Uninhabited until the Portuguese arrived in 1471, the equatorial African island of Príncipe has a dark history as a slaving hub and a "place of exile for the desperados of Portuguese society: convicts, heretics and outcasts". Today, it is "poor but paradisiacal", says Catherine Fairweather in Condé Nast Traveller, its verdant forests home to as many endemic species as the Galápagos, and its golden beaches free of tourist crowds. Just 19 miles long and four miles wide, it lies 150 miles off the coast of West Africa, and is the smaller and wilder partner in the independent nation of São Tomé and Príncipe. Getting here from the UK involves "a layover in Lisbon, a touchdown in Accra and a night in São Tomé", but the journey is well worth it.
The jungle has reclaimed some of the island's roças, or agricultural estates – "self-contained universes with hospitals, nurseries, lodgings and railway terminals". Most atmospheric is the ruined Ribeira Izé, the island's first settlement, ruled over in the 19th century by Maria Correia, a mestiza (mixed-race) woman who owned hundreds of slaves. Others have been sensitively restored as hotels. At Roça Sundy, the astronomer Arthur Eddington made the observations that proved Einstein's theory of general relativity in 1919. Today, locals still gather "to shoot the breeze" on its grassy square, and the mansion where guests stay is "an elegant time warp of slow-whirring ceiling fans and hardwood floors". It is owned by South African software mogul Mark Shuttleworth, who has invested heavily in conservation in Príncipe, and has three other hotels, including Sundy Praia, a beach resort of "glamorous" tented villas.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
June 24 editorial cartoonsCartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include dreams of a Nobel Peace Prize, a crispy heatwave, and congressional consultation
-
Sex, drugs and a royal ruckus: the US play with a future gay Prince GeorgeTalking Point The controversial off-Broadway show is a hit with audiences in New York
-
Labour's brewing welfare rebellionThe Explainer Keir Starmer seems determined to press on with disability benefit cuts despite a "nightmare" revolt by his own MPs
-
7 places across the country to experience the best of summer drinkingThe Week Recommends Stops include a Basque-inspired spot and a bar where the menu overhauls twice a year
-
Grilled radicchio with caper and anchovy sauce recipeThe Week Recommends Smoky twist on classic Italian flavours is perfect to grill, drizzle and devour
-
6 smart, surprising food books to drag you through the summer monthsThe Week Recommends BBQ and why we consume the way we do are just two of the tackled topics
-
Echo Valley: a 'twisty modern noir' starring Julianne Moore and Sydney SweeneyThe Week Recommends This tense thriller about a mother and daughter is 'American cinema for grown ups'
-
Larry Lamb shares his favourite booksThe Week Recommends The actor picks works by Neil Sheehan, Annie Proulx and Émile Zola
-
Stereophonic: an 'extraordinary, electrifying odyssey'The Week Recommends David Adjmi's Broadway hit about a 1970s rock band struggling to record their second album comes to the West End
-
Shifty: a 'kaleidoscopic' portrait of late 20th-century BritainThe Week Recommends Adam Curtis' 'wickedly funny' documentary charts the country's decline using archive footage
-
Lollipop: a single mother trapped in a 'hellish catch-22'The Week Recommends Daisy May Hudson's moving debut feature is a gut puncher in the Ken Loach tradition
