Picto Diary - 15 December 2018 - Sao Tome and Principe
Above: Sao Tome and Principe. Port. Two miles distant from anchored Regent Seven Seas Explorer. 15 December 2018.
Above: Tender. Regent Seven Seas Explorer. 15 December 2018.
Harbor insufficiently deep at Sa Tome port. Ship's passengers take tender from ship to port, two miles distant.
Above: Sao Tome Cathedral. 1692. One of oldest cathedrals in Africa. 15 December 2018.
Sao Tome and Principe. Second smallest African country after Seychelles. 500 K citizens, only 7K of whom are on Principe, the smaller of the two islands.
Located 110 miles off coast of Nigeria.
Economically, all down hill since independence from Portuguese in 1975.
Cocoa plantations extant under Portuguese, now grown over with vines.
Only two cruise ship stops per year. Otherwise, off the beaten track for all but the most intrepid tourists...and there are some some of those doing remote hiking and swimming on isolated beaches etc.
Have you ever visited a country that you never heard of before you set out on your trip?
We saw the comparable Portuguese Se Cathedral in Goa two years ago. — in São Tomé.
Above: Sao Tomeans perform ritualistic Tchiloli dance in city square near the port. Sao Tome City. 15 December 2018.
The dance tells a dramatic story...with shades of voodoo imagery.
It was kind of weird...as dancers... characters, really...creepily moved up and back...to syncopated African drum rhythms accompanied by a solo flute.
I didn't understand the meaning of the "story" being told here, but you could backstop a séance with the rhythmical, eerie, haunting Tchiloli performance and probably get good results.
Above: Town Square. Sao Tome City. 15 December 2018.
Breadfruit tree and Regent Seven Seas Explorer tourists.
at Africa/Sao_Tome.
Above: Mercado Municipal de Sao Tome. Sao Tome City. Sao Tome and Principe. 15 December 2018.
Here we're on the small, but well air conditioned tour bus. However, we walked through the Sao Tome city market earlier, a walk which Lonley Planet refers to as "alternately fascinating and repellent."
The market is...well...filthy, but teeming with activity. I smiled and said "buon dia" to all I encountered in my walk through the market, and received a smile and "buon dia" back in return.
While passing through a crowded aisle, venders, mostly females sitting on the ground behind their wares, I was admonished by one woman for clasping my hands behind my back. With her own arms she made motions suggesting that I should unclasp my hands. I walk this way frequently to help keep my geezer spine straight. I'm not sure what her reasoning was... whatever... she considered my walking stance offensive. I smiled at the woman and complied with her request.
The city area surrounding the market reminded me of Havana. Nothing has been built here since 1975, the year of Sao Tome and Principe independence from the Portuguese. The myriad of colonial buildings are decaying on every street. The streets are full of potholes that have been filled in with inch sized stones.
Bridge says, actually, Havana looks better than Sao Tome.
Knowing of China's huge program to invest in Africa, I asked our guide Martinho if there was any Chinese investment in Sao Tome and Principe. "Planned for next year," he said excitedly. — at Mercado Municipal de São Tomé.
Above: Smoked fish. — at Mercado Municipal de São Tomé. 15 December 2018.
Above: Chilis. Mercado Municipal de Sao Tome. 15 December 2018.
Hot, hot, hot.
Knowing that Bond would not accept a money bet, I told him I would run errands for him the rest of the trip if he ate 10 of these chilis, one after the other, in rapid sequence.
He made some "no way Jose" like crack.
What's the matter with people? They don't want to take risks. — at Mercado Municipal de São Tomé.
That being said, these chilis look like some of the real hot variety. Doesn't small size, at least in this guise, correlate to potency (cough)?
Above: Mom (presumed) and kids. Mercado Municipal de Sao Tome. 15 December 2018.
Beaucoup kids in Sao Tome and Principe, as is the case with all other West African countries. So little hope for them as Sao Tome and Principe continues in economic decline.
Case for colonialism?
Over half of Sao Tome and Principe's population is under twenty.
What, say, would Puerto Rico be sans US colonial support? Just saying. Who knows, maybe Puerto Rico would fare better as an independent entity.
Above: Two images of Danco Congo performance. Sao Tome and Principe. 15 August 2018.
Danco Congo outside of a Catholic Church in a fishing village near Sao Tome City. The danço-congo is a combination of music (drums), dance and theatre. The red figure in the image is some kind of demon threatening the fishermen.
Check out the image of the drum section. Bishop walked up to the guy in blue, took his rattle (with permission) , and played for a few minutes. Bishop felt the Sao Tome vibe!
The rhythms backing the Danco-Congo performance are complex and energizing. Slaves brought these rhythms, laced with underlying life myths, to Latin America and laid the underpinnings to today's Latin music (Tito.Puente, Santana), where European wind instruments fused with African rhythms.
Image highlights the coexistence of Catholicism introduced by Portuguese colonials and deep seated traditions of African animism in Sao Tomeans' religious beliefs.
While I was angling for the red demon image, a little kid, dressed in the obligatory t shirt, shorts, and flip flops came up to me and pointed to the pen in my pocket. The kid responded with glee when I gave him the pen. The adult dressed in the red demon costume saw my encounter with the kid and proceeded to chew him out.
The Sao Tomeans are still pretty "unsophisticated" when it comes to the usual techniques to euchre money out of gullible tourists. There was no busker bucket soliciting bucks at this performance.
Speaking of music in Latin America, one (the only?) joy of visiting Cuba was its ubiquitous music. Even Castro couldn't destroy that. I'm enjoying these rhythm sessions in Africa just as much as I did the music in Cuba.
Above: TIMDT and Bridge. National Museum of Sao Tome and Principe. 15 December 2018.
Blue Hat Buddies TIMDT and Bridge observe swimming beach from a 16th Century Portuguese fort, now turned into Sao Tome and Principe National Museum. — in Sao Tome and Principe.
Above: Relay transmitter station for Voice of America. Sao Tome and Principe. 15 December 2018.
Towers barely discernable in distance are relay transmitter station carrying Voice of America broadcasts to West Africa.
Image taken from tender returning from Sao Tome city to Regent Seven Seas Explorer. — at Africa/Sao_Tome.
Regent Seven Seas Explorer 15 December 2018.
Constellation Theater
110 miles of coast of Cameroon, South Atlantic Ocean.
Evan Bosworth, Assistant Cruise Director, sings David Foster and more.
Addendum:
These photos and stories are great. Please tell Margaret the I loved the photo of her in the lime green wrap with Bridge.
Magnolia,
Miami, FL
How's the skiing. Sorry to miss you!
I’m constantly amazed at your eclectic colleagues and friends. Dr. G is a living legend.
Peterbilt of Bountiful,
Bountiful, UT
Self serving comment you make.