Sunday May 17, 2026
Hi Folks! Today we were anchored off of São Tomé and Principe. It’s an equatorial island nation in the Gulf of Guinea off the western coast of Central Africa. Its capital is São Tomé, its official language is Portuguese, and it has a population of 230,000. It is almost right on top of the equator but it wasn’t as hot as it’s been at other spots. I knew I would like it when they said it’s called the “Chocolate Island”!!
We did a tour called “Highlights of São Tomé”. After taking the tender boat over to shore, we boarded the bus and drove to and visited the Fort of Saint Sebastian which is now a museum. It was partly beautiful and partly very sad. The sad part was how they used the fort to torture the slaves. Some of the things they did to them I can’t even bear to write about. But it is part of their history.
We then drove to Pantufo Fishing Village and watched a local folklore performance. That area was also very poor and most kids don’t have dads since the dads are all fisherman and many have died. Our good friends Ken and Sandy thought to bring lots of crayons and coloring books and the kids were so excited to get them. Note to self… bring those on our next cruise!
We then drove to the Saint Se Cathedral and visited there. It was a beautiful cathedral both inside and out. We were also right next to the Presidential Palace. The guide said it was OK to take pics but as soon as we did the guards came running over blowing their whistles and telling us to stop. Yikes! Luckily they blew their whistles and didn’t use their guns!
From there we drove to Praca da Independencia (Independence Square) and watched a typical dance performance. All ages were involved in the performance. After that we stopped at a chocolate factory (YESSSSSS!). I think I may have eaten them out of their dark chocolate samples! Lol
We then drove back to the pier. We got back around 3 PM, just in time for the last passenger game which was Top Toss. We won 3 Regent points! Free world cruise here we come! Lol. We then got ready for dinner. I’ll do another update tonight!
The Wandering Italian 