Príncipe: an island paradise off the west coast of Africa

Uninhabited until the arrival of the Portuguese in 1471, the equatorial African island of Príncipe has a dark history as a center of slavery and “a place of exile for the desperadoes of Portuguese society: convicts, heretics and outcasts.” . Today it is “poor but heavenly,” says Catherine Fairweather in Condé Nast Traveler, its verdant forests home to as many endemic species as the Galapagos and its golden beaches free of tourist crowds. At just 19 miles long and four miles wide, it lies 150 miles off the coast of West Africa and is the smallest and wildest partner of the independent nation of São Tomé and Príncipe . Arriving from the UK involves “a stopover in Lisbon, landing in Accra and a night in São Tomé”, but the trip is definitely worth it.

The jungle has reclaimed some of the island’s roças, or agricultural estates – “self-contained universes with hospitals, daycare centers, housing and railway terminals.” The most atmospheric is the ruined Ribeira Izé, the island’s first settlement, led in the 19th century by Maria Correia, a mestizo (mestiza) woman who owned hundreds of slaves. Others have been sensitively restored as hotels. At Roça Sundy, astronomer Arthur Eddington made the observations that proved Einstein’s theory of general relativity in 1919. Today, locals still gather “to blow the breeze” on its grassy square, and the mansion where guests stay is “an elegant time warp of slowly whirring ceiling fans and hardwood floors”. It is owned by South African software magnate Mark Shuttleworth, who has invested heavily in conservation in Príncipe, and owns three other hotels, including Sundy Praia, a resort of “glamorous” tented villas.