Sao Tome - Is a 4x4 car necessary?

From Gabon it was only a 1-hour flight to get here and had 4 days to see the island of Sao Tome. The country is very small so it was easy to travel around on my own, especially with the possibility of a rental car. But the country is also very practical, as the trips can be divided into half days while having the base in the capital.

Google Maps showed quickly that there are not many roads and also the duration of the trip around the island is very limited.

The only thing that was not so clear to me and also research on the internet didn't fully clarify was the question, if it is necessary to rent a 4WD car or if a 2WD is enough.

Is a 4x4 car necessary in Sao Tome?

Looking at pictures of Sao Tome on the internet it seemed that the country has bad roads and since it often rains, these are also overflown with dirt and mud. So I originally planned to rent a 4x4 car, but only got a 2wd when I was there.

So it doesn't need a four-wheel-drive car or even a 4WD Jeep or something like that. There are some potholes but every car gets over them.

It turned out that a 2WD was absolutely sufficient and of course much cheaper. It is an advantage if the car has a little bit more ground clearance because it has some potholes or puddles on offroad, but these can also be done with a simple 2WD vehicle. 

Day 1 - Arriving in Sao Tome

The flight from Libreville with Afrijet took off on time and in Sao Tome, I was luckily one of the first to get off the plane. The airport is very small and a big plane in front of us came with a monster load of hundreds of people directly from Portugal, whereas all of them were standing in a queue at the immigration desk, which protruded from the airport.

For some reason, we passengers from the Gabon flight were put in the "National" queue and could bypass the hundreds of tourist-colleagues at the immigration desk.

The chauffeur from the hotel was already waiting and so I got to the hotel where I could make arrangements for the rental car tomorrow morning.

You will be able to start driving at 7am with a 4x4 car! Promised!

So I was promised that a 4x4 car would be waiting for me in front of the hotel at 7am. A 4x4! Promised with a handshake!

Day 2 – To the north with the rental car… but not a 4x4

I went up early with the assumption to pick up the car at 7am in front of the hotel - as they promised. 

But somehow I knew that it would not work (after all, I'm still in Africa). I waited and 1.5 hours later someone showed up with a car. It was not difficult to see that it was not a 4x4 car.

Sorry, we don't have a 4x4 car today! Only 2WD.

So after the big promise yesterday I was told they had none today. However, I knew if I really wanted a 4x4 they would get one but that will take another couple of hours. The first attempt to start the car failed. The battery was empty. Well, the car rental guy was still on the side and could organize a replacement car, which was also not a 4x4 and again took almost another hour to get it.

Also, the tank was completely empty and so time passed again to fill it up and instead of 7 a.m. it was almost 10 a.m. to start driving out from the capital.

Driving to "Santa Catarina"

On today's ride, I planned to drive to "Santa Catarina", which is the road towards the north and then along the coast all the way to the far left side on the island.

From there I had to U-turn and drive the same way back to the capital. It was easy to find the way as there is only one main road.

The distance for one way was only about 40KM from Sao Tome but it took me around 2-3 hours for that distance.

Via "Santa Amaro" and "Guadalupe"

There are many potholes on the road but none of them is so serious that it requires a 4WD.

A lot of people walking along the roads and the main difficulty is to keep them safe as they often didn't look left or right when crossing the road.

Lagoa Azul

Nice beaches and bays all over the island. 

Wonderful ride onwards from "Lagoa Azul"

There is so much going on along the road and the coast.

It's like a little zoo with dogs, pigs and chicken walking on the street. Fishermen carrying their fresh fishes (even sharks) on their heads. 

One fisherman was walking with a full-grown marlin on his head through the village!

Cocoa and alcohol production everywhere

Along the roads are many cocoa farms and almost all of them have some hidden alcohol production made of sugar cane.

Typical Sao Tome Canoes and fishermen

All along the way, there were so many fishermen with the handcrafted Sao Tome canoes.

Many villages along the way with names like "Neves"

I thought there will be many restaurants or other kinds of shops for visitors along the way, but there was almost nothing. I thought so because somehow I expected Sao Tome to be a bit touristic, many tourists will be driving around the island and explore every corner of the small villages, but, there weren't.

I saw a handful of cars with tourists today.

Wooden houses everywhere

Hundreds of these typical local Sao Tome houses.

They look different than other wooden houses in Africa or Asia and have somehow a colonial-style adapted.

The last village on the road was "Santa Catarina"

After the village Santa Catarina the road ends, solely a dirt track leads a few kilometers in the jungle but leads nowhere.

Towards Santa Catarina, the streets are narrow all the way and are very curvy. All the way is a similar scenery with island life along the road with many animals, fishermen, and women washing clothes in the river. The houses are all basic houses made of wood.

The more I drove along the more I enjoyed the scenery and as it is required to drive the same way back to Sao Tome Town, it was perfect to see the same scenery twice.

Locals preparing sharks for the market at "Morro Peixe"

I expected to see many tourists but I was positively surprised seeing still some original behavior and authentic island people.

All of them I encountered were very friendly and I hope it stays like that, even when hundreds, maybe thousands of European tourists will come along every month in the very near future.

It was in the afternoon when I came to Morro Peixe (a beach) and saw the locals finalizing their fresh-caught shark.

In a fishing family like here in Sao Tome, the whole family was helping with disemboweling the 1.5-meter shark, while every family member from small to tall carries their own machete. It's their daily life and they were preparing it to sell it this afternoon in the market.

A swimming beach at "Praia dos Tamarindos"

There are many beaches in Sao Tome and many of them are indicated on Google Maps.

I pinned a few and drove to them. It's not that all of them look completely different from each other, but it's interesting to see at least a few of these different beaches.

On the mountain near Sao Tome is the "Sao Nicolau Waterfall"

It was about 3pm in the afternoon and I still had time to see the waterfall in Sao Nicolau, which is up the mountain road just outside of the Sao Tome center.

The drive was about 40 minutes up the hill and at the end of the main road the hiking trail begins, which is fortunately wide enough for a car.

The waterfall appears after a 10-minute drive on the hiking trail. This is not a very big waterfall but the atmosphere far up the mountain in the African tropical jungle was unique and the climate fresh and comfortable.

Day 3 - Direction South to "Porto Alegre"

Today I started very early as I still had the car and knew it will be a long day of driving.

The ride towards Porto Alegre takes several hours on winding, confusing (almost) mountain roads and back down to the beach and up again. There is no circuit road so after visiting the south of the island, it was necessary to drive the same road back to Sao Tome.

But at no time it was necessary to have a 4x4. The roads are very good.

Among the stops were the places with names "Hellmouth", "Praia das Sete Ondas" and "Praia Colonia Acoriana"

But also along the road are many sites that are worth a stop and many don't have a name.

I marked so many places on google maps but I lost track because of the sheer amount of all the many unique places to see.

Further places were "Praia Micondo", "Santa Cruz", "Praia Pesqueira"

Some random places along the way. They are all over!

The most spectacular thing to see along the road was "Pico Cão Grande"

This volcanic mountain is 663 meters in height and was formed by magma from an active volcano. 

That's what I have been told and can't really imagine how this should have worked as I can't see any volcano nearby.

The mountain is visible from far away and often when driving solely along the road without the necessity of any detours.

The fishing town "Porto Alegre"

Further down from Porto Alegre is mainly dirt road, but even here, no 4WD was necessary even road was full of mud and potholes.



There are not many restaurants in this area the few ones which had open took a long preparation time. At the beach was one stall which was cooking fish.

The last destination on "Rolas Island"

To get to Rolas Island, I was told to drive down until the Praia Inhame Eco Lodge.

From there they transferred me in a canoe (for 10 Euro) to Rolas Island where the "Equator Landmark" is built.

Its the right on the equator, the "Marco do Equador"

The canoe waited for me at the bay of the island, I just had to tell the driver how long approximately I will need until returning to the beach.

I didn't plan to spend much time here and said I will be back in one hour.

The path to the Equatorial Landmark is not easy to find but the many locals in the village are friendly and don't hesitate to show the direction, as the way leads through the narrow path in the village up to the mountain.

At the end of the path up the hill, there is the Equator Landmark.

In the afternoon back to the capital Sao Tome

It was already late afternoon and wanted to get back to Sao Tome as long there was light.

Along the streets are no street lamps and sometimes the cars on the road drive like crazy. So it was better to be off from the narrow, curvy roads as long there was daylight.

Day 4 - In the city

On my last full day in Sao Tome I walked around the capital. Already early in the morning, it was very hot.

The market around "Igreja da Conceição"

Today was Sunday and except for this market and a bigger supermarket, everything is closed.

Interestingly enough people here in Sao Tome have no problems with photos. They are even very happy when you take pictures and laugh and wave and jump into the pictures.

The Sao Tome "Old Town"

Not a huge town and not spectacular. But interesting in its own way. Especially with all the colonial buildings.

Boulevard "Avenida Marginal 12 Julho"

It's the boulevard along the bay of Sao Tome towards the National Museum. It wasn't a touristic place in regards to "many restaurants" but it was an interesting place to watch locals spending their time.

Around the "Parque Popular"

Around the president's palace "Palácio Presidencial"

Around the church "Catedral de São Tomé"

Every Sunday a public party at the "National Museum" and "Youth Square"

Every Sunday evening in Sao Tome there is a huge party for all citizens.

Tourists are also welcome. From far away it's possible to hear the music.

Found out that it must be an event at the National Museum and went there. It was late in the afternoon and there were a lot of people eating and drinking and bathing.

At the barbecue stalls, they sold Sao Tome alcohol and species of fish that I had only seen while scuba diving and never thought I would ever face them on a BBQ grill to eat them. 

But here everything that moves under the water surface gets spat out and put on BBQ grill.

Day 5 - Departure after Midnight to Cap Verde

The hotel allowed me to keep the room until late in the evening and was then taken to the airport. Right now, at 1am, the 4.5-hour flight from Sao Tome to Cap Verde leaves.

At this time it is the only flight from Sao Tome and the airport is accordingly empty.