São Tomé - Great SCUBA Diving and an island tour for Joani - Feb 1

São Tomé is an uncut gem of an island in the Gulf of Guinea, a mountainous 330 square miles thrusting up out of the Atlantic far enough out that it was uninhabited before Portuguese explorers discovered it in the 15th century. So they really did “discover” it.

The waters are crystal clear, making it one of the best SCUBA locations in West Africa although off the beaten path. Only seven cruise ships stopped here last year and you can only fly here from Lisbon.

I found a certified dive shop about 10 miles south of the cruise terminal at a semi-rustic resort called Club Santana, 25 bungalows overlooking a protected cove. The three other divers on the ship and I had a fantastic dive circling a rock island with a natural cave that passed right through the middle underneath its high rocky hill top. Then we relaxed at a pool bar next to an infinity pool. Visibility was 70 feet and we saw brightly colored rocks, fish, anemone and coral.

Our next dive will be in the Seychelles, which our São Tomé dive master João assured us will be fantastic.

Joani took an island tour that went to a waterfall, a coffee plantation, a church, a fort with a museum inside, and several local villages and markets where local dances were performed. Here is a video of the waterfall:

Joani grew up on a farm with Holstein cows, but she had never seen Holstein goats like these black and whites found in one of the villages. This picture is dedicated to Peggy Machoian and the pygmy goats she and Raymond used to have on the Annapolis farm:

Joani bought some local strawberries and posed with some local kids:

In the São Tomé National Museum inside Fort Sebastião, this mural depicts how clear and teeming with sea turtles the water can be:

Finally, here is a picture of Joani inside the Fort, with our ship at anchor in the background:

And today on February 2, an at sea day on the way to Luanda, Angola, Bob and his partner Glenn were the top N-S pair in 8-table duplicate bridge; the first time they did that well. And they still haven't learned how to bid a Jacoby 2 NT.