Tome. We had great seafood everywhere.
Overall it was a really relaxing trip!
Saturday, January 13, 2018
LIbreville, Gabon
We hadn't planned much for our last day in Libreville except for souvenir shopping. Yesterday we had found just the one place, Galerie Olima, that had pretty good quality. Took a taxi over (2000 CFAs / $4, the going rate for getting about town). It took us a while to decide on what we wanted, ended up getting a painting (out of the paintings, there was representation of only one local Gabonese artist), a mbigou stone sculpture (about 10lbs), and a group of wooden carvings each from a different type of wood. It took the Olima folks quite some time to pack everything up, they were quite meticulous. They were impressed with our telescoping poster tube (we brought it from home and had left at the hotel in Libreville during our trip).
Caught a taxi back to the hotel and packed up for the trip home. This time I didn't have to bother with making sure the house key was in our carry-on cause we have Kevo now, so it's just our phone. We had booked a late check-out cause our flight was at 11:50pm. We weren't really motivated to do much so just relaxed at the hotel until it was time to head to the airport.
We had packed all our souvenirs in the carry-on suitcase. There was an attempt at a bribe when going through security but we got through without having to pay anything. Spent our last CFAs on some chocolate from Gabon, and that was it for the trip!
Caught a taxi back to the hotel and packed up for the trip home. This time I didn't have to bother with making sure the house key was in our carry-on cause we have Kevo now, so it's just our phone. We had booked a late check-out cause our flight was at 11:50pm. We weren't really motivated to do much so just relaxed at the hotel until it was time to head to the airport.
We had packed all our souvenirs in the carry-on suitcase. There was an attempt at a bribe when going through security but we got through without having to pay anything. Spent our last CFAs on some chocolate from Gabon, and that was it for the trip!
Friday, January 12, 2018
Libreville, Gabon
Yesterday we had read up on Libreville and there wasn’t much we wanted to see.
Had breakfast (Royal Palm has great breakfasts) and then geared up for our day. It was really overcast (there was a lot of rain last night) which kept the temperature in the low 20s this morning. At breakfast we ran into the travel writer we had met at Loango and chatted with her for a few minutes.
We started walking north along Boulevard du Bord de Mer which as its name suggests runs along the coast. We’ve been within a few km of the Atlantic for the entire trip, I would say over half of it within sight of the water. (Technically some parts were other bodies of water such as the Gabon Estuary for Libreville and the Iguéla Lagoon for Loango).
The traffic was really slow (Bord de Mer runs the length of Libreville and is the only north-south route). This was the first time we’d been here on a weekday to see the traffic. It actually wasn’t too bad, but does bottleneck at the intersections. We decided to walk rather than a slow taxi.
First up was the Musée National des Artes et des Traditions. From our research we’d be lucky to find it open. Even the travel writer at breakfast had wished us luck.
Anyways it was in fact open. Paid our 2,000 CFAs each (about $4) and entered. The ticket person was also our guide. He gave explanations about each of the displays (in French, which was fine for us). It’s a pretty decent museum with pieces in good shape.
Continued north along Bord de Mer. There’s some interesting 70s architecture, although not as unique as Maputo. Walked by the Porte de la Liberté and Presidential Palace. Looked them up in the guide book but there was limited info. Basically just said not to take pics of the Presidential Palace.
We reached Quartier Louis, where the cool restaurants and night clubs are. It’s also home to a couple churches that were listed as interesting sites in the guide book. The old Ste-Marie Cathédrale has a nice facade but with the overcast sky not a great pic.
We then checked out a couple art galleries to buy souvenirs. First was Galerie Olima which had really good quality stuff. It was getting close to noon (when everything shuts down for siesta until 3pm) so just got their hours for tomorrow and then carried on. Sculpture Konogo was close by. We actually met Maitre Konogo, a famous Libreville sculptor, working in his shed. He showed us some pictures of him with Gabon VIPs as well as pics of his more well-known sculptures. Unfortunately the items for sale at his place weren’t very good quality so we carried on.
We couldn’t find any of the othe places listed in the Bradt Guide (although it is over four years old). Google maps didn’t know about them either, in fact google maps not been very good at for any places in Libreville, it was way better in São Tomé.
We were in the middle of Quartier Louis and the lunch places were just getting going. Tried out some street food - quarter grilled chicken, deboned and chopped up to order into half a baguette served with choice of toppings: mustard, mayo, onions, ketchup, for 1000 CFAs ($2). Got one each, and then got a pop from a nearby shop. Stood in the shade and ate. I spilled some mustard on my shoe. The locals seemed pretty tickled that tourists were having street food for lunch.
With the energy boost we decided to walk home rather a taxi. Stopped by Hôtel Le Cristal cause the Bradt Guide said they had art on display. Also I was starting to overheat (the sun had burned off the morning clouds and it was getting warm) and the hotel had great a/c.
We stayed for a couple coffees and a dessert. For some reason we received a lot of attention from the staff and management, asking how the service was and if we needed anything else. One of the managers came over to type in the WiFi password (he pronounced it ‘wiffy’ which I found pretty funny, although there’s no right or wrong way to pronounce it). They even comped us the coffees and gave us a discount on the desserts. We’re not sure why, maybe they thought we were some of those social media influencers types.
The cool air and caffeine gave me enough of a boost to continue on home. We walked through the busy commercial Centre-Ville. We both agreed that Libreville has a nice vibe to it.
Walked a little past our hotel to get water from the supermarket and look for Le Sud, the restaurant we were planning on for dinner.
We went back to Le Sud around 7pm, probably a bit early to eat in a hip town on a Friday night. The fish was cooked perfectly and the sides were nice, but overall not a standout (especially being rated #4 on tripadvisor). However it was conveniently close to our hotel (less than a five minute walk). We had eaten at the hotel every other night (due to late evening flights in, and Christmas when everything was closed) so it was nice for a change. Walked home around 9pm, just as the restaurant was getting busy.
Had breakfast (Royal Palm has great breakfasts) and then geared up for our day. It was really overcast (there was a lot of rain last night) which kept the temperature in the low 20s this morning. At breakfast we ran into the travel writer we had met at Loango and chatted with her for a few minutes.
We started walking north along Boulevard du Bord de Mer which as its name suggests runs along the coast. We’ve been within a few km of the Atlantic for the entire trip, I would say over half of it within sight of the water. (Technically some parts were other bodies of water such as the Gabon Estuary for Libreville and the Iguéla Lagoon for Loango).
The traffic was really slow (Bord de Mer runs the length of Libreville and is the only north-south route). This was the first time we’d been here on a weekday to see the traffic. It actually wasn’t too bad, but does bottleneck at the intersections. We decided to walk rather than a slow taxi.
First up was the Musée National des Artes et des Traditions. From our research we’d be lucky to find it open. Even the travel writer at breakfast had wished us luck.
Anyways it was in fact open. Paid our 2,000 CFAs each (about $4) and entered. The ticket person was also our guide. He gave explanations about each of the displays (in French, which was fine for us). It’s a pretty decent museum with pieces in good shape.
Continued north along Bord de Mer. There’s some interesting 70s architecture, although not as unique as Maputo. Walked by the Porte de la Liberté and Presidential Palace. Looked them up in the guide book but there was limited info. Basically just said not to take pics of the Presidential Palace.
We reached Quartier Louis, where the cool restaurants and night clubs are. It’s also home to a couple churches that were listed as interesting sites in the guide book. The old Ste-Marie Cathédrale has a nice facade but with the overcast sky not a great pic.
We then checked out a couple art galleries to buy souvenirs. First was Galerie Olima which had really good quality stuff. It was getting close to noon (when everything shuts down for siesta until 3pm) so just got their hours for tomorrow and then carried on. Sculpture Konogo was close by. We actually met Maitre Konogo, a famous Libreville sculptor, working in his shed. He showed us some pictures of him with Gabon VIPs as well as pics of his more well-known sculptures. Unfortunately the items for sale at his place weren’t very good quality so we carried on.
We couldn’t find any of the othe places listed in the Bradt Guide (although it is over four years old). Google maps didn’t know about them either, in fact google maps not been very good at for any places in Libreville, it was way better in São Tomé.
We were in the middle of Quartier Louis and the lunch places were just getting going. Tried out some street food - quarter grilled chicken, deboned and chopped up to order into half a baguette served with choice of toppings: mustard, mayo, onions, ketchup, for 1000 CFAs ($2). Got one each, and then got a pop from a nearby shop. Stood in the shade and ate. I spilled some mustard on my shoe. The locals seemed pretty tickled that tourists were having street food for lunch.
With the energy boost we decided to walk home rather a taxi. Stopped by Hôtel Le Cristal cause the Bradt Guide said they had art on display. Also I was starting to overheat (the sun had burned off the morning clouds and it was getting warm) and the hotel had great a/c.
We stayed for a couple coffees and a dessert. For some reason we received a lot of attention from the staff and management, asking how the service was and if we needed anything else. One of the managers came over to type in the WiFi password (he pronounced it ‘wiffy’ which I found pretty funny, although there’s no right or wrong way to pronounce it). They even comped us the coffees and gave us a discount on the desserts. We’re not sure why, maybe they thought we were some of those social media influencers types.
The cool air and caffeine gave me enough of a boost to continue on home. We walked through the busy commercial Centre-Ville. We both agreed that Libreville has a nice vibe to it.
Walked a little past our hotel to get water from the supermarket and look for Le Sud, the restaurant we were planning on for dinner.
We went back to Le Sud around 7pm, probably a bit early to eat in a hip town on a Friday night. The fish was cooked perfectly and the sides were nice, but overall not a standout (especially being rated #4 on tripadvisor). However it was conveniently close to our hotel (less than a five minute walk). We had eaten at the hotel every other night (due to late evening flights in, and Christmas when everything was closed) so it was nice for a change. Walked home around 9pm, just as the restaurant was getting busy.
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Libreville, Gabon
Another transit day. It seems like most of our local flights have been late afternoon this trip, which sort of kills the day. Our flight back to Libreville was at 6:40pm which meant we had to be at the airport at 5pm. We booked late checkout at the guesthouse (for 35 EUR). Sat around the lounge area near the pool, catching up on my blog and reading. It was a pretty warm day and very humid. We had been spoiled by the cooler temperatures in Príncipe.
We still had the rental car (it was cheaper to keep it for the day and return it at the airport) so drove down to Papa Figo's for lunch. We were pretty familiar with getting around São Tomé by now and didn't even need to use google maps.
Ordered the seafood platter for two. One thing we noticed in São Tomé is that chefs ding the bell repeatedly whenever a meal is ready to be served. Not just a single ding and then back to cooking. They ding it quite impatiently until a server picks up the meal. Anyways it's quite funny.
Our food arrived, way too much fish for the two of us. But still enough room for a dessert (flan) and espresso. Then back to our hotel for a nap.
Packed up for the flight and drove to the airport. The car rental guy met us just as we finished loading our bags into the cart. He didn't seem too surprised about the flat tire. In fact he didn't really check the car at all - my assumption is that the fact we were able to drive it to the airport was good enough for him.
There was a line up outside the terminal, but it was for people way early for the TAP Portugal flight. We were able to check in right away. Another stamp in our passports as went through immigration to leave São Tomé and Príncipe. We weren't allowed to take water through (they're inconsistent here about that). Checked out the duty free shop, but there wasn't much. Bought a small wooden turtle as a memento.
Then we waited along with the 12 or so other passengers. At 7pm the TAP Portugal passengers started filtering in, it looked like they had a full flight back to Lisbon. Finally around 7:30pm, just when we were starting to wonder about our flight, they announced we could board. It was a larger prop plane than the domestic flights we'd had between São Tomé and Príncipe. We even had flight attendants and a snack served! Because there were so few passengers we were assigned seats based on weight distribution.
The flight and landing in Libreville were relatively smooth. We went through the AfriJet terminal, and picked up our luggage. We then had to wait for the Gabon immigration officials to arrive so we could get our passports stamped. Some of the other passengers were getting quite irate. A few of them were connected because they got on their phone, and within 10 minutes a couple of officials arrived, my guess is sent from the main terminal. The connected passengers continued berating the officials even as they were getting their stamps. The officials weren't too impressed when we handed over our blue passports but their tone changed when they saw we were Canadian and not American (this was shortly after Trump made his racist comments about Haiti and African countries). We'd have to be careful over the next couple days in Libreville, as there's not many English-speaking tourists here and the default guess is that we're American.
Anyways it was almost 9pm by the time we got to the Royal Palm. They served dinner until 10pm so we quickly washed up and headed down for dinner. Ate outside cause it was one of the last chances to do so before we headed back to Toronto and winter.
We still had the rental car (it was cheaper to keep it for the day and return it at the airport) so drove down to Papa Figo's for lunch. We were pretty familiar with getting around São Tomé by now and didn't even need to use google maps.
Ordered the seafood platter for two. One thing we noticed in São Tomé is that chefs ding the bell repeatedly whenever a meal is ready to be served. Not just a single ding and then back to cooking. They ding it quite impatiently until a server picks up the meal. Anyways it's quite funny.
Our food arrived, way too much fish for the two of us. But still enough room for a dessert (flan) and espresso. Then back to our hotel for a nap.
Packed up for the flight and drove to the airport. The car rental guy met us just as we finished loading our bags into the cart. He didn't seem too surprised about the flat tire. In fact he didn't really check the car at all - my assumption is that the fact we were able to drive it to the airport was good enough for him.
There was a line up outside the terminal, but it was for people way early for the TAP Portugal flight. We were able to check in right away. Another stamp in our passports as went through immigration to leave São Tomé and Príncipe. We weren't allowed to take water through (they're inconsistent here about that). Checked out the duty free shop, but there wasn't much. Bought a small wooden turtle as a memento.
Then we waited along with the 12 or so other passengers. At 7pm the TAP Portugal passengers started filtering in, it looked like they had a full flight back to Lisbon. Finally around 7:30pm, just when we were starting to wonder about our flight, they announced we could board. It was a larger prop plane than the domestic flights we'd had between São Tomé and Príncipe. We even had flight attendants and a snack served! Because there were so few passengers we were assigned seats based on weight distribution.
The flight and landing in Libreville were relatively smooth. We went through the AfriJet terminal, and picked up our luggage. We then had to wait for the Gabon immigration officials to arrive so we could get our passports stamped. Some of the other passengers were getting quite irate. A few of them were connected because they got on their phone, and within 10 minutes a couple of officials arrived, my guess is sent from the main terminal. The connected passengers continued berating the officials even as they were getting their stamps. The officials weren't too impressed when we handed over our blue passports but their tone changed when they saw we were Canadian and not American (this was shortly after Trump made his racist comments about Haiti and African countries). We'd have to be careful over the next couple days in Libreville, as there's not many English-speaking tourists here and the default guess is that we're American.
Anyways it was almost 9pm by the time we got to the Royal Palm. They served dinner until 10pm so we quickly washed up and headed down for dinner. Ate outside cause it was one of the last chances to do so before we headed back to Toronto and winter.
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe
Today's road trip was south along the east coast, destination São João dos Angolares. Roça de São João has an 11-course tasting menu that gets great reviews. I had made a reservation on Facebook yesterday. We had read up on other spots to stop at long the way there, but nothing really piqued our interest. Plus it was raining.
Google maps took us through the heart of São Tomé to get to the road south. Just through the centro, someone knocked on Heather's window and pointed to the passenger side rear tire. It was mostly flat. It was the same tire that the rental people had tested when handing over the keys so I'm suspecting it had a slow leak. Anyways we pulled over and before we could open up the back to get at our tools, some helpful locals stopped and offered to change it for us (a tip would be expected). It saved us the trouble of getting clean, plus I'm sure if we continued to try to change it on our own we would be asked every two seconds by someone else if we needed help.
The car rental guys had showed me where all the tools were to change the tire (which makes it more likely it had a slow leak), including the little safety triangle. I set that up so I felt like I was contributing to the tire change. About 15 minutes later the spare was on, the flat tire secured on the back and the tools put away. The tire changing guys suggested that we shouldn't drive too far as they didn't trust the spare, but based on the condition of the car I figured the spare was not the weakest link so we continued on our way to lunch, checking every few minutes on the condition of the spare tire which held up great.
We stopped in at a gas station to add air to the old tire (so that we'd have a functioning spare if another tire went flat) but their air machine wasn't working. Oh well. We were only driving an hour out of town, and had the phone number of the car rental, so if things went really bad we could just have someone make a call for us.
The road south was in great condition, it must have been repaved in the last month or so. The terrain was more hilly so our overall speed was slower than yesterday as we geared up and down inclines. Our little Jimny does off-roading really well, but doesn't have a whole lot of oomph. Yesterday I think I reached a top speed of 50km/h due to the potholes. On the way south today I topped out at 40km, mostly in 2nd or 3rd gear. (On the way back it had stopped raining so on a couple flat stretches I got all the way up to 60km/h and got to shift into 4th!)
Anyways we reached Roça de São João after about 90 minutes, including the tire change (about 40km from São Tomé).
The Roça is beautiful, with local art on display. The owner's son walked us around, said that their place was sometimes called the Tate of São Tomé. It certainly seemed like it.
We had an hour to wait (lunch started at 1pm) so checked out the art, took pics of the kitchen prepping, and looked around the little shop. Unfortunately the art for sale was not the same level as the art on display :(
More people arrived, some with guides and some on their own, just like yesterday. Once again we recognized a good number of them. At 1pm we were all invited to take our seats, and the degustation menu began!
There were more than 11 courses. They called some of them palette cleansers but could have easily been called courses. Each was carefully plated with fresh ingredients in interesting combinations. The owner / chef came by our table and described his creations as food art, from the heart. So we were getting just about full, when we were served a main (!) course of traditional fish stew, rice, bananas and vegetables. This course on its own would have been sufficient for lunch, never mind the ten that preceded it. This was followed by a couple dessert courses, and a coffee. It was all amazing, for a grand total of 25 EUR each. The entire meal took over two hours.
We drove back to town, way too full. We reached São Tomé around rush hour (let's just call it 'busy hour'), so had an interesting drive for the last few minutes through heavy pedestrians / motorcyclists / traffic.
There was no way we could eat dinner tonight, so went down to a café near the guesthouse. We had passed by it a few times and it looked interesting. It was also the café that was mentioned in the poster for the art exhibition. Sure enough, there were paintings by one artist on the walls and wooden sculptures by another on display. Unfortunately the style wasn't to our liking. Had a couple drinks (Heather tried a cocktail again, but they've all been disappointing so far on this trip, unlike the great cocktails last trip), and some small bites - ceviched octopus and clams - which were excellent and hit the spot.
Google maps took us through the heart of São Tomé to get to the road south. Just through the centro, someone knocked on Heather's window and pointed to the passenger side rear tire. It was mostly flat. It was the same tire that the rental people had tested when handing over the keys so I'm suspecting it had a slow leak. Anyways we pulled over and before we could open up the back to get at our tools, some helpful locals stopped and offered to change it for us (a tip would be expected). It saved us the trouble of getting clean, plus I'm sure if we continued to try to change it on our own we would be asked every two seconds by someone else if we needed help.
The car rental guys had showed me where all the tools were to change the tire (which makes it more likely it had a slow leak), including the little safety triangle. I set that up so I felt like I was contributing to the tire change. About 15 minutes later the spare was on, the flat tire secured on the back and the tools put away. The tire changing guys suggested that we shouldn't drive too far as they didn't trust the spare, but based on the condition of the car I figured the spare was not the weakest link so we continued on our way to lunch, checking every few minutes on the condition of the spare tire which held up great.
We stopped in at a gas station to add air to the old tire (so that we'd have a functioning spare if another tire went flat) but their air machine wasn't working. Oh well. We were only driving an hour out of town, and had the phone number of the car rental, so if things went really bad we could just have someone make a call for us.
The road south was in great condition, it must have been repaved in the last month or so. The terrain was more hilly so our overall speed was slower than yesterday as we geared up and down inclines. Our little Jimny does off-roading really well, but doesn't have a whole lot of oomph. Yesterday I think I reached a top speed of 50km/h due to the potholes. On the way south today I topped out at 40km, mostly in 2nd or 3rd gear. (On the way back it had stopped raining so on a couple flat stretches I got all the way up to 60km/h and got to shift into 4th!)
Anyways we reached Roça de São João after about 90 minutes, including the tire change (about 40km from São Tomé).
The Roça is beautiful, with local art on display. The owner's son walked us around, said that their place was sometimes called the Tate of São Tomé. It certainly seemed like it.
We had an hour to wait (lunch started at 1pm) so checked out the art, took pics of the kitchen prepping, and looked around the little shop. Unfortunately the art for sale was not the same level as the art on display :(
More people arrived, some with guides and some on their own, just like yesterday. Once again we recognized a good number of them. At 1pm we were all invited to take our seats, and the degustation menu began!
There were more than 11 courses. They called some of them palette cleansers but could have easily been called courses. Each was carefully plated with fresh ingredients in interesting combinations. The owner / chef came by our table and described his creations as food art, from the heart. So we were getting just about full, when we were served a main (!) course of traditional fish stew, rice, bananas and vegetables. This course on its own would have been sufficient for lunch, never mind the ten that preceded it. This was followed by a couple dessert courses, and a coffee. It was all amazing, for a grand total of 25 EUR each. The entire meal took over two hours.
We drove back to town, way too full. We reached São Tomé around rush hour (let's just call it 'busy hour'), so had an interesting drive for the last few minutes through heavy pedestrians / motorcyclists / traffic.
There was no way we could eat dinner tonight, so went down to a café near the guesthouse. We had passed by it a few times and it looked interesting. It was also the café that was mentioned in the poster for the art exhibition. Sure enough, there were paintings by one artist on the walls and wooden sculptures by another on display. Unfortunately the style wasn't to our liking. Had a couple drinks (Heather tried a cocktail again, but they've all been disappointing so far on this trip, unlike the great cocktails last trip), and some small bites - ceviched octopus and clams - which were excellent and hit the spot.
Tuesday, January 09, 2018
São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe
So today was a road trip to the north west in our rented Suzuki Jimny, a compact 4x4. First we stopped at a gas station to fill up (gas was about a dollar a litre, it cost us about $30 CAD to fill up). Then we were on the road, an offlined Google map as the navigator. The road was paved although a bit pot-holed. First stop was Praia das Conchas, to look for shells. The turn-off was onto a dirt road, which the Jimny handled pretty well. There were a couple beaches with fishermen, and Google maps said Praia das Conchas was further on, so we continued down the dirt road. We reached a nice beach where some other tourists were snorkelling. However there were no shells - they should have called the beach Praia sem Conchas. On the way back we stopped at one of the other beaches and saw plenty of shells. Maybe tourists had picked the other one clean.
We continued along the paved road, now beside the ocean. There was no guardrail or shoulder or anything - just a drop off into the ocean about 20' below.
Next up was Praia Azul. We drove half way down the dirt road and then parked, and walked the rest. However a guy in a vest asked us to move our car closer to the beach so that he could keep an eye on it. We had read In our four-year-old guide book that São Tomé was deploying people to watch cars at beaches, so it must be in place now. We had seem similarly attired people at Praia das Conchas but didn't realize who they were.
Our car now safe, we walked up a small hill for a great view of the blue waters.
Our last of the day was Neves, about 30km from São Tomé (it's a small island). The harbour at Neves is where the oil supply ships come in, and we could see the equipment as we approached. We also passed by the Rosema brewery where Nacional is produced.
We missed the small sign for Santola, which is a restaurant famous for its crabs and our destination for today's road trip (I didn't have the volume up on Google Maps). The restaurant is down a very narrow dirt road through Neves. Chickens and piglets ran about and I had to be careful not to run over them. About 200m down the dirt road was Santola, with a small parking lot (at least, a dirt lot) where we parked our little Jimny.
Grabbed a table upstairs as per he good book (Bradt Guide). There were a couple other tourists already having lunch, some with guides some without. We ordered crabs, and a beer.
Our place setting consisted of a plate, and a small wooden mallet and board. The crabs arrived (three crabs, about 1kg each) and some toasted garlic bread. The crab was pretty good, although we have had better. I was still a bit hungry so ordered a 4th crab. Then the waitstaff guy showed us how to eat some more of the crab body. He took off the top shell and used it as a small bowl to mix up the crab body, lime, and some beer. The resulting pâté-like mixture is then spread on the garlic toast. It wasn't to our liking so we just stuck to the legs and claws.
Washed up and then headed back on the road to our guesthouse in São Tomé. It was mid-afternoon so we had some time to relax before heading out for dinner. Today we tried 5 Sentidos. Our guesthouse arranged for a driver there and back. It was another place off a small residential street. 5 Sentidos had a pretty cool vibe, with tables made from old skids, cool music and a fusion take on food. We loved the atmosphere although preferred the traditional grilled fish we've had the past couple nights. Still, it was nice to try out for a night.
We continued along the paved road, now beside the ocean. There was no guardrail or shoulder or anything - just a drop off into the ocean about 20' below.
Next up was Praia Azul. We drove half way down the dirt road and then parked, and walked the rest. However a guy in a vest asked us to move our car closer to the beach so that he could keep an eye on it. We had read In our four-year-old guide book that São Tomé was deploying people to watch cars at beaches, so it must be in place now. We had seem similarly attired people at Praia das Conchas but didn't realize who they were.
Our car now safe, we walked up a small hill for a great view of the blue waters.
Our last of the day was Neves, about 30km from São Tomé (it's a small island). The harbour at Neves is where the oil supply ships come in, and we could see the equipment as we approached. We also passed by the Rosema brewery where Nacional is produced.
We missed the small sign for Santola, which is a restaurant famous for its crabs and our destination for today's road trip (I didn't have the volume up on Google Maps). The restaurant is down a very narrow dirt road through Neves. Chickens and piglets ran about and I had to be careful not to run over them. About 200m down the dirt road was Santola, with a small parking lot (at least, a dirt lot) where we parked our little Jimny.
Grabbed a table upstairs as per he good book (Bradt Guide). There were a couple other tourists already having lunch, some with guides some without. We ordered crabs, and a beer.
Our place setting consisted of a plate, and a small wooden mallet and board. The crabs arrived (three crabs, about 1kg each) and some toasted garlic bread. The crab was pretty good, although we have had better. I was still a bit hungry so ordered a 4th crab. Then the waitstaff guy showed us how to eat some more of the crab body. He took off the top shell and used it as a small bowl to mix up the crab body, lime, and some beer. The resulting pâté-like mixture is then spread on the garlic toast. It wasn't to our liking so we just stuck to the legs and claws.
Washed up and then headed back on the road to our guesthouse in São Tomé. It was mid-afternoon so we had some time to relax before heading out for dinner. Today we tried 5 Sentidos. Our guesthouse arranged for a driver there and back. It was another place off a small residential street. 5 Sentidos had a pretty cool vibe, with tables made from old skids, cool music and a fusion take on food. We loved the atmosphere although preferred the traditional grilled fish we've had the past couple nights. Still, it was nice to try out for a night.
Monday, January 08, 2018
São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe
Breakfast was so-so at San Pedro Guesthouse but from what we remembered, breakfasts weren't a big thing in Portugal either.
We had the big chocolate factory tour this afternoon at 4:40pm so decided to tour around the city rather than trying to go out along the coast and be concerned about getting back in time.
It was hotter than in Príncipe, about 28C and very humid. We walked from our guesthouse to the National Museum in Fort São Sebastião, 2.4km according to Google maps. It was along the coast, which we had walked a couple times going out for dinner, so it was familiar to us.
It cost 50 Dobra (about 2 EUR) per person to enter. The museum guide took us around the various rooms, giving explanations in French. (We don't speak Portugese, but between French, English and Spanish we usually find a common language. French has been most popular as an alternative to Portugese). Anyways it was an interesting enough museum.
Close by was a contemporary art gallery, CACAU, which we had been hoping to visit and possibly buy some art. However the gallery building was under renovations and the place was closed :( there was a smaller crafts shop close by, but the quality was basic. They did have posters for art exhibitions at local cafés, so we made note.
Walked by the Cathedral but it was closed during mid-day. Took some pictures in the market and stopped in at Café Camões (it's similar to Alliance Français but for Portugese culture). Picked some menu it's at random, I had the shrimp and Heather had some chicken which was a bit tough. Went to Pastelaria Central across the street for a tasty pastry and espressos.
Got home with plenty of time shower and walk over to Claudio Corallo chocolate, which was luckily just around the corner from the guesthouse. We were about to head over when the car rental folks dropped off our car and we had to sign some paperwork, which threw off our timing and we had to rush to the chocolate factory.
Our friend we had met at Makaira in Príncipe was there to give us our tickets. At 4:40pm we entered along with about 30 other tourists. We filed into the 'factory' which was really just a room that we barely all fit into to. The 'tour' was actually a tasting which s excellent - we tried about 15 kinds of chocolate which varied in when sugar was added and other variables. It's a very small operation. Most of the process is by hand, so there's not much to see, but it's really all about the tastings.
Walked home and cooled down in our room before heading out for dinner, tonight at Dona Tété. It was a bit of a trek so decided to take a taxi. It was difficult to get a taxi (they typically just hang out at taxi stops) but found one. They didn't know of the restaurant so we asked to be taken to the Pestana, which was somewhat close.
The roads outside the Pestana were sketchy so we walked into the lobby and asked if they could hail us a taxi to Dona Tété. One of the advantages of being a tourist in lesser-touristed areas is that you can walk into any higher end hotel and they will help out.
This taxi driver knew exactly where it was. He suggested he could pick us up in two hours (the restaurant was down a small residential street, which would have made it difficult to get a taxi home) so agreed.
There were a few groups of tourists, some of which we recognized. The restaurant was in a large garden. We ordered calamari and grilled fish. It was served family style and we probably could have split one dish but oh well. Both were excellent.
We had the big chocolate factory tour this afternoon at 4:40pm so decided to tour around the city rather than trying to go out along the coast and be concerned about getting back in time.
It was hotter than in Príncipe, about 28C and very humid. We walked from our guesthouse to the National Museum in Fort São Sebastião, 2.4km according to Google maps. It was along the coast, which we had walked a couple times going out for dinner, so it was familiar to us.
It cost 50 Dobra (about 2 EUR) per person to enter. The museum guide took us around the various rooms, giving explanations in French. (We don't speak Portugese, but between French, English and Spanish we usually find a common language. French has been most popular as an alternative to Portugese). Anyways it was an interesting enough museum.
Close by was a contemporary art gallery, CACAU, which we had been hoping to visit and possibly buy some art. However the gallery building was under renovations and the place was closed :( there was a smaller crafts shop close by, but the quality was basic. They did have posters for art exhibitions at local cafés, so we made note.
Walked by the Cathedral but it was closed during mid-day. Took some pictures in the market and stopped in at Café Camões (it's similar to Alliance Français but for Portugese culture). Picked some menu it's at random, I had the shrimp and Heather had some chicken which was a bit tough. Went to Pastelaria Central across the street for a tasty pastry and espressos.
Got home with plenty of time shower and walk over to Claudio Corallo chocolate, which was luckily just around the corner from the guesthouse. We were about to head over when the car rental folks dropped off our car and we had to sign some paperwork, which threw off our timing and we had to rush to the chocolate factory.
Our friend we had met at Makaira in Príncipe was there to give us our tickets. At 4:40pm we entered along with about 30 other tourists. We filed into the 'factory' which was really just a room that we barely all fit into to. The 'tour' was actually a tasting which s excellent - we tried about 15 kinds of chocolate which varied in when sugar was added and other variables. It's a very small operation. Most of the process is by hand, so there's not much to see, but it's really all about the tastings.
Walked home and cooled down in our room before heading out for dinner, tonight at Dona Tété. It was a bit of a trek so decided to take a taxi. It was difficult to get a taxi (they typically just hang out at taxi stops) but found one. They didn't know of the restaurant so we asked to be taken to the Pestana, which was somewhat close.
The roads outside the Pestana were sketchy so we walked into the lobby and asked if they could hail us a taxi to Dona Tété. One of the advantages of being a tourist in lesser-touristed areas is that you can walk into any higher end hotel and they will help out.
This taxi driver knew exactly where it was. He suggested he could pick us up in two hours (the restaurant was down a small residential street, which would have made it difficult to get a taxi home) so agreed.
There were a few groups of tourists, some of which we recognized. The restaurant was in a large garden. We ordered calamari and grilled fish. It was served family style and we probably could have split one dish but oh well. Both were excellent.
Sunday, January 07, 2018
São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe
We had our flight back to São Tomé at 4pm so had the day to kill. We didn't have much motivation, and the hotel was okay with a late checkout, so we just lounged around our room for the morning.
Lunch was being served down by the beach. We took the 'shuttle' down as we didn't want to get all sweaty before the flight. The truck was in use so they were going to give us quad bikes to go down and up, but then the truck came by and we hitched a ride.
Read a bit in the cabana until lunch. It was grilled chicken and fish, both were pretty good. The South African group was also on our flight so we felt a little more secure that the hotel would remember to take us to the airport.
The truck took us back up to the hotel around 2:30pm. We had mostly packed up before lunch so it was quick for us to get ready.
The airport checkin was very casual. There's no X-ray or anything, just a guy looking through our carry-on. We were also allowed to leave the secure lounge to go to the bathroom and then re-enter on our own.
Oh yah, yesterday at Makaira we ran into a guy that we had seen at the restaurant in Santo Antonio. We chatted with him and the person he was with. It turns out she works at the Claudio Corallo chocolate factory and said she would register us for the tour on Monday. Otherwise you have to line up at 8am to sign up for the tour later the same day at 4:40pm.
It was a smaller plane for this flight, only 19 seats, and no flight attendant or safety demonstration. Fortunately we had used seat belts before and knew how to lock and unlock the seat belt.
We arrived in São Tomé and waited for our luggage. It's much easier when there's only 17 other people. It was a domestic flight so we just walked out of terminal and caught a taxi. We got the correct price right away (10 EUR), no need to haggle.
We checked back into San Pedro Guesthouse, a better room on the upstairs floor. Showered and looked up restaurants on tripadvisor. Went to the #3 rated one this evening, Papa Figo. It was really good grilled fish. Had a vinho verde (all the restaurants here bring over an ice bucket or other means of keeping wine chilled). The restaurant was packed with mostly expats and locals, and a couple of tourists. There's so few tourists that we recognized a few of them. Walked home. Another good night of eating in São Tomé!
Lunch was being served down by the beach. We took the 'shuttle' down as we didn't want to get all sweaty before the flight. The truck was in use so they were going to give us quad bikes to go down and up, but then the truck came by and we hitched a ride.
Read a bit in the cabana until lunch. It was grilled chicken and fish, both were pretty good. The South African group was also on our flight so we felt a little more secure that the hotel would remember to take us to the airport.
The truck took us back up to the hotel around 2:30pm. We had mostly packed up before lunch so it was quick for us to get ready.
The airport checkin was very casual. There's no X-ray or anything, just a guy looking through our carry-on. We were also allowed to leave the secure lounge to go to the bathroom and then re-enter on our own.
Oh yah, yesterday at Makaira we ran into a guy that we had seen at the restaurant in Santo Antonio. We chatted with him and the person he was with. It turns out she works at the Claudio Corallo chocolate factory and said she would register us for the tour on Monday. Otherwise you have to line up at 8am to sign up for the tour later the same day at 4:40pm.
It was a smaller plane for this flight, only 19 seats, and no flight attendant or safety demonstration. Fortunately we had used seat belts before and knew how to lock and unlock the seat belt.
We arrived in São Tomé and waited for our luggage. It's much easier when there's only 17 other people. It was a domestic flight so we just walked out of terminal and caught a taxi. We got the correct price right away (10 EUR), no need to haggle.
We checked back into San Pedro Guesthouse, a better room on the upstairs floor. Showered and looked up restaurants on tripadvisor. Went to the #3 rated one this evening, Papa Figo. It was really good grilled fish. Had a vinho verde (all the restaurants here bring over an ice bucket or other means of keeping wine chilled). The restaurant was packed with mostly expats and locals, and a couple of tourists. There's so few tourists that we recognized a few of them. Walked home. Another good night of eating in São Tomé!
Saturday, January 06, 2018
Príncipe, São Tomé and Príncipe
I was pretty sore from riding the quad bikes most of yesterday. It didn't seem like any work at the time. We figured a short trek that started from the lodge would be best, so talked with Minette about the options. She suggested walking to Makaira and having lunch there. She called ahead to Makaira so that they would be expecting us (it's a small island).
We had a guide on the way there, just to help us through the forest areas. Minet said if we felt comfortable then we could let the guide know that we'd find our own way back.
We started by descending the 100m + down to Praia Banana. This was probably the hardest part, it's inclined at 45* at times. We then followed the same trail we had been quad biking, through Palm trees parallel to Praia Caju. We walked by a small fishing village on Praia das Burras, saw the boats being pulled up on shore on rolling logs. The fishing nets and boats made good subjects for pictures so I took a few. We also saw salted fish drying on the beach, on top of large leaves. It was a very photogenic village.
Makaira was on the next beach, separated from the village by a ridge about 50m tall. First we had to cross a small stream. We thought about trying to jump over but ended up just removing our shoes and socks. Then up the ridge we went. The trail was actually marked, so we'd have no problems on the way back on our own. The trail would have been extremely slippery if it had rained last night - probably not passable for us.
We walked into Makaira Lodge, feeling a bit like shipwrecked people stumbling across an oasis. They were very welcoming. We relaxed in the shade, and later had lunch. Lunch was whole grilled fish with rice and peas. It was pretty tasty, I felt like I could have eaten twice the amount, but maybe that's because we had walked over.
After lunch we retraced our steps back to Belo Monte. We debated taking the shuttle back up the hill at the end but ended up walking, it wasn't too bad.
So that was our day. We relaxed and stretched back in our room. Dinner was on the lower deck from the dining area, on the edge of the valley. There was a quick breeze and we thought it might rain, but it was really quite pleasant.
We had a guide on the way there, just to help us through the forest areas. Minet said if we felt comfortable then we could let the guide know that we'd find our own way back.
We started by descending the 100m + down to Praia Banana. This was probably the hardest part, it's inclined at 45* at times. We then followed the same trail we had been quad biking, through Palm trees parallel to Praia Caju. We walked by a small fishing village on Praia das Burras, saw the boats being pulled up on shore on rolling logs. The fishing nets and boats made good subjects for pictures so I took a few. We also saw salted fish drying on the beach, on top of large leaves. It was a very photogenic village.
Makaira was on the next beach, separated from the village by a ridge about 50m tall. First we had to cross a small stream. We thought about trying to jump over but ended up just removing our shoes and socks. Then up the ridge we went. The trail was actually marked, so we'd have no problems on the way back on our own. The trail would have been extremely slippery if it had rained last night - probably not passable for us.
We walked into Makaira Lodge, feeling a bit like shipwrecked people stumbling across an oasis. They were very welcoming. We relaxed in the shade, and later had lunch. Lunch was whole grilled fish with rice and peas. It was pretty tasty, I felt like I could have eaten twice the amount, but maybe that's because we had walked over.
After lunch we retraced our steps back to Belo Monte. We debated taking the shuttle back up the hill at the end but ended up walking, it wasn't too bad.
So that was our day. We relaxed and stretched back in our room. Dinner was on the lower deck from the dining area, on the edge of the valley. There was a quick breeze and we thought it might rain, but it was really quite pleasant.
Friday, January 05, 2018
Príncipe, São Tomé and Príncipe
We got a lot of insect bites yesterday, either from standing around on the beach at night waiting for the turtle to return to the sea, or from after snorkelling when we were waiting for the shuttle. There's very low incidence of malaria here so we weren't too concerned, just itchy.
It had been a full day of activities yesterday, so we were looking for a half day excursion today. Our friends from Beijing were heading into the Santo Antonio so we thought about joining them, except they were also going to Roça Sundy which we had already seen. So instead we arranged to take quad bikes with a guide to go to Santo Antonio.
We all left Belo Monte around the same time, and our Beijing friend took a bunch of pics and videos of us on the quad bikes (she was in the back of the pickup, in front of us). Later we ran into them at Bom Bom and she airdropped them to us.
So me, Heather and our guide drove into Santo Antonio. It's a cute little colonial place. It claims to be the smallest city in the world according to Guiness, but Google doesn't seem to agree.
We got stopped by the police who asked to see our driver's licenses. There was no bribe or anything expected, they were just checking that our papers were in order. The Belo Monte folks had said it was likely we would be asked in town.
We parked the quad bikes on the street and walked around town a bit. It's not very big so this took about five minutes. Saw the post office, the main plaza, the church. Stopped in for lunch at a popular restaurant. It was pretty good.
Then we were back on the quad bikes. Drove over to see Bom Bom. It's very resort-like, not to our preference, with chalets packed in very close to each other. There was a wedding taking place later that day and the Bom Bom folks were busy setting up. As mentioned above we ran into our Beijing friends.
Our guide asked if we wanted to drive by Makaira and other beaches, said it was a good programme. We were having fun on the quad bikes and wanted to see Makaira, so agreed rather than just head back to Belo Monte.
The path to Makaira was terrible. I think because we had taken the quad bikes out our first day we didn't find it that hard though. We had originally booked into Makaira when we made our plans back in June, but after the regional flights changed we had to reschedule everything and Makaira didn't have availability.
We descended to the lodges. Makaira has by far the best location out of all the places we saw in Príncipe. The beach is capped by cliffs on both ends - it really does feel as remote as you can get. The difficult path down makes it seem even more isolated. The lodges are more rustic than other places, but also a bit cheaper. There's no a/c but they do have mosquito nets.
We then drove back up to cross over to Praia das Burras, and through to Praia Caju and Praia Banana. The latter is my favourite stretch to quad bike - it's parallel to the shore and winds through palm trees and big rocks.
We were back at the roça around 3pm, and cooled down in our room. Dinner was set up in the courtyard. At first we thought we would prefer the normal dining area on the terrace, but they do a great job of lighting on the outside of the roça, and also had a couple fire pits going. Later a group of musicians started playing traditional regional music (a couple guitarists and singer). It was all very surreal, and quite unexpected.
It had been a full day of activities yesterday, so we were looking for a half day excursion today. Our friends from Beijing were heading into the Santo Antonio so we thought about joining them, except they were also going to Roça Sundy which we had already seen. So instead we arranged to take quad bikes with a guide to go to Santo Antonio.
We all left Belo Monte around the same time, and our Beijing friend took a bunch of pics and videos of us on the quad bikes (she was in the back of the pickup, in front of us). Later we ran into them at Bom Bom and she airdropped them to us.
So me, Heather and our guide drove into Santo Antonio. It's a cute little colonial place. It claims to be the smallest city in the world according to Guiness, but Google doesn't seem to agree.
We got stopped by the police who asked to see our driver's licenses. There was no bribe or anything expected, they were just checking that our papers were in order. The Belo Monte folks had said it was likely we would be asked in town.
We parked the quad bikes on the street and walked around town a bit. It's not very big so this took about five minutes. Saw the post office, the main plaza, the church. Stopped in for lunch at a popular restaurant. It was pretty good.
Then we were back on the quad bikes. Drove over to see Bom Bom. It's very resort-like, not to our preference, with chalets packed in very close to each other. There was a wedding taking place later that day and the Bom Bom folks were busy setting up. As mentioned above we ran into our Beijing friends.
Our guide asked if we wanted to drive by Makaira and other beaches, said it was a good programme. We were having fun on the quad bikes and wanted to see Makaira, so agreed rather than just head back to Belo Monte.
The path to Makaira was terrible. I think because we had taken the quad bikes out our first day we didn't find it that hard though. We had originally booked into Makaira when we made our plans back in June, but after the regional flights changed we had to reschedule everything and Makaira didn't have availability.
We descended to the lodges. Makaira has by far the best location out of all the places we saw in Príncipe. The beach is capped by cliffs on both ends - it really does feel as remote as you can get. The difficult path down makes it seem even more isolated. The lodges are more rustic than other places, but also a bit cheaper. There's no a/c but they do have mosquito nets.
We then drove back up to cross over to Praia das Burras, and through to Praia Caju and Praia Banana. The latter is my favourite stretch to quad bike - it's parallel to the shore and winds through palm trees and big rocks.
We were back at the roça around 3pm, and cooled down in our room. Dinner was set up in the courtyard. At first we thought we would prefer the normal dining area on the terrace, but they do a great job of lighting on the outside of the roça, and also had a couple fire pits going. Later a group of musicians started playing traditional regional music (a couple guitarists and singer). It was all very surreal, and quite unexpected.
Thursday, January 04, 2018
Príncipe, São Tomé and Príncipe
We slept in (breakfast was served until 10am) and had a leisurely breakfast on the terrace. There were lots of birds flitting about, mostly we just heard them at the late morning hour.
Minette came by to discuss today's excursions. The hotel was having a barbecue on Praia Banana (which they own) and so after breakfast we walked down (the Belo Monte sits at about 100m above sea level). Grabbed a cabana for two under the palm trees and relaxed. It was very comfortable with the temperature about 22C and a slight breeze coming in off the beach. It was just the Belo Monte guests (about 12 of us) and a couple people from Bom Bom.
The Belo Monte has a permanent grill and bar set up just under the palm trees and they started up on lunch. We could smell the grilled chicken and grilled fish and we were getting hungry, even though we'd just had breakfast and then pretty much just lounged about.
Lunch was excellent, with the exception of buzzing flies attracted to the food. My left arm was in a constant windshield wiper motion, not even needing a fly sensor cause they didn't stop buzzing.
After lunch we sized up our snorkelling masks and fins and then waded out to check out the fishes. We followed the suggested circuit of about 500m. There was quite a variety of fish, more than what I've seen on recent snorkelling attempts (and definitely more than at Praia Sundy). Visibility was also great, we had clear views down about 20 feet.
After about an hour we headed back into shore, and grabbed the shuttle (just the hotel pickup truck) back up the steep hill to the Belo Monte. On the short ride up we met two sisters from Beijing who were also staying at the Belo Monte. The one sister who was more comfortable speaking English was really witty and reminded us a bit of Chang, the South Korean we met in Ethiopia on the Danakil excursion.
We had a quick shower and then got ready for the turtle excursion. We had originally planned to go before dinner, but we were paired with a group of three other guests that wanted to have dinner first. So we had dinner at 7pm. Dinner was much better tonight, the main chef must have had the night off yesterday.
We met the other people, from South Africa. They were pretty fashionable and we think they may have been sponsored by a tourist board as influencers on social media or something like that.
We were wearing our trekking shoes after talking with some other guests who went the night before. There are hundreds of crabs on the beach and we were paranoid about our toes and ankles. We also had our headlights which had a red LED setting - regular light scares the turtles and they don't nest when scared.
So we loaded into the truck for the 30 minute drive to Praia Grande. There was no avoiding crabs on the road - they were all over the place. Heather said this was more like eco-terrorism than eco-tourism what with all the dead crabs just so we could see a turtle or two.
We got out of the truck and started walking down the beach with our red lights. The crabs started thinly at first, where it was possible to avoid them. Then it got thicker and thicker where each step we brushed up against a crab and hoped it didn't bite us. It was mostly in our heads as the guides wore flip flops and still had all their toes, at least it looked like that in the red light. After about 20 minutes of scary crab beach we met up with the researcher. It was like a scene from an Indiana Jones movie.
We then walked to the first turtle that was nesting. Its shell was 95cm (the researchers measure as part of their docs). Walked down to the beach to another turtle, slightly larger at 105cm. It was in the process of covering the eggs with sand and so we waited about 30 minutes for it to complete, so that we could watch it return to the sea.
There was then a surreal sight of five tourists plus our guide slowly following a distance behind the turtle as it slowly but surely made its way to the sea, reminding me of a slow funeral procession, with us trailing behind the turtle as pallbearers.
Anyways the turtle eventually reached the sea and swam off.
We walked back through the crab area. This time we were smarter and walked the thin line between the waves lapping up on shore and the crabs who gave the water a bit of a berth. There were still hundreds of them.
Got back to the truck and drove back to the Belo Monte. It was a cool experience to see the turtles nesting, and it wasn't even on our list of things to do here! Went to bed hoping to avoid nightmares of crab attacks.
Minette came by to discuss today's excursions. The hotel was having a barbecue on Praia Banana (which they own) and so after breakfast we walked down (the Belo Monte sits at about 100m above sea level). Grabbed a cabana for two under the palm trees and relaxed. It was very comfortable with the temperature about 22C and a slight breeze coming in off the beach. It was just the Belo Monte guests (about 12 of us) and a couple people from Bom Bom.
The Belo Monte has a permanent grill and bar set up just under the palm trees and they started up on lunch. We could smell the grilled chicken and grilled fish and we were getting hungry, even though we'd just had breakfast and then pretty much just lounged about.
Lunch was excellent, with the exception of buzzing flies attracted to the food. My left arm was in a constant windshield wiper motion, not even needing a fly sensor cause they didn't stop buzzing.
After lunch we sized up our snorkelling masks and fins and then waded out to check out the fishes. We followed the suggested circuit of about 500m. There was quite a variety of fish, more than what I've seen on recent snorkelling attempts (and definitely more than at Praia Sundy). Visibility was also great, we had clear views down about 20 feet.
After about an hour we headed back into shore, and grabbed the shuttle (just the hotel pickup truck) back up the steep hill to the Belo Monte. On the short ride up we met two sisters from Beijing who were also staying at the Belo Monte. The one sister who was more comfortable speaking English was really witty and reminded us a bit of Chang, the South Korean we met in Ethiopia on the Danakil excursion.
We had a quick shower and then got ready for the turtle excursion. We had originally planned to go before dinner, but we were paired with a group of three other guests that wanted to have dinner first. So we had dinner at 7pm. Dinner was much better tonight, the main chef must have had the night off yesterday.
We met the other people, from South Africa. They were pretty fashionable and we think they may have been sponsored by a tourist board as influencers on social media or something like that.
We were wearing our trekking shoes after talking with some other guests who went the night before. There are hundreds of crabs on the beach and we were paranoid about our toes and ankles. We also had our headlights which had a red LED setting - regular light scares the turtles and they don't nest when scared.
So we loaded into the truck for the 30 minute drive to Praia Grande. There was no avoiding crabs on the road - they were all over the place. Heather said this was more like eco-terrorism than eco-tourism what with all the dead crabs just so we could see a turtle or two.
We got out of the truck and started walking down the beach with our red lights. The crabs started thinly at first, where it was possible to avoid them. Then it got thicker and thicker where each step we brushed up against a crab and hoped it didn't bite us. It was mostly in our heads as the guides wore flip flops and still had all their toes, at least it looked like that in the red light. After about 20 minutes of scary crab beach we met up with the researcher. It was like a scene from an Indiana Jones movie.
We then walked to the first turtle that was nesting. Its shell was 95cm (the researchers measure as part of their docs). Walked down to the beach to another turtle, slightly larger at 105cm. It was in the process of covering the eggs with sand and so we waited about 30 minutes for it to complete, so that we could watch it return to the sea.
There was then a surreal sight of five tourists plus our guide slowly following a distance behind the turtle as it slowly but surely made its way to the sea, reminding me of a slow funeral procession, with us trailing behind the turtle as pallbearers.
Anyways the turtle eventually reached the sea and swam off.
We walked back through the crab area. This time we were smarter and walked the thin line between the waves lapping up on shore and the crabs who gave the water a bit of a berth. There were still hundreds of them.
Got back to the truck and drove back to the Belo Monte. It was a cool experience to see the turtles nesting, and it wasn't even on our list of things to do here! Went to bed hoping to avoid nightmares of crab attacks.
Wednesday, January 03, 2018
Príncipe, São Tomé and Príncipe
We were up early to make sure we didn't miss anything at breakfast. Unfortunately they didn't have the fresh coconut today, but the rest of breakfast was excellent.
It was one of the shortest transit days we've had - it's only a 30 minute drive from Praia Sundy to Roça Belo Monte. We checked out (were able to pay with credit card) and then the Praia Sundy folks drove us over to the Belo Monte. As we found out later, it's quite common for the hotel guests to have day trips to the other hotels, so showing up in a Praia Sundy vehicle wasn't considered odd.
Normally guests arrive via the morning flight, so our room wasn't quite ready. We had a coffee on the terrace, overlooking the bay of Santa Rita and Bom Bom in the distance. It's a beautiful setting. It's a former plantation that's been restored and has great atmosphere. Jannie, who helped us with our bookings and who we met at Loango, was the project manager for the restoration, and is quite well-known on Príncipe.
Both Jacques (another person from Africa's Eden who helped with the bookings) and Minette dropped by to chat and discuss the excursions we wanted to do over the next few days. So now I had met four of the Africa's Eden folks (Jacques, Jannie, Mathieu, Minette) who I had been emailing with to organize the trip. I had pictured them all working in an office in Portugal but in fact they're all on the ground actually running the places - no wonder email responses were sometimes slow!
A rain storm poured down while we finished our coffees, but the plantation is designed to handle rain and we sat comfortably on the terrace watching the storm.
Our room was ready so we checked it out. We had booked room 102 which is one of two rooms with a view of the ocean. It also has a window to the courtyard so it gets a nice cross-breeze. We had booked for four nights so it would be nice to spread out and not repack all our stuff every day.
I had been checking the forecast for Príncipe, and according to my iPhone it was a high of 22C and low of 19C every day. I figured the data source was whacked, but it turns out that is the climate here!
We had lunch back on the terrace. The sky was clearing up so decided on a guided quad bike (ATVs) excursion to see some of the other beaches nearby.
It was the first time riding quad bikes for both of us. A quick lesson in the parking lot and we were off! The dirt road was pretty muddy from the rain and our clothes didn't stay clean for very long.
It was fun riding the quad bikes, and probably the best way to get around to some of the sights. The dirt road was in bad shape in spots. Saw a couple beaches including Praia Boi which was one of our favourites.
Came back to the Belo Monte and cleaned up for dinner. Handed our clothes to be laundered overnight - first time I've had a hotel offer overnight laundry while traveling! Dry fit clothing helps with the drying.
Dinner was on the terrace, with kerosene lanterns adding to the ambience. We were more tired from the quad biking than we had expected. Overall it was a pretty good transit day.
It was one of the shortest transit days we've had - it's only a 30 minute drive from Praia Sundy to Roça Belo Monte. We checked out (were able to pay with credit card) and then the Praia Sundy folks drove us over to the Belo Monte. As we found out later, it's quite common for the hotel guests to have day trips to the other hotels, so showing up in a Praia Sundy vehicle wasn't considered odd.
Normally guests arrive via the morning flight, so our room wasn't quite ready. We had a coffee on the terrace, overlooking the bay of Santa Rita and Bom Bom in the distance. It's a beautiful setting. It's a former plantation that's been restored and has great atmosphere. Jannie, who helped us with our bookings and who we met at Loango, was the project manager for the restoration, and is quite well-known on Príncipe.
Both Jacques (another person from Africa's Eden who helped with the bookings) and Minette dropped by to chat and discuss the excursions we wanted to do over the next few days. So now I had met four of the Africa's Eden folks (Jacques, Jannie, Mathieu, Minette) who I had been emailing with to organize the trip. I had pictured them all working in an office in Portugal but in fact they're all on the ground actually running the places - no wonder email responses were sometimes slow!
A rain storm poured down while we finished our coffees, but the plantation is designed to handle rain and we sat comfortably on the terrace watching the storm.
Our room was ready so we checked it out. We had booked room 102 which is one of two rooms with a view of the ocean. It also has a window to the courtyard so it gets a nice cross-breeze. We had booked for four nights so it would be nice to spread out and not repack all our stuff every day.
I had been checking the forecast for Príncipe, and according to my iPhone it was a high of 22C and low of 19C every day. I figured the data source was whacked, but it turns out that is the climate here!
We had lunch back on the terrace. The sky was clearing up so decided on a guided quad bike (ATVs) excursion to see some of the other beaches nearby.
It was the first time riding quad bikes for both of us. A quick lesson in the parking lot and we were off! The dirt road was pretty muddy from the rain and our clothes didn't stay clean for very long.
It was fun riding the quad bikes, and probably the best way to get around to some of the sights. The dirt road was in bad shape in spots. Saw a couple beaches including Praia Boi which was one of our favourites.
Came back to the Belo Monte and cleaned up for dinner. Handed our clothes to be laundered overnight - first time I've had a hotel offer overnight laundry while traveling! Dry fit clothing helps with the drying.
Dinner was on the terrace, with kerosene lanterns adding to the ambience. We were more tired from the quad biking than we had expected. Overall it was a pretty good transit day.
Tuesday, January 02, 2018
Príncipe, São Tomé and Príncipe
We woke up slowly, probably going to the pool bar before dinner wasn't such a great idea.
Anyways breakfast was great. Had a fresh coconut to restore my electrolytes and also eggs florentine. I had asked for tea but should have stuck to coffee in a coffee place.
Feeling better, we checked out the snorkelling. The water temperature was perfect, unfortunately most of the coral is bleached and there wasn't much to see. So we switched to stand-up paddle boarding instead. It was the first time either of us had tried paddle boarding, it was good exercise. We spent over an hour going back and forth in the little bay.
We then took a quick walk down the beach. There's a rock outcropping (which wasn't too difficult to cross) and on the other side was a perfect beach. The forest grows right up to the sand, so it was possible to walk in the shade on the beach. There were no other footprints at all except for ours.
Showered and cleaned up before lunch. We thought we had some time before our bird watching excursion but it turned out the clocks changed in the country on Jan 1 to align with Portugal. We had ordered a 'São Tomé' coffee from the bar. They brew it using a siphon coffee maker so it takes about 15 minutes. We only had time for a small coffee before rushing off to see the birds.
The bird watching excursion was excellent. We first drove to our starting point, near Roca Sundy. It's close to the Praia Sundy, except all roads lead through the airport so it took about 45 minutes. We parked at the Roca Sundy and then walked a 90 minute circuit along a dirt path. Our guide was excellent and very passionate about birds, especially the small little fellows. He also pointed out a bunch of food ingredients, such as cacao, coffee, jack fruit, papaya, a local pepper-like seed, and a coriander-tasting leaf. We tried a few of them, the pepper one was my favourite.
We did see a bunch of birds too. Heather saw parrots (which was on her list to see in the wild).
On the drive back home it was getting to dusk, which is when land crabs come out and cross the road. At one spot there were dozens of crabs, about hand-sized. Our guide tried to avoid them but we unfortunately ran over one.
Dinner was excellent again. We both had the banana-leaf wrapped fish, although I think there are no wrong choices here.
Anyways breakfast was great. Had a fresh coconut to restore my electrolytes and also eggs florentine. I had asked for tea but should have stuck to coffee in a coffee place.
Feeling better, we checked out the snorkelling. The water temperature was perfect, unfortunately most of the coral is bleached and there wasn't much to see. So we switched to stand-up paddle boarding instead. It was the first time either of us had tried paddle boarding, it was good exercise. We spent over an hour going back and forth in the little bay.
We then took a quick walk down the beach. There's a rock outcropping (which wasn't too difficult to cross) and on the other side was a perfect beach. The forest grows right up to the sand, so it was possible to walk in the shade on the beach. There were no other footprints at all except for ours.
Showered and cleaned up before lunch. We thought we had some time before our bird watching excursion but it turned out the clocks changed in the country on Jan 1 to align with Portugal. We had ordered a 'São Tomé' coffee from the bar. They brew it using a siphon coffee maker so it takes about 15 minutes. We only had time for a small coffee before rushing off to see the birds.
The bird watching excursion was excellent. We first drove to our starting point, near Roca Sundy. It's close to the Praia Sundy, except all roads lead through the airport so it took about 45 minutes. We parked at the Roca Sundy and then walked a 90 minute circuit along a dirt path. Our guide was excellent and very passionate about birds, especially the small little fellows. He also pointed out a bunch of food ingredients, such as cacao, coffee, jack fruit, papaya, a local pepper-like seed, and a coriander-tasting leaf. We tried a few of them, the pepper one was my favourite.
We did see a bunch of birds too. Heather saw parrots (which was on her list to see in the wild).
On the drive back home it was getting to dusk, which is when land crabs come out and cross the road. At one spot there were dozens of crabs, about hand-sized. Our guide tried to avoid them but we unfortunately ran over one.
Dinner was excellent again. We both had the banana-leaf wrapped fish, although I think there are no wrong choices here.
Monday, January 01, 2018
Príncipe, São Tomé and Príncipe
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.
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.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe
Today was 2nd day of three transit days in a row to get from Loango to Príncipe. We had a flight from Libreville to São Tomé at 3pm, which gave us the morning to run errands and repack for the next part of the trip. On the past few trips we've used the hotel in our hub city (in this case Libreville) to store left luggage with items we need for only some legs of a longer trip.
First was more francs. Our hotel suggested we try the ATM at the next door hotel (Le Meridien) and sure enough our cards worked there. That was very convenient. Next was onto the grocery store just down the street for some toiletries. We ended up also buying a fresh baguette, prosciutto and babybel to make sandwiches for lunch.
Back at the hotel I posted my pics (we had been without Internet access while at Loango).
We were ready to go by 12:30pm, so we checked out. We were planning to have a coffee at the hotel but our driver was already there so we figured we'd just grab one at the airport.
However we ran into the same AfriJet terminal problem, they wouldn't let us in until 90 minutes prior to the flight. So we waited outside in the heat again. We had an international flight today, which I thought would mean a different path through the terminal, but it was just an official at a desk between baggage check and security.
It's only a 45 minute flight from Libreville to São Tomé, with an time zone change, so in theory we'd arrive before we took off. It was cloudy and hazy so I wouldn't be able to get pictures from the airplane, although I think it's the approach to Príncipe that is more photogenic.
For some reason the pilot circled a couple times around the airport at São Tomé, including a flyover. Maybe they were doing a visual inspection of the runway as a training exercise. Whatever. But it did mean that our flight took just over an hour.
In São Tomé we made sure to walk quickly on the tarmac to get to immigration ahead of the rest of the plane. We filled out an arrival form (almost every country we've been to recently has done away with these, with the exception of getting back home to Canada), and then onto immigration. There were no issues with our evisa, we paid our 20 Euro each and got a couple stamps in our passport. They also gave us back the printed evisa with a stamp. Maybe we'll need this to exit? I guess we'll find out.
The luggage was just starting to come out on the conveyor belt as we entered the room, ours was one of the first pieces. We had just enough time to get a cart and grab our bags before they disappeared for to start another turn around the belt.
And we were through! Got a taxi to São Pedro Guesthouse, checked in, and relaxed in our room for a bit, just to cool down. It was New Year's Eve and sometimes restaurants have specials which we wanted to avoid. Asked the guesthouse for recommendations, and then walked into town around 6pm. It was a full moon and a clear sky. The town itself is very approachable with a lot of character. There's all sorts of cafes and restaurants in old colonial buildings with tall ceilings. We have a few days in São Tomé after we return from Príncipe so lots of time to explore.
We walked about two km along the bayside road to Sabor do Îla in Parque Popular. Their specialty is grilled fish, so that's what we had. They were out of local beer so I had a Sagrès, Heather had a 50cl of vino tinto. Dinner was excellent, we were glad we went out. We even had an espresso even with the late hour, just to try the São Pedro coffee beans. It was really good.
Walked back before too many fire crackers started going off in the street. We were asleep by 10pm to be rested for our early morning departure to Príncipe. We were woken up by the New Year's Eve revellers just before midnight and heard the countdown in Portugese.
First was more francs. Our hotel suggested we try the ATM at the next door hotel (Le Meridien) and sure enough our cards worked there. That was very convenient. Next was onto the grocery store just down the street for some toiletries. We ended up also buying a fresh baguette, prosciutto and babybel to make sandwiches for lunch.
Back at the hotel I posted my pics (we had been without Internet access while at Loango).
We were ready to go by 12:30pm, so we checked out. We were planning to have a coffee at the hotel but our driver was already there so we figured we'd just grab one at the airport.
However we ran into the same AfriJet terminal problem, they wouldn't let us in until 90 minutes prior to the flight. So we waited outside in the heat again. We had an international flight today, which I thought would mean a different path through the terminal, but it was just an official at a desk between baggage check and security.
It's only a 45 minute flight from Libreville to São Tomé, with an time zone change, so in theory we'd arrive before we took off. It was cloudy and hazy so I wouldn't be able to get pictures from the airplane, although I think it's the approach to Príncipe that is more photogenic.
For some reason the pilot circled a couple times around the airport at São Tomé, including a flyover. Maybe they were doing a visual inspection of the runway as a training exercise. Whatever. But it did mean that our flight took just over an hour.
In São Tomé we made sure to walk quickly on the tarmac to get to immigration ahead of the rest of the plane. We filled out an arrival form (almost every country we've been to recently has done away with these, with the exception of getting back home to Canada), and then onto immigration. There were no issues with our evisa, we paid our 20 Euro each and got a couple stamps in our passport. They also gave us back the printed evisa with a stamp. Maybe we'll need this to exit? I guess we'll find out.
The luggage was just starting to come out on the conveyor belt as we entered the room, ours was one of the first pieces. We had just enough time to get a cart and grab our bags before they disappeared for to start another turn around the belt.
And we were through! Got a taxi to São Pedro Guesthouse, checked in, and relaxed in our room for a bit, just to cool down. It was New Year's Eve and sometimes restaurants have specials which we wanted to avoid. Asked the guesthouse for recommendations, and then walked into town around 6pm. It was a full moon and a clear sky. The town itself is very approachable with a lot of character. There's all sorts of cafes and restaurants in old colonial buildings with tall ceilings. We have a few days in São Tomé after we return from Príncipe so lots of time to explore.
We walked about two km along the bayside road to Sabor do Îla in Parque Popular. Their specialty is grilled fish, so that's what we had. They were out of local beer so I had a Sagrès, Heather had a 50cl of vino tinto. Dinner was excellent, we were glad we went out. We even had an espresso even with the late hour, just to try the São Pedro coffee beans. It was really good.
Walked back before too many fire crackers started going off in the street. We were asleep by 10pm to be rested for our early morning departure to Príncipe. We were woken up by the New Year's Eve revellers just before midnight and heard the countdown in Portugese.
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Libreville, Gabon
We had a relaxing breakfast because we thought we were departing at 10am. We chatted with some of the newly arrived guests, including one who is a travel writer for the Financial Times and the Telegraph. She had recently been to São Tomé and Príncipe and gave some advice for both. She was debating on which excursions to go on at Loango and based on how much we liked Akaka, she decided on the gorillas and Akaka.
After breakfast we found out we were actually leaving with another group at 9am. So rushed to finish packing, pay our bill (just for the alcohol, everything else was included) and say bye to everyone. Jannie asked us to say hi to the bartender at the Roca Belo Monte in Príncipe (Jannie was the project manager that built both Bom Bom and the Belo Monte years ago).
And so we were off. First was an hour in a safari vehicle to Camp Liambissi. (I forgot to mention that on our excursion to Tassi, we crossed through flooded areas about 4' deep, the water pooled over the hood of the vehicle. It's the deepest water I've driven through). Anyways parts of the trail to Camp Liambissi are washed out and only a safari vehicle would make it.
We switched vehicles at the camp. Another group of seven was returning today as well, and so we needed a second vehicle to get to Port Gentil (POG). We lucked out because it was Philippe (the camp manager) who was driving back to POG for other reasons, and we joined him in his nice air conditioned SUV. We were provided with lots of water and a snack, I guess they quickly made changes to their procedures after our hungry and thirsty ride down!
It was an interesting conversation with Philippe. He's worked to build up tourism in Gabon for the past 16 years. Between him, Jannie and Zeka, I can see tourism growing quickly here.
We were back in POG by 2pm. Relaxed at Le Bouganviller until closer to our flights. The flight for the other group was two hours before ours, but we just went to the airport with them (it was a wash for us whether we waited at the airport or the hotel).
Unfortunately, with AfriJet, they only let you in to their terminal 90 minutes before the flight. There were no seating areas in the (air conditioned) check-in area of the main terminal, so we sat outside in the heat. After an hour or so, we were getting sleepy and noticed there was a little cafe in the terminal with a good coffee machine. So we grabbed a cappuccino each. They offered us seats in the business lounge, which was nice of them.
So finally the check-in opened at AfriJet and we made our way through baggage check and security. Now that we knew it was okay to take water through security we weren't thirsty waiting for the flight.
Arrived after sunset in Libreville, and initially had trouble finding a taxi at the AfriJet terminal. We asked around and someone showed up to drive us for 6,000 Franc, cheaper than what we paid the first time through.
They were expecting us at the Royal Palm. It was Guy at the desk, who Heather had been emailing with over the past few months to sort out our changing itinerary. The restaurant was open until 11pm (it was already 8pm) so we had time to shower and clean up before dinner.
The restaurant was packed at the Royal Palm, it's a destination for locals, especially with tonight being Saturday. Dinner was good, I had the lamb noisette and Heather tried a local fish (capitain).
Overall we both really enjoyed Loango. The highlights were the gorilla tracking and the boat ride to Akaka. We saw other big animals including elephants, buffalo, hippos, duikers and chimpanzees, but the real attraction is just the isolation and lack of other people in the park.
After breakfast we found out we were actually leaving with another group at 9am. So rushed to finish packing, pay our bill (just for the alcohol, everything else was included) and say bye to everyone. Jannie asked us to say hi to the bartender at the Roca Belo Monte in Príncipe (Jannie was the project manager that built both Bom Bom and the Belo Monte years ago).
And so we were off. First was an hour in a safari vehicle to Camp Liambissi. (I forgot to mention that on our excursion to Tassi, we crossed through flooded areas about 4' deep, the water pooled over the hood of the vehicle. It's the deepest water I've driven through). Anyways parts of the trail to Camp Liambissi are washed out and only a safari vehicle would make it.
We switched vehicles at the camp. Another group of seven was returning today as well, and so we needed a second vehicle to get to Port Gentil (POG). We lucked out because it was Philippe (the camp manager) who was driving back to POG for other reasons, and we joined him in his nice air conditioned SUV. We were provided with lots of water and a snack, I guess they quickly made changes to their procedures after our hungry and thirsty ride down!
It was an interesting conversation with Philippe. He's worked to build up tourism in Gabon for the past 16 years. Between him, Jannie and Zeka, I can see tourism growing quickly here.
We were back in POG by 2pm. Relaxed at Le Bouganviller until closer to our flights. The flight for the other group was two hours before ours, but we just went to the airport with them (it was a wash for us whether we waited at the airport or the hotel).
Unfortunately, with AfriJet, they only let you in to their terminal 90 minutes before the flight. There were no seating areas in the (air conditioned) check-in area of the main terminal, so we sat outside in the heat. After an hour or so, we were getting sleepy and noticed there was a little cafe in the terminal with a good coffee machine. So we grabbed a cappuccino each. They offered us seats in the business lounge, which was nice of them.
So finally the check-in opened at AfriJet and we made our way through baggage check and security. Now that we knew it was okay to take water through security we weren't thirsty waiting for the flight.
Arrived after sunset in Libreville, and initially had trouble finding a taxi at the AfriJet terminal. We asked around and someone showed up to drive us for 6,000 Franc, cheaper than what we paid the first time through.
They were expecting us at the Royal Palm. It was Guy at the desk, who Heather had been emailing with over the past few months to sort out our changing itinerary. The restaurant was open until 11pm (it was already 8pm) so we had time to shower and clean up before dinner.
The restaurant was packed at the Royal Palm, it's a destination for locals, especially with tonight being Saturday. Dinner was good, I had the lamb noisette and Heather tried a local fish (capitain).
Overall we both really enjoyed Loango. The highlights were the gorilla tracking and the boat ride to Akaka. We saw other big animals including elephants, buffalo, hippos, duikers and chimpanzees, but the real attraction is just the isolation and lack of other people in the park.
Friday, December 29, 2017
Loango NP, Gabon
Today we had a boat cruise down to Akaka. Loango does a good job of limiting the number of tourists per safari so that the experience is optimal. Otherwise the first boat goes down river and scares the animals, and the second boat hardly sees anything. They also don't crowd people into vehicles or boats.
So there was no need for us to rush through breakfast as weren't delaying anyone else for the safari. There was hardly any wind, which boded well for the boat ride through the lagoon.
We left the lodge around 8:45. It took about an hour through the lagoon to reach the starting point for Akaka, about five minutes past the gorilla research camp. The lagoon was like glass, perfect for the boat ride.
Akaka is a wetlands area, with a narrow waterway (about 15' wide) that goes on for kilometres. I don't know what the proper term would be, but it was river-like. Anyways we slowed down and put-putted through. There were lots of birds on both sides, along with flowers, fauna, and even a duiker. It was really cool to cruise up. I took a lot of pictures, trying to capture birds in flight. Some of them flew in unison with the boat, which made it easier to focus and take pictures. Supposedly Akaka is better in dry season because there's more wildlife, but we enjoyed it just for the atmosphere.
It took about 90 minutes to reach a small satellite camp where we had lunch. It's possible to then hike in the surrounding area, but there were lots of bugs and mosquitoes and we weren't prepared to possibly get our shoes wet, so we just asked to go back to the lodge. Plus we'd get to relax for a couple hours before dinner.
So cruised back down the 'river' to the lagoon. There was a bit more wind and so it wasn't as smooth as the ride in, but it was still a pretty comfortable ride. Plus the rain held off and we didn't get wet.
The cruise to Akaka was excellent, our second-favourite thing here at Loango after the gorilla tracking.
The lodge folks asked if we wanted to do any other activities to fill out the day, they really like their guests to maximize their safari time. We just wanted to relax so declined.
We cleaned up, half packed for tomorrow's departure, and then back to the main lodge for reading / blogging / picture editing.
The kitchen had issues with their oven and so our appetizer was the same coleslaw that we had for lunch (the kitchen has been great here - we haven't had anything twice). Our main was lasagna, which was filling. We had a drink after dinner to celebrate the end of the Loango part of this trip. There was still no breeze and so we felt a couple bites, but more like sand flies than mosquitoes.
So there was no need for us to rush through breakfast as weren't delaying anyone else for the safari. There was hardly any wind, which boded well for the boat ride through the lagoon.
We left the lodge around 8:45. It took about an hour through the lagoon to reach the starting point for Akaka, about five minutes past the gorilla research camp. The lagoon was like glass, perfect for the boat ride.
Akaka is a wetlands area, with a narrow waterway (about 15' wide) that goes on for kilometres. I don't know what the proper term would be, but it was river-like. Anyways we slowed down and put-putted through. There were lots of birds on both sides, along with flowers, fauna, and even a duiker. It was really cool to cruise up. I took a lot of pictures, trying to capture birds in flight. Some of them flew in unison with the boat, which made it easier to focus and take pictures. Supposedly Akaka is better in dry season because there's more wildlife, but we enjoyed it just for the atmosphere.
It took about 90 minutes to reach a small satellite camp where we had lunch. It's possible to then hike in the surrounding area, but there were lots of bugs and mosquitoes and we weren't prepared to possibly get our shoes wet, so we just asked to go back to the lodge. Plus we'd get to relax for a couple hours before dinner.
So cruised back down the 'river' to the lagoon. There was a bit more wind and so it wasn't as smooth as the ride in, but it was still a pretty comfortable ride. Plus the rain held off and we didn't get wet.
The cruise to Akaka was excellent, our second-favourite thing here at Loango after the gorilla tracking.
The lodge folks asked if we wanted to do any other activities to fill out the day, they really like their guests to maximize their safari time. We just wanted to relax so declined.
We cleaned up, half packed for tomorrow's departure, and then back to the main lodge for reading / blogging / picture editing.
The kitchen had issues with their oven and so our appetizer was the same coleslaw that we had for lunch (the kitchen has been great here - we haven't had anything twice). Our main was lasagna, which was filling. We had a drink after dinner to celebrate the end of the Loango part of this trip. There was still no breeze and so we felt a couple bites, but more like sand flies than mosquitoes.
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Loango NP, Gabon
I woke up a few times from the lightning and thunder overnight. It was still raining lightly when we went down for breakfast.
Today's excursion was a safari to Tassi. The lodge has a satellite camp in the middle of the savannah at Tassi. The attraction for some is the remoteness and being in the middle of nowhere. For us the downside was no electricity or mosquito net, so we just visited on a day trip.
We again crossed the lagoon and boarded the safari vehicle. Tassi is on the Atlantic side of the peninsula, about 5km west of the gorilla research camp on the lagoon side. It was still raining lightly, so we put on our baselayers and rain jackets. We saw a chimpanzee in the distance, running across a field with its white bum standing out in the haze. I took out my camera to attempt a pic, but my lens got all fogged up as it was the first time I had removed it from the case after sitting in the air conditioned room all night. So no pics.
We also saw a very young elephant with its mother. Our guide said the baby elephant was about one week old. I got a picture, but because of the rain and the distance it looks out of focus.
We reached Tassi after a couple hours, mostly wet. We dried off in the breeze, and then had lunch. Normally on the Tassi excursion there's a walk along the beach, with the possibility of seeing more chimpanzees and other animals. However the animals dislike the rain as much as us, and there wasn't anything to see, so we decided just to call it a day and head back to Loango lodge. We were lucky to have seen what we did.
Back at Loango, we showered and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. The main lodge is very comfortable to hang out at, there is usually a nice breeze coming off the lagoon which it overlooks. The lagoon is saltwater so it also helps keep mosquitoes to a minimum. Had a tea, then later an aperitif, caught up a little on my blog, and read our books. There's no wifi here, one of the first places in a long time that we've been off the grid.
Dinner was excellent again, the main was pork with plantain and a rosemary sauce, a fusion creation by the kitchen.
Today's excursion was a safari to Tassi. The lodge has a satellite camp in the middle of the savannah at Tassi. The attraction for some is the remoteness and being in the middle of nowhere. For us the downside was no electricity or mosquito net, so we just visited on a day trip.
We again crossed the lagoon and boarded the safari vehicle. Tassi is on the Atlantic side of the peninsula, about 5km west of the gorilla research camp on the lagoon side. It was still raining lightly, so we put on our baselayers and rain jackets. We saw a chimpanzee in the distance, running across a field with its white bum standing out in the haze. I took out my camera to attempt a pic, but my lens got all fogged up as it was the first time I had removed it from the case after sitting in the air conditioned room all night. So no pics.
We also saw a very young elephant with its mother. Our guide said the baby elephant was about one week old. I got a picture, but because of the rain and the distance it looks out of focus.
We reached Tassi after a couple hours, mostly wet. We dried off in the breeze, and then had lunch. Normally on the Tassi excursion there's a walk along the beach, with the possibility of seeing more chimpanzees and other animals. However the animals dislike the rain as much as us, and there wasn't anything to see, so we decided just to call it a day and head back to Loango lodge. We were lucky to have seen what we did.
Back at Loango, we showered and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. The main lodge is very comfortable to hang out at, there is usually a nice breeze coming off the lagoon which it overlooks. The lagoon is saltwater so it also helps keep mosquitoes to a minimum. Had a tea, then later an aperitif, caught up a little on my blog, and read our books. There's no wifi here, one of the first places in a long time that we've been off the grid.
Dinner was excellent again, the main was pork with plantain and a rosemary sauce, a fusion creation by the kitchen.
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Loango NP, Gabon
It took us a while to wake up from my alarm at 6:30am, we were in a very deep sleep after our long day yesterday. We were the only guests (aside from Jannie and his family, but I didn't count them as he worked for the travel agency). Breakfast was pretty good considering our remoteness. Ordered an omelette to get more protein as we had a big day ahead.
Mathieu had reviewed today's itinerary With us the previous evening after dinner. In the morning was gorilla tracking, followed by an afternoon safari to see elephants on the beach.
We packed for the gorilla tracking. We debated wearing beach shoes because there was good chance we'd be crossing streams and swamps, but didn't like the idea of open ankles for ants and other insects to nibble on so wore our trekking shoes.
At 8am we left by boat for the research camp, an hour south on the lagoon. One of the researchers, Zeka, met us at the dock. She was also our guide for the gorilla tracking. First we went through an orientation and the rules. There's three species of gorillas. We had previously seen the mountain gorillas in Uganda. Here we would see the lowland gorillas. The third species is not yet habitualized (I forget what they're called).
Gorilla tracking at Loango only opened up about seven months ago. It wasn't an option when I was planning the trip - we only hoped to see the gorillas randomly on a safari, for which the odds were rather low. Zeka said we were the first tourists to the gorillas who didn't have a connection to Gabon (e.g. an expat from Libreville or friends / family visiting someone in Gabon).
The trackers were out early in the morning, and radioed the location back to camp. We washed our hands so that we didn't bring germs into the gorilla habitat. We then took a boat ride to the nearest point so we didn't have to walk as far through the rainforest. We followed elephant trails (they are nicely wide) for about 45 minutes, to about 200m from the gorilla family. We stopped to put on a medical mask (for the gorillas' protection), remove our cameras / binoculars from our packs, and packed away our water bottles. Then we were on to see the gorillas!
First we observed Kamaya, the silverback on the family. He pretty much ignored us, which was what we wanted. Next we moved on to other members of the family. Over the course of the hour visit, we saw 13 of the 14 family members. We were fortunate to observe the family during a rest period, and that they were on level ground. There was pretty dense underbrush which made for dim lighting and difficult focusing for pictures. Lowland gorillas tend to spread out, unlike mountain gorillas which clump together. So there was gorilla activity all around us, about 20m away, and near the end we were encircled by the family! The researchers said it was a sign that the group was truly habitualized, otherwise the silverback would make sure he was always between the humans and the family.
After our hour was up (tourist exposure is limited so that the gorillas don't become over-habitualized), we left the family. After 200m we were able to remove our masks. The trackers led us back to the boat and we returned to camp. We were really lucky with our tracking - there was no rain, it was a short walk to track the gorillas, they were in a relatively flat area, and we didn't have to cross any swamps or streams. It was really cool to see the gorillas. It's the first time a baby gorilla hasn't hugged me, breaking my streak at two.
We chatted with Zeka over lunch. She's doing her masters thesis on something related to gorillas and ecotourism, and was very interested in what drew us to Loango. She was very knowledgeable and passionate about gorillas.
The boat ride back to the lodge was pretty bumpy, as the wind had picked up. We were back at the lodge by 3pm, just enough time to freshen up and head out on on next excursion.
We were joined by another group of four tourists. Took a boat ride 500m across the lagoon, and boarded the safari vehicle. We drove over white sand, which was far more bumpier than I would have thought sand could be. We drove to the Atlantic facing side of the peninsula, along the way seeing elephants, buffalo, and other animals.
One thing we did not like was that the guides purposely antagonize the elephants to try to get them to charge so that tourists can get videos to post to social media. It's very stressful for the elephants. The other tourists we met at the lodge all showed off their videos, so the problem is that there's a demand for it, which safari drivers and the lodge are happy to supply. Anyways it the lowlight of our time at Loango.
On the Atlantic side we drove parallel to the beach, hoping to see elephants and / or hippos on the beach. There was a lot of garbage on the beach. We came across buffalo and elephants on the grasslands adjacent to the beach, but not actually on the beach. There was no use taking pictures what with all the trash.
We returned back to the boat, and then back across to the lodge. Showered and then went to the main lodge for dinner. We had red snapper for our main, which was excellent. We had had maybe ten minutes of downtime since our arrival at Loango and were pretty exhausted. Fell asleep almost immediately.
Mathieu had reviewed today's itinerary With us the previous evening after dinner. In the morning was gorilla tracking, followed by an afternoon safari to see elephants on the beach.
We packed for the gorilla tracking. We debated wearing beach shoes because there was good chance we'd be crossing streams and swamps, but didn't like the idea of open ankles for ants and other insects to nibble on so wore our trekking shoes.
At 8am we left by boat for the research camp, an hour south on the lagoon. One of the researchers, Zeka, met us at the dock. She was also our guide for the gorilla tracking. First we went through an orientation and the rules. There's three species of gorillas. We had previously seen the mountain gorillas in Uganda. Here we would see the lowland gorillas. The third species is not yet habitualized (I forget what they're called).
Gorilla tracking at Loango only opened up about seven months ago. It wasn't an option when I was planning the trip - we only hoped to see the gorillas randomly on a safari, for which the odds were rather low. Zeka said we were the first tourists to the gorillas who didn't have a connection to Gabon (e.g. an expat from Libreville or friends / family visiting someone in Gabon).
The trackers were out early in the morning, and radioed the location back to camp. We washed our hands so that we didn't bring germs into the gorilla habitat. We then took a boat ride to the nearest point so we didn't have to walk as far through the rainforest. We followed elephant trails (they are nicely wide) for about 45 minutes, to about 200m from the gorilla family. We stopped to put on a medical mask (for the gorillas' protection), remove our cameras / binoculars from our packs, and packed away our water bottles. Then we were on to see the gorillas!
First we observed Kamaya, the silverback on the family. He pretty much ignored us, which was what we wanted. Next we moved on to other members of the family. Over the course of the hour visit, we saw 13 of the 14 family members. We were fortunate to observe the family during a rest period, and that they were on level ground. There was pretty dense underbrush which made for dim lighting and difficult focusing for pictures. Lowland gorillas tend to spread out, unlike mountain gorillas which clump together. So there was gorilla activity all around us, about 20m away, and near the end we were encircled by the family! The researchers said it was a sign that the group was truly habitualized, otherwise the silverback would make sure he was always between the humans and the family.
After our hour was up (tourist exposure is limited so that the gorillas don't become over-habitualized), we left the family. After 200m we were able to remove our masks. The trackers led us back to the boat and we returned to camp. We were really lucky with our tracking - there was no rain, it was a short walk to track the gorillas, they were in a relatively flat area, and we didn't have to cross any swamps or streams. It was really cool to see the gorillas. It's the first time a baby gorilla hasn't hugged me, breaking my streak at two.
We chatted with Zeka over lunch. She's doing her masters thesis on something related to gorillas and ecotourism, and was very interested in what drew us to Loango. She was very knowledgeable and passionate about gorillas.
The boat ride back to the lodge was pretty bumpy, as the wind had picked up. We were back at the lodge by 3pm, just enough time to freshen up and head out on on next excursion.
We were joined by another group of four tourists. Took a boat ride 500m across the lagoon, and boarded the safari vehicle. We drove over white sand, which was far more bumpier than I would have thought sand could be. We drove to the Atlantic facing side of the peninsula, along the way seeing elephants, buffalo, and other animals.
One thing we did not like was that the guides purposely antagonize the elephants to try to get them to charge so that tourists can get videos to post to social media. It's very stressful for the elephants. The other tourists we met at the lodge all showed off their videos, so the problem is that there's a demand for it, which safari drivers and the lodge are happy to supply. Anyways it the lowlight of our time at Loango.
On the Atlantic side we drove parallel to the beach, hoping to see elephants and / or hippos on the beach. There was a lot of garbage on the beach. We came across buffalo and elephants on the grasslands adjacent to the beach, but not actually on the beach. There was no use taking pictures what with all the trash.
We returned back to the boat, and then back across to the lodge. Showered and then went to the main lodge for dinner. We had red snapper for our main, which was excellent. We had had maybe ten minutes of downtime since our arrival at Loango and were pretty exhausted. Fell asleep almost immediately.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Loango NP, Gabon
I was a bit nervous about the Loango part of the trip, that it would actually happen. After our plans changed in early November due to flight schedules, the Loango part had taken the longest to confirm, with the booking only being finalized a week before we took off. My bank transfer for the balance owing had been declined by the receiving bank because the IBAN (account #) was invalid, even though I had sent a deposit to the same IBAN back in September. So I was hoping that someone would be at the airport in Port Gentil (called POG by the locals) to meet us.
First we had to get to the airport in Libreville. We had arranged an early breakfast at 5:30am, but there was no one at reception or in the kitchen at the Royal Palm. Not a promising start :(. The person on duty came out from a back room (looked like we woke him up). We asked for petit dejeuner and he sprung into action, and by 5:45am we were enjoying croissants and pain au chocolates with tea and coffee.
We asked about the taxi we had reserved for 6am to give them some time to work out in care there wasn't actually a reservation. Quickly ate (for us anyways - for most other people it was probably normal speed). Then got our packs and back to the reception. We still had to pay - we had tried the previous evening after dinner but the credit card POS wasn't connecting. It worked the first time (we had Euros as back up but preferred not to spend them so early), a taxi was there at 6:05am and we were at the airport by 6:25am.
We were flying domestic, the driver had asked around a few people to confirm the correct terminal for AfriJet. It took all of five minutes to check in, go through security (bottled water allowed), and get to the (only) domestic gate.
The other passengers looked like oil industry folks heading back to work after Christmas. At 7:15am, we walked out on the tarmac to board, right on schedule. It was a larger prop plane, a manufacturer I didn't recognize.
Thirty five minutes later we touched down at POG. We waited a few minutes for our luggage, (they actually checked the tags when we exited), and out into the sidewalk. I didn't see anyone with a D'Souza / Murray sign, but before I could look fully around, someone walked up and asked Loango? He had a Loango Lodge tshirt too, so it all seemed legit. So far so good!
The driver took us to Hôtel Le Bouganvillier in town, about 10 minutes from the airport, which was the same hotel that had been mentioned when I was originally booking back in July.
We switched to a quatre-quatre (4x4) for the next leg. They weren't quite ready to leave so we had a 2nd breakfast, including an omelette, as we hadn't had any protein with our 5:30am breakfast and I wasn't sure when we'd be eating again.
Our first driver came back from the pharmacy with a pair of generic reading glasses, and asked if we could deliver to Mathieu (the manager at Loango). Like most remote places, there's infrequent transport to a main centre and anyone going back and forth becomes an ad hoc transport service.
We drove through POG, to another hotel, where we picked up a group that had their own vehicles but had to follow our driver in a convoy.
So now we were four vehicles on our way to Loango. Our driver said it was about 3.5 hours to another meeting point, where we would switch vehicles for the last hour into Loango.
It was a long hot bumpy ride over a dirt road. There is a road being constructed, and for parts of the drive the new road was operational. There weren't lane markings or anything, but aside from a couple of construction related vehicles, there was no one else on the road.
I hadn't realized that the entire drive would be through undeveloped countryside. There weren't any little towns or even junction towns e.g. to buy water. Never mind junction towns - there wasn't even a junction - there was just this one road, from POG to Loango, with nothing else in between. This would have been good to know before we left POG, as we would have bought some extra water. We had a 1L bottle that we had carried on the plane, but that was it.
There were a couple of security checkpoints, related to the construction company. Our driver makes this run frequently and knew all the checkpoint people so there were no issues.
Finally around 3pm we reached Camp Liambissi, very parched and hungry. This was the destination for the rest of the convoy, which finally made sense to us. We had been wondering how the group of 14 including 7 young kids would handle Loango, as there's not many kid-accessible activities.
The manager, Phillipe, greeted us and invited us to stay a few minutes to have a snack. I guess the driver had called ahead to let them know that were hungry and thirsty tourists incoming :) It was the fastest Heather and I have ever finished a 1.5L bottle of water, less than 10 minutes.
We switched to a safari vehicle for the last hour to Loango, just me and Heather. It felt great to be in the open safari vehicle after the hot enclosed ride for the previous five hours. The scenery was amazing - intermingled grasslands and forests. It reminded me of a very large golf course in the woods, except this was natural.
We reached Loango around 4:30pm. We met the manager, Mathieu, as well as another person who introduced himself with what sounded like Yanni. Turns out it was Jannie who I had been emailing over the past few months. He had signed his emails alternately as Jan or Jannie, and I had assumed it was a female name of someone with Africa's Eden, and based in Portugal. So finally I knew that the Loango trip wasn't an elaborate Internet scam :)
Mathieu showed us to our chalet. We quickly washed up and then went out for a short tour of the lagoon which separates Loango National Park from Loango Lodge.
We saw some hippos, and then did a short walking safari and saw a lone elephant. Our guide / boat driver got us close to the elephant on foot. The elephant didn't take too kindly to this, and we backed off back to the boat. It all seemed rather sketch. (Over the next couple days we observed other newly-arrived tourists doing the same walking safari to a lone elephant. It looks like walking safaris are The Next Big Thing that lodges offer, without all the safety / knowledgeable guides that we've had at previous lodges.)
We went by boat to another beach and walked around to the ocean-facing side of Loango NP, hoping to see elephants or hippos on the beach. We did see elephant footprints but no animals.
We got back to the lodge around 6:30pm. Showered and then to the main lodge for dinner. It was excellent - freshly-caught jack fish, impossibly tender, with green beans and mashed potato, and a fruit crumble for dessert. Mmm good.
We were a little concerned about sleeping, as there was no mosquito net and Gabon is a great place to catch malaria. I had brought a small net but there was no place to rig it up. There was a/c and a big fan, so we cranked up both and hoped that the power didn't go off in the middle of the night. Also put on bug repellant as a back up. Turns out the power at Loango Lodge is pretty reliable and the a/c and fan did the trick, we didn't get any bites.
First we had to get to the airport in Libreville. We had arranged an early breakfast at 5:30am, but there was no one at reception or in the kitchen at the Royal Palm. Not a promising start :(. The person on duty came out from a back room (looked like we woke him up). We asked for petit dejeuner and he sprung into action, and by 5:45am we were enjoying croissants and pain au chocolates with tea and coffee.
We asked about the taxi we had reserved for 6am to give them some time to work out in care there wasn't actually a reservation. Quickly ate (for us anyways - for most other people it was probably normal speed). Then got our packs and back to the reception. We still had to pay - we had tried the previous evening after dinner but the credit card POS wasn't connecting. It worked the first time (we had Euros as back up but preferred not to spend them so early), a taxi was there at 6:05am and we were at the airport by 6:25am.
We were flying domestic, the driver had asked around a few people to confirm the correct terminal for AfriJet. It took all of five minutes to check in, go through security (bottled water allowed), and get to the (only) domestic gate.
The other passengers looked like oil industry folks heading back to work after Christmas. At 7:15am, we walked out on the tarmac to board, right on schedule. It was a larger prop plane, a manufacturer I didn't recognize.
Thirty five minutes later we touched down at POG. We waited a few minutes for our luggage, (they actually checked the tags when we exited), and out into the sidewalk. I didn't see anyone with a D'Souza / Murray sign, but before I could look fully around, someone walked up and asked Loango? He had a Loango Lodge tshirt too, so it all seemed legit. So far so good!
The driver took us to Hôtel Le Bouganvillier in town, about 10 minutes from the airport, which was the same hotel that had been mentioned when I was originally booking back in July.
We switched to a quatre-quatre (4x4) for the next leg. They weren't quite ready to leave so we had a 2nd breakfast, including an omelette, as we hadn't had any protein with our 5:30am breakfast and I wasn't sure when we'd be eating again.
Our first driver came back from the pharmacy with a pair of generic reading glasses, and asked if we could deliver to Mathieu (the manager at Loango). Like most remote places, there's infrequent transport to a main centre and anyone going back and forth becomes an ad hoc transport service.
We drove through POG, to another hotel, where we picked up a group that had their own vehicles but had to follow our driver in a convoy.
So now we were four vehicles on our way to Loango. Our driver said it was about 3.5 hours to another meeting point, where we would switch vehicles for the last hour into Loango.
It was a long hot bumpy ride over a dirt road. There is a road being constructed, and for parts of the drive the new road was operational. There weren't lane markings or anything, but aside from a couple of construction related vehicles, there was no one else on the road.
I hadn't realized that the entire drive would be through undeveloped countryside. There weren't any little towns or even junction towns e.g. to buy water. Never mind junction towns - there wasn't even a junction - there was just this one road, from POG to Loango, with nothing else in between. This would have been good to know before we left POG, as we would have bought some extra water. We had a 1L bottle that we had carried on the plane, but that was it.
There were a couple of security checkpoints, related to the construction company. Our driver makes this run frequently and knew all the checkpoint people so there were no issues.
Finally around 3pm we reached Camp Liambissi, very parched and hungry. This was the destination for the rest of the convoy, which finally made sense to us. We had been wondering how the group of 14 including 7 young kids would handle Loango, as there's not many kid-accessible activities.
The manager, Phillipe, greeted us and invited us to stay a few minutes to have a snack. I guess the driver had called ahead to let them know that were hungry and thirsty tourists incoming :) It was the fastest Heather and I have ever finished a 1.5L bottle of water, less than 10 minutes.
We switched to a safari vehicle for the last hour to Loango, just me and Heather. It felt great to be in the open safari vehicle after the hot enclosed ride for the previous five hours. The scenery was amazing - intermingled grasslands and forests. It reminded me of a very large golf course in the woods, except this was natural.
We reached Loango around 4:30pm. We met the manager, Mathieu, as well as another person who introduced himself with what sounded like Yanni. Turns out it was Jannie who I had been emailing over the past few months. He had signed his emails alternately as Jan or Jannie, and I had assumed it was a female name of someone with Africa's Eden, and based in Portugal. So finally I knew that the Loango trip wasn't an elaborate Internet scam :)
Mathieu showed us to our chalet. We quickly washed up and then went out for a short tour of the lagoon which separates Loango National Park from Loango Lodge.
We saw some hippos, and then did a short walking safari and saw a lone elephant. Our guide / boat driver got us close to the elephant on foot. The elephant didn't take too kindly to this, and we backed off back to the boat. It all seemed rather sketch. (Over the next couple days we observed other newly-arrived tourists doing the same walking safari to a lone elephant. It looks like walking safaris are The Next Big Thing that lodges offer, without all the safety / knowledgeable guides that we've had at previous lodges.)
We went by boat to another beach and walked around to the ocean-facing side of Loango NP, hoping to see elephants or hippos on the beach. We did see elephant footprints but no animals.
We got back to the lodge around 6:30pm. Showered and then to the main lodge for dinner. It was excellent - freshly-caught jack fish, impossibly tender, with green beans and mashed potato, and a fruit crumble for dessert. Mmm good.
We were a little concerned about sleeping, as there was no mosquito net and Gabon is a great place to catch malaria. I had brought a small net but there was no place to rig it up. There was a/c and a big fan, so we cranked up both and hoped that the power didn't go off in the middle of the night. Also put on bug repellant as a back up. Turns out the power at Loango Lodge is pretty reliable and the a/c and fan did the trick, we didn't get any bites.
Monday, December 25, 2017
Libreville, Gabon
We managed to sleep through the night so I hoped we had skipped jetlag on this trip. Breakfast was yummy at the Royal Palm - pastries, pancakes, fresh fruit salad and the best scrambled eggs I've had.
We spent most of the morning reorganizing our packs. We had used the carry-on suitcase to pack clothes in case our luggage didn't make it. (We were leaving the carry-on at the Royal Palm to carry souvenirs back at the end of the trip.)
It was Christmas so everything was closed, so we just walked into the centre of Quartier Glass to stretch our legs and see what the neighbourhood was about. Similar to Toronto, Libreville is a city of neighbourhoods. We did have a few objectives -- get local currency (CFAs), find a place for lunch, and buy some bottled water.
We tried a couple of ATMs but no luck, so went to Hotel Le Cristal to see if they would change some Euros. They had an ATM, so we tried that first, and it worked!
Flush with cash we continued on our little tour. Heather spotted a happening place in an old colonial building, with people seated around the 2nd floor balcony. It was starting to drizzle and it looked like a nice place to at least have a coffee so we stopped in. It turns out the salon de thé, Le Pelisson, is a Libreville institution (at least according to the Bradt guide). We decided to have lunch there, even though it was still before noon and a bit early for us, as we hadn't seen much else open. The food wasn't anything to write home about, but the coffee was great and the dessert was amazing.
We figured that was enough for the day and so headed home, stopping in at a gas station convenience store along the way to buy some water.
Cleaned up and then went to the pool area to have a drink and watch the sunset. I was expecting the sun to slant down across the sky, but then remembered that we were close to the equator and so the sun just goes straight up and straight down. The sun got close to the horizon and then disappeared behind some clouds.
So it was now dark and we figured respectable enough to have dinner. However the bar staff said the kitchen wasn't open and to come back later. They weren't really clear on the reason. So we surfed a bit in our room, looked up some back up places that might be open on Christmas. At 7:30 we went back our to the bar and luckily, they were now open for dinner.
I had the grilled langouste and Heather tried the duck with fig. Both were pretty good, our Christmas dinner. We had an early start the next morning so went to bed early around 10pm.
We spent most of the morning reorganizing our packs. We had used the carry-on suitcase to pack clothes in case our luggage didn't make it. (We were leaving the carry-on at the Royal Palm to carry souvenirs back at the end of the trip.)
It was Christmas so everything was closed, so we just walked into the centre of Quartier Glass to stretch our legs and see what the neighbourhood was about. Similar to Toronto, Libreville is a city of neighbourhoods. We did have a few objectives -- get local currency (CFAs), find a place for lunch, and buy some bottled water.
We tried a couple of ATMs but no luck, so went to Hotel Le Cristal to see if they would change some Euros. They had an ATM, so we tried that first, and it worked!
Flush with cash we continued on our little tour. Heather spotted a happening place in an old colonial building, with people seated around the 2nd floor balcony. It was starting to drizzle and it looked like a nice place to at least have a coffee so we stopped in. It turns out the salon de thé, Le Pelisson, is a Libreville institution (at least according to the Bradt guide). We decided to have lunch there, even though it was still before noon and a bit early for us, as we hadn't seen much else open. The food wasn't anything to write home about, but the coffee was great and the dessert was amazing.
We figured that was enough for the day and so headed home, stopping in at a gas station convenience store along the way to buy some water.
Cleaned up and then went to the pool area to have a drink and watch the sunset. I was expecting the sun to slant down across the sky, but then remembered that we were close to the equator and so the sun just goes straight up and straight down. The sun got close to the horizon and then disappeared behind some clouds.
So it was now dark and we figured respectable enough to have dinner. However the bar staff said the kitchen wasn't open and to come back later. They weren't really clear on the reason. So we surfed a bit in our room, looked up some back up places that might be open on Christmas. At 7:30 we went back our to the bar and luckily, they were now open for dinner.
I had the grilled langouste and Heather tried the duck with fig. Both were pretty good, our Christmas dinner. We had an early start the next morning so went to bed early around 10pm.
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Libreville, Gabon
Our flight was Saturday at 6:35pm. We got most of our packing done on Friday night so we weren't too rushed on Saturday to get to the airport. We had booked our flights back in June through Heather's cousin Cindy and got a great deal for Business class. I hadn't realized this also meant we skipped the line up through security, which was a nice bonus, especially over the busy Christmas season. The agent verified our visas to Gabon in Toronto; I thought they would only check before the flight from Paris but I guess it makes more sense. (Airlines are responsible for flying you out if you're refused entry to a country, so they check to make sure your papers are in order before you board.)
The food was pretty good on Air France, and we both slept for the latter half of the flight. The Air France lounge at CDG was under renovations and the temporary lounge was packed (woe is us). It was a short connection, just enough time for a coffee and pastry, and then we were off to Gabon!
We napped a couple times on the second flight and arrived relatively rested in Libreville. We were one of the first people to disembark and I accidentally followed the first class passengers to the VIP immigration, before one the VIPs helpfully pointed out the normal immigration checkpoint.
We already had our Gabon visas and the immigration official whisked us through in no time. Her ink pad was getting dry so the stamp is barely visible, but oh well. Then we waited over an hour for our luggage (reminded me of being at Pearson), but they all arrived. Everyone was very friendly around the conveyor, moving carts out of the way to let people pass and generally being helpful.
There was a final checkpoint leaving the secure area, where the official asked if we were students (lots of students were returning home for the holidays). We said, no, we're tourists, at which point she got suspicious. Oú allez-vous? cause no-one comes here as a tourist. We said we were going to Loango, and she nodded approvingly and waved us through.
Outside the terminal it was packed with families and friends waiting for the returning students. We found the taxi line and took a taxi to our hotel. We could smell the ocean as we drove, and I remembered that the road from the airport to town ran right along the coast. It was a pleasant temperature, about 26C, and pretty humid.
We checked into the Royal Palm around 7:30pm. We cleaned up and went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. According to Heather's research it was one of the better restaurants in town, plus on Christmas Eve we weren't sure what else was open. We sat at a table outside. We were the only guests at first, but a couple other tables filled in later on. We were still a little full from the Air France food, so split the seafood platter and a couple large Régab (the local beer). The seafood was excellent, it was super fresh and cooked properly. A good start to the food on this trip!
The food was pretty good on Air France, and we both slept for the latter half of the flight. The Air France lounge at CDG was under renovations and the temporary lounge was packed (woe is us). It was a short connection, just enough time for a coffee and pastry, and then we were off to Gabon!
We napped a couple times on the second flight and arrived relatively rested in Libreville. We were one of the first people to disembark and I accidentally followed the first class passengers to the VIP immigration, before one the VIPs helpfully pointed out the normal immigration checkpoint.
We already had our Gabon visas and the immigration official whisked us through in no time. Her ink pad was getting dry so the stamp is barely visible, but oh well. Then we waited over an hour for our luggage (reminded me of being at Pearson), but they all arrived. Everyone was very friendly around the conveyor, moving carts out of the way to let people pass and generally being helpful.
There was a final checkpoint leaving the secure area, where the official asked if we were students (lots of students were returning home for the holidays). We said, no, we're tourists, at which point she got suspicious. Oú allez-vous? cause no-one comes here as a tourist. We said we were going to Loango, and she nodded approvingly and waved us through.
Outside the terminal it was packed with families and friends waiting for the returning students. We found the taxi line and took a taxi to our hotel. We could smell the ocean as we drove, and I remembered that the road from the airport to town ran right along the coast. It was a pleasant temperature, about 26C, and pretty humid.
We checked into the Royal Palm around 7:30pm. We cleaned up and went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. According to Heather's research it was one of the better restaurants in town, plus on Christmas Eve we weren't sure what else was open. We sat at a table outside. We were the only guests at first, but a couple other tables filled in later on. We were still a little full from the Air France food, so split the seafood platter and a couple large Régab (the local beer). The seafood was excellent, it was super fresh and cooked properly. A good start to the food on this trip!
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Toronto, Canada
This year's trip is to Gabon and São Tomé & Príncipe. I can't say I could have pointed out Gabon on a map prior to researching this trip, although I knew roughly the whereabouts of São Tomé and Príncipe. We picked the destinations based on the least touristed countries in the world, with things of interest to us. In 2011, São Tomé & Príncipe received 12,000 visitors, which is an average of about 30 tourists per day. Gabon is a relative hotspot with 269,000 annual tourists, which still puts them in the lowest 25% of countries. (For comparison, France, the most-touristed country, has over 80 million visitors per year). Well enough with the statistics.
The two countries provide good variety for a three week trip. São Tomé & Príncipe has great beaches and snorkeling, coffee and chocolate plantations, hiking, and Claudio Corallo chocolate. Gabon highlights include national parks, with surfing hippos, lowland gorillas and elephants on the beach.
There wasn't much choice for guide books, just a skinny Bradt guide for each country. The two put together are the same thickness as the South Africa Lonely Planet from our previous trip.
We had booked most of the trip back in June, and had to rearrange everything in November when the regional flight schedules changed from what we were expecting. Luckily we were able to change our dates for most of our hotels & lodges.
We were a bit concerned with getting visas, as there's a lot of comments all over the web about other travellers having their visa applications rejected. We had no issues, although we did have to submit a lot of documentation. The visa application for São Tomé & Príncipe is online. Gabon also has an e-visa, but we needed a double-entry so mailed our passports to the embassy in Ottawa. The Gabon visa is a nice looking full-page sticker which includes our picture! I've not seen that before.
We learnt from previous trips and did most of our shopping for gear in early summer, when stores still have hot weather inventory. We're mostly ready to go, another week and we'll be on our way!
The two countries provide good variety for a three week trip. São Tomé & Príncipe has great beaches and snorkeling, coffee and chocolate plantations, hiking, and Claudio Corallo chocolate. Gabon highlights include national parks, with surfing hippos, lowland gorillas and elephants on the beach.
There wasn't much choice for guide books, just a skinny Bradt guide for each country. The two put together are the same thickness as the South Africa Lonely Planet from our previous trip.
We had booked most of the trip back in June, and had to rearrange everything in November when the regional flight schedules changed from what we were expecting. Luckily we were able to change our dates for most of our hotels & lodges.
We were a bit concerned with getting visas, as there's a lot of comments all over the web about other travellers having their visa applications rejected. We had no issues, although we did have to submit a lot of documentation. The visa application for São Tomé & Príncipe is online. Gabon also has an e-visa, but we needed a double-entry so mailed our passports to the embassy in Ottawa. The Gabon visa is a nice looking full-page sticker which includes our picture! I've not seen that before.
We learnt from previous trips and did most of our shopping for gear in early summer, when stores still have hot weather inventory. We're mostly ready to go, another week and we'll be on our way!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)