Sao Tome and Principe Part Two

Sao Tome & Principe September 2022, Part Two 

Tuesday 13th

An early start as we checked out and drove north towards the capital. We turned inland and drove up by the botanical gardens at Macambara where we had breakfast. 

We then walked up the hill, this was a much easier walk on a wide, gentle slope with fields and low scrub adjacent to the track. It was also dry and sunny so there were plenty of other things to see such as butterflies, moths, grasshoppers and various other insects and spiders.

Although the lower stretches bordered fields which had recently been rainforest, there were plenty of birds to be seen including endemics like Newton’s Sunbird, Principe Seedeater (confusingly named as it’s on both islands) and Sao Tome Prinia and Speirops. 

Principe Seedeater

Sao Tome Speirops

Sao Tome Prinia

African Emerald Cuckoos were heard calling and we enticed one out into the open. Vitelline Masked Weaver was seen several times which initially confused us as it’s not mentioned as being here but is presumably another introduction. It’s easily identified from the similar Southern Masked Weaver by reddish patches above and below the black mask.

African Emerald Cuckoo

Vitelline Masked Weaver

Up at the top of the trail at around 1,300 metres we went looking for Sao Tome Green Pigeon and saw a distant one. Our guide played a recording of the ST Scops Owl even though he’d never heard one here. Amazingly, one responded and we managed to track it down, our third one of the trip. We had lunch by the masts and then ambled downhill, stopping regularly to photograph insects. 

Acrea zetes

Acrea jodutta

Acrea niobe

Amauris sp (not previously recorded on Sao Tome) 

Mrs & Mr Spider

Variable Eggfly

Armoured Spider

New birds on the return journey included Bronze Mannikin, a flock of Yellow-billed Kites (the only raptor of the trip) and a flyover White-tailed Tropicbird. Over the course of the week we encountered quite a few of these seabirds which nest on the highest slopes and fly down to the sea to feed.

Bronze Mannikin

Yellow-billed Kites (adult & juvenile)

We drove the short distance down to the road, adding a male Pin-tailed Whydah in full breeding plumage before crossing over the road where our guest house was situated. It was a pleasant place with a large communal room and veranda looking over the valley down to the coast. Some of us had rooms a little further up the garden with our own balcony, fully equipped with table and chairs so we could have a rest before dinner. We later met up on the main veranda and watched a procession of fruit bats heading down from their roost towards the coast.

Luxury cabins at Almada Negreiros

Views down the valley from our balcony

The restaurant was just over the road and we were the only customers. Just before dinner was served there was a power cut which left the whole place in darkness. Candles were quickly lit before the generator was switched on. The meal was excellent and we sampled the local beer. As we were leaving early again tomorrow they gave us food and flasks for breakfast.

Wednesday 14th

We were up at first light even though we could have had a lie-in for a change. We met for breakfast in the main room and Laudino soon arrived bearing fresh bread rolls, ham and cheese. Once we were all packed up we headed off to the airport. We checked in and soon boarded a new 18 seater plane which left at 9am and landed on Principe about 40 minutes later. 

Our plane to Principe

Arriving over Principe

It’s a much smaller island with a population of just 8,000, most of whom live in the only town where our guest house was, a short drive along the coast.

Our guest house in Principe

We decided to go for a short walk before lunch but were held up driving to the spot by a slow-moving electioneering truck complete with sound-system and rapper on board. We could still hear it when we parked up and walked into the forest. It didn’t take long to track down some new endemics: Principe Golden Weaver and Principe Sunbird, both of which proved to be fairly common. 

Principe Golden Weaver

Principe Sunbird

We also saw Dohrn’s Thrush-Babbler which looks like a Lesser Whitethroat on steroids. Along a stream was a Malachite Kingfisher of the endemic Principe race, previously considered to be either a separate species or a race of White-bellied Kingfisher.

Dohrn's Thrush-Babbler

Continuing on, we encountered another Kingfisher, this time a smart Blue-breasted one.

Blue-breasted Kingfisher

Flying over were several Timneh Parrots, a split from African Grey Parrot which was the only lifer for me that wasn’t an endemic. 

Timneh Parrot

We arrived at a little clearing and managed to find a few perched parrots along with plenty of African Green Pigeons. We drove back into town and stopped at a little cafe for lunch which soon filled up with supporters of the main parties who were out electioneering.

In the afternoon we went to a different area, adding Velvet-mantled Drongo, Principe Speirops and Splendid Starling before heading off to another restaurant for an early dinner.

Splendid Starling

Principe Speirops

We drove out to another forest, arriving well after dark. We then had a long walk up the hillside that took the best part of two hours. It was tough going in places where trees had fallen across the path but at least it wasn’t muddy. When we reached the designated spot, our local guide began whistling in the owl. It responded almost immediately and after a few minutes the torches went on and we could see it perched up high – the recently discovered Principe Scops Owl - so recent that it doesn’t even have a scientific name yet. After a minute it flew off but Neil still hadn’t seen it so he joined the guide below who carried on calling and searching for it. It hadn’t gone far as we could hear it responding but it was proving very elusive.

We moved back out of the way so we could sit down and heard another one calling behind us. After about 45 minutes the first owl relented and showed itself again, allowing Neil to even get some photos. With the long descent still ahead of us we called it a night and began the walk back down the hillside. We didn’t stop much, apart from to look at a Sao Tome Giant Tree Frog and we were pretty tired by the time we got back to the vehicle. We arrived back at our guesthouse just after midnight.