Sao Tome & Principe (Bradt Travel Guides) - Softcover

Kathleen Becker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1784770973 ISBN 13: 9781784770976

Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides, 2021

Synopsis

Bradt's São Tomé and Príncipe is the only standalone guide to Africa's second-smallest country, considered by some to be the centre of the world as it is the site of the closest point to the intersection of the Greenwich Meridian and the Equator. In this comprehensively updated third edition, Kathleen Becker, regular tour leader for a major tour operator on São Tomé, and Sean Connolly, who first visited and fell in love with São Tomé in 2015, provide priceless insider information to the best spots for sleeping, eating and drinking, hiking, watersports, turtle-watching and rainforest hikes.

Since the previous edition of this guide, a wider choice of accommodation has become available - trendy guesthouses, a surf lodge, a homestay and new plantation tourism on Príncipe to name a few options - and the country has gained an even greater reputation as a gourmet hiking destination, from the 'best chocolate in the world' to the freshest fish straight from the beach alongside the equator mark. Meanwhile, Príncipe, São Tomé's jewel sister island, is now a UNESCO Biosphere offering more watersports opportunities such as stand-up paddle boarding and surfing lessons.

Bradt's São Tomé and Príncipe is the perfect companion for independent travellers, wildlife enthusiasts, trekkers, foodies, anyone interested in colonial history and African developments, or in setting up in business there. This indispensable guide to the second-most important biodiversity hotspot in Africa offers sections on background and practical information, followed by four easy-to-follow chapters on São Tomé and a dedicated chapter on Príncipe. It shows the way to plantations lost in time and an organic cocoa cooperative and includes local expression, advice on cultural and medical issues as well as on how to get by on a budget in a destination without backpacker infrastructure. All budgets are catered for, from luxurious chic boutique resorts to city apartments and budget guesthouses. It also includes additional contributions by local experts on wildlife, politics and economy, controversies and tourism.

About this title

About the Author

A tour leader, travel writer and translator, Kathleen Becker spends a large part of the year on São Tomé & Príncipe, the tiny cocoa islands on the equator, leading hiking groups for UK and German operators. A European Creole of German-Irish heritage, she first explored São Tomé & Príncipe for Bradt's pioneering guide in 2006.

Based in a workaday city neighbourhood of street food sellers when not leading tours, she was involved in ecotourism training along the Cocoa Route in the north in 2015 and started teaching English to local agency guides in 2018, picking up aspects of Santomean life and Creole words from her students along the way - sharing in the lifelong adventure of learning.

This edition was updated with the help of Sean Connolly, who first travelled to Africa as a student in 2008 and returns to the continent whenever possible to research, teach or simply soak up the ambience in Africa's countless little-visited corners. He's been poring over maps since before he could read them, and working with Bradt Guides since 2011. Along with authoring two editions of Bradt's Senegal, he's also updated or contributed to the Bradt guides to Somaliland, Malawi, Mozambique, Ghana, Uruguay, Sierra Leone, two editions of Rwanda and Gabon. He first visited and fell in love with São Tomé and Príncipe in 2015, and has been raving about it to anyone who will listen ever since.

From the Back Cover

São Tomé and Príncipe travel guide - advice and expert travel tips, including São Tomé highlights; islands including Bom Bom and Ilhéu das Cabras; beaches such as Banana and Micondó; resorts and hotels; and activities such as diving, surfing and SUP. Also covering Príncipe, culture, wildlife, flora, hiking, and birdwatching.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1784770973
• ISBN 13: 9781784770976
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 288