ATW Day 83 - After Sao Tome

It's day 83 of the ATW and we are cruising in the Gulf of Guinea after our visit to Sao Tome.  Sao Tome and Principe is a very small country consisting of 2 main islands off of the west coast of Africa and it's another former Portuguese colony.  Sailing in we saw many small fishing boats which seems to be a big "industry" there.

It was a tender port and we opted for an afternoon excursion - Highlights of Sao Tome.  After lunch, we took the tender into the port and walked around a bit before our tour.  We walked up to the old fort which is now a museum.  We quickly saw that this was not going to be the more modern city that we had hoped for.

The excursion took us first to the National Museum Caucau.  We had heard that Sao Tome has a reputation for good chocolate so we hoped that there would be some history and chocolate to taste at the museum.  No such luck.  But it was an event space that had some very interesting local art.

The next stop was at the San Tome Cathedral.  The cathedral is next to the presidential palace which we were told that we were forbidden to take pictures of.  When there's a will, there's a way!

The cathedral had some typical Portuguese ceramic art.

You may have noticed the cat in the previous photo.  We saw many stray dogs in Sao Tome but not many cats.  Our guide told us that the reason for this is that the local people eat cats! At one time, people were selling cats as rabbit meat. Now the rabbits have to be sold with their heads intact. I guess that cat was seeking refuge in the cathedral!

We then went to Independence Square where we saw a folkloric dance taking place.  These dances apparently tell a story of history and can go on for hours.

We were then driven through a market area where they were selling a vast amount of used clothing.  Our guide told us that the clothing comes from donations in Europe, I guess like Goodwill in the U.S.  She told us that she sometimes buys things there because some of it is new with the tags still on.

We then were taken to the Pantufo fishing village where we watched another folkloric dance outside of the church.

Our last stop was at a chocolate shop where we had hoped to buy some good local chocolate.  It was a disappointment.  The chocolate was not great and the prices were outrageous.  

So it was another interesting visit to a west African country, our third.  I have to say that the first, Namibia, was the best so far.  An interesting desert and nice, clean cities.  Luanda, Angola and San Tome were a different story with much poverty and a "third world" vibe.  I guess that it's too easy to be judgmental about the way people in these parts of the world live.   Our guide offered an interesting take on the difference between Angola and San Tome.  She said that all of the races get along in San Tome because the Portuguese insisted on mixed marriages.  In contrast, she said that the black people in Angola hate the white people as there was no mixing of the races.

The tender ride back was at sunset with a near full moon.

For our sea day today, they have planned a special dinner.  Various dishes from around the world will be presented in the restaurants on Deck 12 - the buffet restaurant, the grill and the healthy restaurant.  We saw the local grouper that they purchased, although we're a bit disappointed that they were not able to get the huge marlin the chef had told us about.

I'll be sure to take photos to share with you in my next post.

Until then, eat healthy and enjoy your good life!

Linda and Larry