ESSENTIALS

any t gnals e usable e d. d he operative x. g d. our th Sao Tome Choice (01768 721050; saotomechoice.com) offers a nine-night Secrets of Sao Tome and Principe holiday from £3,398 per person, based on two people sharing on a half-board basis. The price includes international flights with TAP Air Portugal and internal flights from Sao Tome to Principe. Additional nights at the five-star Sundy Praia cost from £490 per person per night, based on two sharing a one-bedroom tented villa on a half-board basis. the way. At the other extreme was TR7, a high-energy, high-altitude trek with our guide Ignaciu to swim in the chilly pools of O Que Pipi waterfall, negotiating the steep inclines, sucking mud and moss-covered tree roots of the Parque Natural Obo do Principe, within the wilder, pristine part of the island.

When Bom Bom staff suggested we walk the three-hour TR4 to Sundy Praia while our luggage was transferred by road, it gave us a chance to meet Spencer, another inspirational local guide. After pressing a fernlike iglesia leaf on our arms to produce a white tattoo, traditionally worn for church celebrations, he led us on a forest walk past oca trees (with flat, flange-like roots used to build canoes), pao de sabon (whose pounded leaves produce a milky green soap) and the piri-piri bush with its fiery red chillies, used to make a local pepper sauce, malagueta.

Botany lesson over, we rolled up to the reception of the architecturally imposing Sundy Praia, the island’s first and only five-star hotel, and were bowled over by the opulence. We had a three-suite tented villa to ourselves, with its own infinity pool and expansive deck, nautical styling

(cream canvas, steel fittings, sturdy masts), knockout interiors and direct access to the beach – but the property was not without its flaws. My son’s shower leaked, pouring water into the living area; the phone in the room didn’t work; the air con was too cold, the shower lukewarm and the service less polished than you might expect.

But what should one expect? Talking to Manuel Barbosa, the general manager, about what he and others keep referring to as “The Project”, I began to form a theory about “kind tourism”. In a country where the hotel sector is embryonic, where infrastructure is poor, where some staff have only just made the transition from harvesting cocoa in the forest to mastering silver service and making the perfect espresso, shouldn’t we make some allowances?

Manuel explained how HBD had recruited local youngsters (it is the second-largest employer on Principe, after the government), taught them the English names for glass, plate, knife, fork and spoon using labels stuck to the relevant items, coached them in people skills – and then let them loose on some of the pickiest clients on earth. Sure, nobody came to take my coffee order on the first morning – and after I’d asked, nobody topped up my cup later. But as we chatted, complimented and really got to know this milestone generation of Principeans, including all their names, you could see their stature and confidence growing. This idea, of promoting self-worth, is surely a linchpin of green tourism.

At Roca Sundy, our final port of call, the idea of community is taken to extremes. The hotel is a tastefully restored Portuguese-colonial plantation house – arched veranda, shutters, Farrow & Ball colours, zoological prints, antique tiles – set on a derelict cocoa plantation, or roca, its workers’ quarters repurposed as housing for the community. Children hang out in the square where washing is laid out on the grass to dry; dogs wander freely; the faded colonial church is still used for Saturday services – and hotel guests are welcome there.

The idea is that tourists mingle with locals, hearing their stories, understanding their lives. In practice – not least because of the language barrier – it feels awkward, highlighting differences rather than commonalities. Instead, ask for a tour with Paulinho Martins, now in his early 60s, a Cape Verdean who came to Principe at the age of eight as an indentured labourer on this plantation and now works for HBD. His stories of hard labour and ethnic strife were harrowing, but the insights he gave into cocoa production and Principe’s darker past were more vivid than any history book.

“I’ve learnt to make chocolate,” he told me proudly, “and the plan is to have a chocolate factory here.” Gesturing towards the cocoa-drying sheds, the accommodation blocks and the rusting machinery dotted around the place, which must hold so many memories, he told me how happy he would be if this became a cocoa museum. I’m sure Mark Shuttleworth is on the case.