Olá from the island nation of São Tomé e Príncipe!
I was surprised to learn that despite being only about 150 miles from the African mainland, São Tomé was uninhabited when it was discovered by the Portuguese around 1470. So it was one of the rare colonial settlements that was genuinely on “vacant” land.
It retains many traces of its Portuguese colonial past, such as Forte de São Sebastião, originating from around 1566.
To my surprise I ran across a colonial-era memorial to Prince Henry the Navigator that is identical to one I saw half the world away in East Timor. A reminder of the range of the Portuguese territories in the Age of Exploration!
The island’s iconic image is the narrow tower of the Pico Cão Grande, an old volcano core, now rising 370 meters above the surrounding land. It is quite striking, and my through-the-clouds photo does it poor justice!
