Today
we are in Sao Tome and Principe is the second smallest African country. Sao
Tome (St. Thomas in Portuguese) founded in 1470 and is one of Africa’s oldest
colonial cities. These islands are located about 25 miles north of the equator.
So a little background about this place.
- Sao Tome gained
independence in 1975. Principe became autonomous in 1995.
- The population is
comprised largely of slave ancestry, many of Jewish origin.
- Both islands are part
of Cameroon volcanic mountain line.
- It was one of the first
countries in Africa to adopt democracy in 1991.
- The islands are
somewhat of a bird watching paradise.
- 95% of its exports are
cocoa. Before cocoa, it was sugar cane.
- About a third of Sao
Tome and Principe is covered by rain forests.
With
3 sea days coming up, we decided we should at least go into the city and have a look around.
Their port isn’t large enough to handle big cruise ships so it was a situation
where we had to tender in, then catch a shuttle to the downtown area.
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view from our veranda this morning
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Cathedral of Sao Tome ahead
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residential area
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Equador? |
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African crafts for sale
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a quick peak inside a beauty salon
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advertisement for popular soft drink
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fresh coconut stands
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coconut vendor
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sidewalk merchandizing
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peak inside a ladies dress shop
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Once
downtown, we walked around for a bit but it was extremely hot and humid and the
wife of the couple we were with wasn’t feeling well, but we decided to hit the (few) high
spots. We walked up to the cathedral and I snapped a few photos as we walked
around. We also saw the Presidential Palace but it was heavily guarded and
others told us that photos were not allowed. However, I did snap the one below from a
distance.
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Presidential Palace
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Our Lady of Grace Cathedral
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Vice President and husband are in Africa now. Think it Ghana. Have you heard? Kamela Harris husband was given one of those colorful long garments the African men might wear. Saw a pucture of him receiv
ReplyDeleteToo bad we missed them. lol! We saw plenty of colorful men's outfits though. Ronnie has started to paint a portrait of one of them (from a head shot).
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