Safari Notes

As Sao Tome and Principe 's oil benefit hopes, have diminished of late, the Island nation is having great success with one of its other main and most loved products: cocoa. Since the late 1980s , the Island has been trying hard in improving its cocoa production and reaping benefits from it; due to falling cocoa prices, many cocoa farmers had abandoned their plantations in the 80s or had decided to farm other crops instead. As prices, internationally, plummeted in 1998 - many more gave up on growing it. Early this Century, a French organic chocolate producer did an assessment on the Island's cocoa sector; they concluded that : the rich genetic origin of Sao Tome cocoa varieties could produce superior aromatic cocoa beans that would fetch higher and more stable prices than ordinary cocoa. The study also found that traditional farming methods could be adapted easily to organic production. By combining organic production and fair trade principles, cocoa farmers could greatly boos

With reports now stating that the oil wealth, that the island nation had for long hoped for as a stepping stone - to prosperity, will not be a reality for now. The tiny African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe in West Africa is unlikely to realise soon its long held dream that crude oil hidden beneath the waves offshore will lift its people out of poverty and into wealth.This is because big explorers that once jostled for drilling rights in the country of 163,000 people, nestled at the heart of a promising oil region, have backed off after a slew of dry wells, raising questions over how soon the dream will come true . With its stunning beauty , its many agricultural and fish products and its small population of less than 200,000 people - the Island country does not really need oil to develop and lift its people out of poverty. If it focuses and properly manages its tourist potential, which has excellent attractions; if it improves and modernizes its agricultural and fishing sy

Much has ben said about, Sao Tome and Princip e; this magical island nation: its remoteness, it's stunning beauty and its distinct culture. The Guardian has just come up with this: If travel writers ever descended on São Tomé they would be able to deploy every cliche. The island, and its even more isolated neighbour Príncipe, is a magical place of ridgeback mountains and rainforest, palms and rocky pinnacles, beaches and old Portuguese towns. Not very much has happened there since its rather vicious colonial rulers walked away in 1975; few people know that it is an independent country or can find it on the map, in the Atlantic just south of Nigeria and west of Gabon. Its government is democratic, the sun shines, the rain falls, the soil is good and the sea is full of fish.  Read more here .

Ever heard of São Tomé or Príncipe? It is Africa's smallest nation, after Seychelles; and it's probably Africa's  least known country. Both are islands. Both are pristine and very rarely do foreigners visit it; and very rarely do its people travel out. More on Sao Tome and Principe: Nation Master ,  Country Profile , Nations On Lin e, MBendi ,  WWF ,  BBC , IPS , Lonely Planet , InfoPlease , National Geographic , African Studies Center , World66 , Culture ,  WikiTravel , World Atlas , Google Maps , Africa.com , World Travel Guide ,  HRW , Atlas , Maps , Books , Videos , News , UN , Wikipedia , Timeline