The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
‘Here nature sneaks up on you rather than you seeking it out’
Casual birdwatching, random encounters with whales and hikes through the untouched wilderness of a Unesco Biosphere Reserve persuade Andrew Purvis that Principe in the Gulf of Guinea is a living experiment in sustainable tourism done well
Hanging in midwater beneath the dive boat at a site called Pedra Adalha, a rocky outcrop north of Principe island in the Gulf of Guinea, my guide, Ruben, cupped his hand to his ear in a signal that meant “Listen”. As we clung to the anchor line and began our safety stop – a three-minute pause to prevent “the bends” – I could make out a series of haunting whistles, trills and grunts, then a low grating rumble that reverberated through the water.
“Did you hear the whale?” Ruben asked, as we clambered on board the boat. It was humpback season and what we had heard was the leviathan’s distant song. After years of diving, this was a first – an eerie, spiritual moment entirely in keeping with the surreal lost world that is Principe. Paired with larger Sao Tome to the south, it lies
140 miles (225km) off Gabon in West Africa and is one of Telegraph Travel’s 20 places to visit in 2019, before the mainstream operators move in. The entire island is a Unesco Biosphere Reserve, meaning a quarter of it is uninhabited, with stark volcanic peaks rising through primeval forest, and the rest split between a “buffer zone” – where ecologically sensitive enterprises are allowed, including a handful of hotels – and a larger “transition area” where most of the 7,000-strong population earns a living from fishing and subsistence agriculture.
A growing number earn a living from tourism too, which brings us to Principe’s biggest challenge. How do you boost tourist numbers and revenue without ruining one of the last unspoilt wildernesses on earth? What you need is someone with vision – and lots of money. Enter Mark Shuttleworth, a South African tech millionaire who lives on the Isle of Man “with 18 ducks, the equally lovely Claire… and the occasional itinerant sheep”, according to his website. In
2000 he formed HBD – the acronym stands for Here Be Dragons, used on medieval maps to indicate unknown territory – and began to invest in emerging markets. But it was his experience aboard the International Space Station in 2002 (he paid a reported $20 million/
£15 million to be South Africa’s first space tourist) that changed his perspective and stoked his passion for the environment.
Investing in sustainable tourism was one of Shuttleworth’s goals, and the blank canvas of Principe seemed like the place to do it. Since then, HBD has provided not just cash but experts – in forestry, agriculture, architecture, design, hospitality and more – to make Principe a viable ecotourism destination. Is it the greenest island on earth, or a rich man’s vanity project?
Arriving with my family at the tiny airport after the 35-minute hop from Sao Tome, I was greeted by a huge poster – an aerial photograph of Principe bearing the distinctive logos, resembling Druid runes, of HBD’s four properties: Omali Lodge (where we had already stayed on Sao Tome), Bom Bom Island Resort (our next port of call), Sundy Praia (the newest and most luxurious, with 15 tented villas) and Roca Sundy (a restored plantation house). Outside, liveried 4x4s were poised to whisk guests to their accommodation of choice, driven by staff in crisp khaki uniforms. It felt more like a Save the Children convoy than an airport pickup, and HBD does have something of the aid charity about it.
That feeling was amplified as our vehicle bumped along the rutted, red earth track to Bom Bom, flanked by rainforest and plantations of cocoa and banana. Children waved as we passed; women carrying bundles on their heads walked by the roadside in the 85F (30C) heat. The languid, laid-back atmosphere reminded me of the Caribbean, but culturally it felt like the heart of Africa. If part of Shuttleworth’s mission is to alleviate poverty, there’s a lot of it about.
His grand experiment began at Bom
A guide to other islands in the Principe archipelago
SAO TOME
Paired with Principe to form a single territory, the larger of the two islands – 30 by 20 miles (48x32km), as opposed to 19 by four miles (30x6km) – is an essential stop-off: all flights from Europe land here, with regular connecting flights to Principe. Stay at civilised Omali Lodge (omali lodge.com), above, with comfortable rooms surrounded by Bom, which opened in 2013. Its 19 russet-painted, weatherboard bungalows are sprawled across a promontory with a white-sand beach on either side, but the defining feature is a bridge lancing 150yd across the water to Ilheu Bom Bom, an islet where the hotel restaurant is located. Walking across it to breakfast was the perfect way to start each day, perhaps bumping into Chaplin, the semi-tame African grey parrot, or watching one of the local spearfishermen who, when the tide is right, drag their canoes through the shallows beneath the bridge to avoid the long trip around the entire islet.
From a jetty next to the restaurant, a boat from Bom Bom’s Padi-accredited dive centre visits 11 sites, including the one where I heard my whale. Kayaking, snorkelling and stand-up paddleboarding are available, but the real joy is immersing yourself in nature. From a sunlounger, I watched through binoculars as bright yellow Principe weaver birds built their nests from palm fronds in a tree above my head. Sensing a sudden movement, I turned to see a Madagascar kingfisher alight on the rail of our balcony. Later, I would spot a Principe kingfisher, or lawns and a natural-looking pool. At dusk, flocks of huge fruit bats leave their roosts and overfly the property. I took a tour to the south, taking in Roca Agua Ize, a former cocoa plantation where labourers’ dwellings have been repurposed cho-cho, with its pale grey or powderblue breast and larger, redder beak. Like the weavers, it is only found here.
This is a place where nature sneaks up on you, rather than you seeking it out. One day, we took a boat ride to Baia das Agulhas (Bay of Spires) in the untouched south of the island, known for its phonolite towers – needles of volcanic rock that pierce the equatorial clouds like a scene from Jurassic Park. As we cruised the mirror-calm, eerily green waters past Daliesque geological structures lapped by the waves, the captain shouted: “Whale!” There, just 20yd in front of us, the cambered backs of a humpback and her calf arched through the water, accompanied by the breathy sound of spouting.
The same thing happened when we went to explore some of the north’s golden beaches – pretty as a Bounty ad, but always completely deserted. Elsewhere I have set out to watch whales and failed; twice in Principe I encountered them by accident.
So far, so natural – but how else is Bom Bom green? Like all HBD resorts on the island, it sources ingredients for its kitchen, spa and bathroom products from Roca Paciencia, a as housing. Walk the streets and visit the old plantation, accompanied by curious children.
Like Principe, Sao Tome is largely unspoilt and home to endemic birds. Pico Cao Grande (Great Dog Peak) is a 2,175ft needle-shaped volcanic plug in Parque Natural Obo de Sao Tome.