Sao Tome and Principe: A Tourist Destination
Having enjoyed the one spent outside our shores [Niamey] last year, we wanted to escape somewhere again this year. It was a voice in my head that first suggested it by saying; ‘why not Sao Tome? I replied and said, ‘why not? After all, my good childhood friend Ahmed Magaji is now our ambassador, and […]
Having enjoyed the one spent outside our shores [Niamey] last year, we wanted to escape somewhere again this year. It was a voice in my head that first suggested it by saying; ‘why not Sao Tome? I replied and said, ‘why not? After all, my good childhood friend Ahmed Magaji is now our ambassador, and it’s not that far also. Besides, my people have a saying [which I don’t totally agree with] that goes thus; ‘mai uwa a murhu—-. The full translation of the saying, for those that couldn’t complete it, is roughly ‘he, whose mother is in charge of the kitchen, will not sleep with hunger’.
Come-on, first of all, this pre-supposes that our people are mostly polygamous, which is o k. because they are. What I have quarrels with, is the salient implication in the message that our mothers could be partial when it comes to dishing out food to children in the house. This, to me is unacceptable, because majority of them are not. By the way, this is not the only phrase I have quarrels with, I also have with the one that says ‘in gemun dan uwanka ya kama wuta—–, again for the benefit of those that cant come up with the rest of the phrase, the full and complete translation is ‘when your brothers beard catches fire, or when you see it on fire, splash water on yours’.
I think we should go on to add ‘and then quickly rush to put out his ’. But, mark you, all these thoughts are in my mind. Sorry for the digression, it’s just because the situation, as it were today, is dangerously reflective of these phrases. Anyway, immediately our minds were made up, I sent data pages of all our passports to the ambassador for entry permits to be obtained. Yes, entry permits. Sao Tome is in central and not west Africa. A copy of the request for the permits sent to their immigration was e mailed to me a few days after, to enable us catch the last flight out of here before Sallah.
But, as God would have it, we weren’t able to make it, because of the dearth of time, or, to add a spiritual tinge to it, time was not yet ripe. Sometime around mid November, in the course of discussions, the ambassador mentioned he would most likely be in the country around first week of December. With an unexpected push from retired Air Commodore Labaran Halliru, who was also planning on going, but couldn’t make it, I decided we should go before he comes, which we did, but unfortunately without the children, because of school. Their time is not nigh yet.
On Thursday, the 24th of November we took the 1st Dana airline flight out of Abuja, in order not to be late for our 11.30am connecting Air Nigeria flight. On arriving international airport, we went straight to the office of the comptroller of immigration [Garba Abdullahi], who had graciously, as always, left a message for us to wait and be checked in from his office. We handed over our passports, including what I thought were our visas to his staff and climbed upstairs to abibiz restaurant for breakfast. Like I always say, when taking a flight with many stopovers, especially within the continent [ours was via Doula in Cameroon and Libreville in Gabon], one should eat heavy breakfast. The moment we Sat down, I noticed a rather peculiar message [in red, if I remember well] boldly written at the entrance of the restaurant, that to my mind is intended to warn customers about the state of toilets in the airport.
It says something like this, ‘we don’t manage or maintain private toilets in the airport’. They were, in effect, absolving themselves from responsibility for the state of toilets in the Airport, and in my mind, they can’t, or shouldn’t, not with the orishirishi they serve customers. They should arrange to maintain at least one. What kind of message will this send to not only Nigerians but visitors to the country? Anyway, we got the message and were very careful in the combination of what we ate.
That wasn’t the only shock we were to encounter in the Airport that day, just read on. This can only happen in—–. On our way down, we bumped into the officer who had our passports and he said ‘oga, there is a problem’ and went on to add ‘they [Air Nigeria] said they can’t check you in with this paper’ displaying the paper I thought was our entry permit, written in Portuguese, which I, or nobody around me could read. He suggested we go see the air Nigeria manager in the airport, I said, o k. We left my wife at the book shop and strolled down. Luck, talk about luck.
What about it? My phone rang as we approached his desk, and behold, it was H. E. the Ambassador. They spoke, and he requested they should speak to one Mr. Americo in the airport at Sao Tome. The manager explained to me that the paper I was carrying was actually a request to immigration for entry permits to be issued, not permits to enter the country. He went on to say, surprisingly in Hausa, ‘Alhaji ba damuwa, zaku tafi’ meaning ‘Alhaji don’t worry, you will go’ I immediately, somehow, felt comfortable.
Maybe because he said it in the language I first spoke. The permits had actually been issued since, but weren’t sent to me, I learnt later. The issues were finally resolved, and the officer graciously saw us off up to the boarding gate. As we strolled down to the gate, I lectured my wife for the umpteenth time on the importance of getting to the airport early anytime we intend to travel, for had we not, it would have been almost impossible for calls to be made back and forth in order to sort out our problems. The flight was slightly delayed, but not something unbearable, before we were finally called to board. That was when the second shocker came.
The walkway, or whatever it is that it is called; that you pass through to board the aircraft was pitch dark, and unbearably hot. So dark, that I couldn’t see my wife who was right in front of me. People were cursing as they trampled on other peoples carry on luggage. It was, to put it mildly, scandalous. The pilot jetted out on a very bumpy start, through very dense clouds, without so much as trying to avoid them, like they sometimes do, and to add salt to injury, a shrill nosy voice came over the speaker asking if there was anything they could do to make our flight more comfortable.
I was tempted to call her and say, ‘why don’t you tell him up front, to avoid the clouds for a start? About an hour ten minutes or so later, we were flying above the roads and farmlands of Doula. I was amazed and at the same time impressed with the view of the farmlands from the top. It wasn’t only the farmlands that presented great scenery. There was a meandering, snaky river with bright sun shining on it.
Hot tin roofs were also not left out in the display, which again reminded me of that old Hollywood movie ‘Cat on a hot tin roof’. On landing, that nosy voice, the type Mr Wole Soyinka so aptly described as amala voices in one of his articles years’ back, condemning our announcers struggle to mimic the British or Americans, announced a 40 minute transit in Doula.
The article, in New Africa magazine, if I recollect well, was titled ‘special nansmints’, ‘nansmints’ meaning announcements, like they would pronounce it. If you can find it, please read it. You will laugh your heart out. He dealt them a real big blow. The airport, like most airports in our sub-region, was sleepy and desolate, with only one aircraft on the tarmac. I wondered why it took that long for passengers to disembark and come on board. Eventually the pilot took off as if he was angry about the time lost, or trying to catch up on it. The view of Libreville from atop was a sharp contrast from that of Doula. The buildings were bigger and more colorful.
So were the roofs. The colorful display especially that of a stadium close to the airport, presented a very nice view. But then, I shouldn’t have made any comparisons with Doula, since it isn’t the capital of Cameroon. We took off from Libreville after about 30 minutes. The flight to Sao Tome started off smooth until the approach to the islands. The clouds suddenly became very thick; looking like the icebergs the titanic collided with in the middle of the Atlantic.
Mercifully, the pilot avoided most of them this time around. Maybe he too would have suffered, had he gone through them, I thought to myself. The pilot lowered the plane dangerously close to the ocean before the runway suddenly appeared. The beginning of the runway is so close to the ocean that any slight miscalculation will just be better imagined.
On disembarkation, we were whisked away to the lounge by Mr Giuliano [the person sent to pick us up]. He collected our passports and disappeared, only to re-appear some minutes later to lead us to the waiting car outside. With this kind of treatment, and like any good politician who knows how to milk his moments, I thought this could be our time also. I mean, with so many good friends as Ambassadors now, there couldn’t be a better time to explore the globe, especially for a restless trotter like me.
The serenity and peace of the islands became apparent immediately on hitting the road by the sea-side. The moment we saw islanders with their children, happily taking an evening dip inside the ocean, we fell in love, not only with the islands, but, with ourselves again. The people’s happiness was for some un-explainable reason, contagious. A few minutes later, we were parked inside the ambassadorial residence.
We met H. E. leisurely reclined on a couch watching football [mayen bal ne]. Before Giuliano left, the Ambassador requested him to keep our passports and apply for a residence permit on our behalf. It was as if he read my mind. Well, I am sure he did. His daughter Amira came down to show my wife our room and we went to pray. That day, we had an early night after dinner. Now that we are inside the Atlantic, let me provide information about the islands.
The islands of Sao Tome and Principe formed by two islands and several smaller islets were uninhabited before arrival of the Portuguese in 1471. But, this claim is highly contestable. According to my guide at the museum; the first settlers were surviving slaves from Angola and Mozambique, who swam ashore after a ship wreck. It was such a position, and the fight against colonialism that made the Portuguese hang King Rei Amadoi much later, I think. In fact, in nineteen fifty three up to 1000 people were massacred by the Portuguese.
Both pictures of the military commander responsible for the massacre [Carlos de Souza] and the kings hanging are on display in the museum. Well, to me, the wreck in itself confirms presence of both the slaves and their masters on the ship. Who got to the islands first in the race to the shore is now only in the knowledge of the Almighty, and will forever be contestable between both parties. They may well have gotten to the shore at the same time, who knows? And stranded, there couldn’t have been a better option for the slave masters than staying and living together in peace with the slaves, else——. Maybe that’s what gave rise to the two tone creoles that constitute almost 10 percent of the population on the islands.
Right up until the 20th century, the islands bore the names of Joao Santarem and Pero Escobar, the Portuguese that discovered them. The island of Sao Tome is just sixty five kilometers long and the width is just about half of that, which is about the distance between Kaduna and Zaria, and far less than that of Lagos and Ibadan. The islands are so small that you hardly see them on the map, and even when you do, they appear just as tiny dots off the west coast of Gabon.
But, the lack of size has been adequately compensated with in natural beauty. The islands are a Mecca for conservationists. The natives take pride in calling their islands ‘the last piece of paradise on earth’, which we found apt, because nature is still intact and un-tampered with there. Although Sao Tome is just 300 km away from Nigeria, their location is in central Africa.
The landscape is a thick dense rain forest with trees that stand to heights of more than 100 meters atop volcanic mountains, and lots of flora. The current population of Sao Tome and Principe is about 170,000, from which about sixty thousand live in the capital, and about five thousand on the island of Principe. Slightly more than fifty percent of the population live in the rural areas, and in terms of population density, there are about 140 people per square kilometer.
Independence came to the islands in nineteen seventy five. The ball pen used to sign the independence papers by their first president [Mr. Pinto da Costa], who incidentally was re-elected president recently again, after vacating office for twenty years, is seen on display in their museum.
Sao Tome and Principe is the only country I know, as of today, and it may very well be the only one that you will also, [after reading this] that has scheduled rain. In other words, the natives predict with little margin of error when the rains will fall and how long it will last. Let me share with you a dialogue that ensued between the Ambassador and his driver when he newly arrived the islands; they were going somewhere one fine afternoon when he [ the ambassador] noticed the skies were suddenly filled with black clouds’.
He [the ambassador] said to the driver, ‘we should postpone going out because it is going to rain’. The driver replied, ‘oga its not now, its five o’clock’ the ambassador, perplexed, said, ‘what do you mean? The driver said, ‘the rain will start at five, sir’. He [ the ambassador ]laughed and went back inside for one of the longest waits for the rains to fall, for surely the skies were not opened until five pm.
True story, it happened to us too. We were driving to a water fall up in the mountains, deep in the midst of the rain forest when the driver said, ‘oga, around here it rains at 1pm’. Though he was quick to add, ‘but, things are changing now, we can hardly predict with such accurate punctuality anymore’, the skies opened up at 1pm. Scary huh? Driving on those roads presented us with some of the best sceneries one could see anywhere. At some point, you find yourself driving by the bottom of huge tree trunks, and right by their tops, almost close to the clouds, at other times.
I imagine roads to the mambila plateau could be like this also, but in- security will not let me explore, and in my country, unfortunately. Driving around requires a 4 x 4 vehicle because some parts of the roads are either in bad shape or partially occupied by forests. Sao Tome and Principe have of recent been strengthening their position in the world market as a tourist destination with great potential.
Because of this, there are lots of good hotels and holiday resorts spread along the length and breath of the islands. I visited just 2 or 3 in my short stay. The discovery of oil in the Gulf of Guinea has also added to the increased interest on the islands. The mad rush by gold diggers will certainly be intensified the moment commercial production begins, so the time to get in is now. Take my word for it.
Fish, as expected is of very wide variety and very cheap. My favourite food on the island is a fruit that grows on trees, which anybody with a machete can cut for free, eat and then sell to the elite, called ‘Frutta’. You can either boil or fry it. When fried, it looks like a combination of sweet and Irish potatoes, but, with a taste that’s definitely much better than both, to me. Back to where we were. We woke up well rested on Friday morning, had breakfast and drove to the embassy.
My wife went out with another driver. I was privileged to meet and make the acquaintance of several of the embassy staff. At about 1pm, we went to the mosque for Friday prayers. The Mosque, which is rather small, is quite adequate for the Muslim population in the capital. There were only slightly over 30 of us in the whole congregation. We drove to hotel Pestana [pronounced Peshtana] with the ambassador for evening tea [as if we are British].
More than the tea was the view from where we sat, close to the ocean, which finished me. Back in the office, I leisurely sat and entertained myself with coffee and fresh coconut drink, as the ambassador received a stream of visitors, both from within the office and outside. We got back home in time for very good dinner, after which I decided to explore the house. The quality of the building is truly beyond comment.
They are indeed blessed with very skilled artisans. The balconies upstairs have nice ocean views on both sides of the building. One could just sit down there looking at the ocean with a good book without noticing the time going by. On Saturday, the ambassador, who came down looking more like a Ugandan than a Nigerian, decided to take us to Port Alegre [ an almost 2 hour drive from the capital because of the road], but not before passing by the site where the permanent residence of the Nigerian ambassador is currently under construction. The building, overlooking the ocean, construction of which was recently commissioned by President Jonathan, will certainly be befitting of this ‘potentially’, I repeat, potentially, great country Nigeria when completed. Makes you wonder when the potential will be unleashed, KO?
The contractor, a young man who finished from the same faculty with me in A. B. U. long after we left, and who proved himself with the building of the headquarters of the Nigerian owned Island bank in record time, [by the islanders standard] had invited the ambassador to commission his site office. The main attraction at Port Alegre, to me, was a privately owned building, which hasn’t been completed and looks abandoned, on a mountain top, with one of the best views you can find anywhere. From there we stopped at a beach that’s totally unspoilt, and which can carry the tag; ‘private’.
There were only about 3 or 4 western tourists soaking in the squeaky clean ocean. Let me share with you my friends, a secret. Please don’t let our spouses know. It’s the kind of place you would love to escape to when Hajiya, Madam, sweet heart, or whatever it is you call yours charges your head. Understand?
On the way back, we bought lots of Frutta and an Octopus freshly caught by a fisherman for dinner. We also stopped at an unbelievably beautiful resort overlooking the Atlantic called ‘club Santana’. I was made to understand it is a former Nigerian president’s favourite place when on the islands. Which one?
Your guess is as good as mine. On Sunday, we went inland to a botanical garden with lots of medicinal plants and flora native to the islands only. There, you will find plants that cure a variety of diseases, from cancer to constipation, dry skin to diabetes. Some will put you to a deep slumber, while others like, ‘touch me not’ will simply cringe and fold inwards at the slightest touch, which it interprets as danger.
God is great. The garden has a small hostel that does not even have air conditioning, because of the altitude, for rent, in case you want to stay overnight to sample the plant that puts one to deep sleep. But, not to worry, the islands are very safe. There is hardly any crime. As a matter of fact, some criminals that robbed a bank in the afternoon recently were caught long before dusk on the same day.
Driving along the Presidents house, we saw only one soldier on guard at the gate, and they say it’s not unusual to bump into the President jogging along the streets sometimes. Any way you know what? You can stop him and ask a few questions. In conclusion, I will confess to you that; anytime the thought of a tsunami crossed my mind, I got a little scared of the islands.
There was a time I even thought, why do these people have to live on the Precipe? ‘Why don’t they just park and move to the main house instead of living in the B Q, as it were? There is ample space for them on the main land. In future, they can hop onto the islands for a quick dip and return to higher grounds for a good night’s sleep any day they want. Anyway, I am now part of them, at least for the next two years.
Oh, I didn’t tell you? Our residence permits were approved and granted before we left, courtesy of H. E. the Ambassador. Now either me or my wife can apply for an entry permit on your behalf when you decide to go for a holiday, or when your sweet heart———-. Please Sweet Hearts don’t take offence. You also have your ways when we————–. See you soon, insha Allah.