From Blogosphere — View Comments — by Kris Haamer
04
Aug 10
Saotomean Cocoa pod - soon to become chocolate. Photo by Inna Moody.
We’ve written before about Saotomean produce, such as the Pilolo Atomico, and Pepper & Vanilla.
Today, I want to introduce you to the Corallo chocolate – just because I found an interesting documentary about Claudio Corallo and his chocolate factory – the product Sao Tome & Principe is most famous for.
For those who haven’t heard of Corallo, he’s is probably the best known man from São Tomé and Príncipe. Surpassing even presidents, and prime ministers.
The man is famous for producing excellent organic chocolate, has had a life full of adventures, and he’s not ashamed to tell the story. [See video after the break]
Continue reading
We've written before about Saotomean produce, such as the Pilolo Atomico, and Pepper & Vanilla.
Today, I want to introduce you to the Corallo chocolate - just because I found an interesting documentary about Claudio Corallo and his chocolate factory - the product Sao Tome & Principe is most famous for.
For those who haven't heard of Corallo, he's is probably the best known man from São Tomé and Príncipe. Surpassing even presidents, and prime ministers.
The man is famous for producing excellent organic chocolate, has had a life full of adventures, and he's not ashamed to tell the story. [See video after the break]
Not Many Export Success Stories
Sao Tomé does not have many export products. The main produce include sugar cane, coconut pulp (copra), bananas, breadfruit, plantains, cassava, and cornmeal - but none of this is exported.
And although efforts are being made to grow more crops for local consumption, large amounts of food still have to be imported, in some cases resulting
By Travelers — View Comments — by Carlos Alberto Jr.
03
Aug 10
Incredible people of Sao Tome. Photo by Zita Kamugira
I write by hand in the moleskine that won my love. The flight to Praia delayed over an hour. TAAG flight leaving Luanda with a stop in Sao Tome and Sal. Leave Sao Tome with a good impression.
I did not go to Principe. It would take more time. Next time.
In the future, with that taste – that may not happen.
I met amazing people in Sao Tome. In total, 25 or 26 tapes of 40 minutes of footage each. On each tape, amazing people. I talked with fishermen on a boat at sea next to Goat Island.
Women with children raised going to the classroom learning to read and write in Santa Luzia, a rural area of Sao Tome. The classes are in a classroom at an elementary school.
In the next room, children follow the course. Many of them are sons and daughters of women who learn to read and write. Talked to some. Took pictures.
Some mothers take their children to school. Breastfeeding during class. The babies sleep in rags lying on the floor at the feet of mothers. Some attend classes standing.
Continue reading
I write by hand in the moleskine that won my love. The flight to Praia delayed over an hour. TAAG flight leaving Luanda with a stop in Sao Tome and Sal. Leave Sao Tome with a good impression.
I did not go to Principe. It would take more time. Next time.
In the future, with that taste - that may not happen.
I met amazing people in Sao Tome. In total, 25 or 26 tapes of 40 minutes of footage each. On each tape, amazing people. I talked with fishermen on a boat at sea next to Goat Island.
Women with children raised going to the classroom learning to read and write in Santa Luzia, a rural area of Sao Tome. The classes are in a classroom at an elementary school.
In the next room, children follow the course. Many of them are sons and daughters of women who learn to read and write. Talked to some. Took pictures.
Some mothers take their children to school. Breastfeeding during class. The babies sleep in rags lying on the floor at the feet of mothers. Some attend classes standing.
One had a son in her lap,
From Blogosphere — View Comments — by Kris Haamer
01
Aug 10
Class with their OLPC computers
We first wrote about the One Laptop Per Child project in Sao Tomé this February.
A group of University of Illinois students brought OLPC computers to Sao Tomé in summer 2009, as part of their internship program.
Later, in October 2009, Beth Santos followed up with her own project, making sure laptops were used throughout the school.
Now, this June-July 2010 Beth Santos went back to Sao Tome for her second trip, trying get the project running. She has pledged to do that every year at least once, so to make sure the project stays of track.
Read Beth’s *very* detailed diary of her project on her blog, follow the Facebook backlog, and see the videos of the kids, asking them how they like the project below.
Continue reading
We first wrote about the One Laptop Per Child project in Sao Tomé this February.
A group of University of Illinois students brought OLPC computers to Sao Tomé in summer 2009, as part of their internship program.
Later, in October 2009, Beth Santos followed up with her own project, making sure laptops were used throughout the school.
Now, this June-July 2010 Beth Santos went back to Sao Tome for her second trip, trying get the project running. She has pledged to do that every year at least once, so to make sure the project stays of track.
Read Beth's *very* detailed diary of her project on her blog, follow the Facebook backlog, and see the videos of the kids, asking them how they like the project below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJZ2aBtp5ho
If you'd like to participate in funding more laptops, get in touch with Beth through her blog.
From Blogosphere — Comments Off — by Kris Haamer
05
Jul 10
Rabbit Pufferfish, Lagocephalus Lagocephalus. Photo by O. Alvheim 2010.
Bob Drewes from the California Academy of Sciences reports on Dr. Tomio Iwamoto‘s findings in the Gulf of Guinea, documenting a strange dieoff of the Rabbit putterfish. A Norwegian research vessel, the Nansen, is conducting a scientific trawling expeditions in the area.
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Bob Drewes from the California Academy of Sciences reports on Dr. Tomio Iwamoto's findings in the Gulf of Guinea, documenting a strange dieoff of the Rabbit putterfish. A Norwegian research vessel, the Nansen, is conducting a scientific trawling expeditions in the area.
According to several staff of the Nansen, such die-offs have been seen before, especially off the coast of Gabon, south to northern Angola, but appear to have become somewhat regular since 2007, usually in March-May.
No explanation has yet been given.
The vessel monitors water salinity, current velocity and temperature at all transects trawled.
None of the Rabbit puffers they studied showed any signs of disease or physical trauma; however, about 4 miles offshore of the town of São Tomé, they came upon a current boundary lined with floating dead puffers.
In their report to the STP Fisheries, they consider the possibility that rapid changes in temperature/salinity could account for these die-offs, but so little is known o
From Blogosphere — View Comments — by Xavier Muñoz Torrent
19
May 10
Xavier Muñoz Torrent, working out of Barcelona, Spain, posted this story on our Facebook. If you’d like to share your story from Sao Tome & Principe, you can do the same (or click the orange “Submit Your Story” button above). / – Kris
Atlas of Sao Tome & Principe
The Atlas Of Sao Tome & Principe – A collection of maps, charts and other geographic information on the islands of Sao Tome and Principe and the Gulf of Guinea (West Africa) is now available in digital form.
During the past six months by a group of people passionate about geography, members or sympathizers of the Caué Association, Friends of Sao Tome & Principe in Barcelona, working to gather all cartographic materials available on those islands, to make a new site accessible for free and open for participation.
Continue reading
Xavier Muñoz Torrent, working out of Barcelona, Spain, posted this story on our Facebook. If you'd like to share your story from Sao Tome & Principe, you can do the same (or click the orange "Submit Your Story" button above). / - Kris
The Atlas Of Sao Tome & Principe - A collection of maps, charts and other geographic information on the islands of Sao Tome and Principe and the Gulf of Guinea (West Africa) is now available in digital form.
During the past six months by a group of people passionate about geography, members or sympathizers of the Caué Association, Friends of Sao Tome & Principe in Barcelona, working to gather all cartographic materials available on those islands, to make a new site accessible for free and open for participation.
So What's the Content?
The collection is structured in a simple classification of maps:
Location maps, and general topography,
Physical geography,
Geography of population,
Economic geography,
Urban and regional geography (maps of distr
By Travelers — View Comments — by Sergio Venga Vaa
18
May 10
From Blogosphere — View Comments — by Kris Haamer
10
May 10
"Grains of paradise" or "Guinea pepper" (Aframomum melegueta) at Roça São João dos Angolares. Photo by Inna Moody
Sao Tome & Principe is about the enter the European markets with peppers and vanilla.
The news is nothing short of a dream come true for a group of Santomean farmers, two of whom, António Pinto and Helena Bragança, say it’s worth believing in agriculture in Sao Tome.
Below reporting from local and international media, key points translated from Portuguese.
Continue reading
Sao Tome & Principe is about the enter the European markets with peppers and vanilla.
The news is nothing short of a dream come true for a group of Santomean farmers, two of whom, António Pinto and Helena Bragança, say it's worth believing in agriculture in Sao Tome.
Below reporting from local and international media, key points translated from Portuguese.
For the first time in the history of the agriculture in the islands, a new product entered the external market, a product that joins the famous Santomean chocolate.
Pela primeira na história da agricultura das ilhas, no âmbito da exportação entrou no mercado externo um novo produto que assim se junta ao famoso cacau são tomense.
Source: Artur Pinho, BBC Africa
The first shipment of 3 tons, composed on 1,2 tons of white peppers, and 1,8 tons of black peppers, produced for export, left the country on last Wednesday, with destination France. This is lot should already have been transported in 2009, however due to the requireme
By Travelers — View Comments — by Tomé Silva
15
Apr 10
Up in the Air. Photo by Rui Almeida
November 1975: The final exodus of the Portuguese in Angola. A plane packed full of people and overloaded, approaches São Tomé and Principe across the Gulf of Guinea. Inside, the silent crowd, a young couple holding hands, pretending to sleep.
José, an agricultural engineer, expert on coffee plantations, worried about the future. Luisa, a teacher, this time not thinking of her students, only concerned with the child rafting, and beginning to show signs of wanting to be born.
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November 1975: The final exodus of the Portuguese in Angola. A plane packed full of people and overloaded, approaches São Tomé and Principe across the Gulf of Guinea. Inside, the silent crowd, a young couple holding hands, pretending to sleep.
José, an agricultural engineer, expert on coffee plantations, worried about the future. Luisa, a teacher, this time not thinking of her students, only concerned with the child rafting, and beginning to show signs of wanting to be born.
The doctor in Luanda had advised her not to travel. The board had been informed there were no doctors. Only the hosts, their sympathy and their knowledge of first aid.
In the midst of thoughts, José felt the distance in his hand, a squeeze.
- Luisa? You okay?
- I think this will start ... How long before Sao Tome?
- One hour or more. I know. Please, stay calm. - Rose. But one of the hostesses were attentive. Knew and felt what was happening. Motioned him to sit down and approached.
- I have been watching yo
By Travelers — View Comments — by João Morais
09
Apr 10
Hotel Miramar. Photo by Inna Moody
Manfred Galland is German. But he’s lived in Africa for almost 50 years, and first came to Sao Tomé over 30 years ago.
Manfred has been the director of the Miramar Hotel for 12 years, and previously led the Polana hotel in Maputo, Mozambique.
Standing inside his hotel, Manfred has no idea about the young man outside, devouring the hotel’s Internet connection.
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Manfred Galland is German. But he's lived in Africa for almost 50 years, and first came to Sao Tomé over 30 years ago.
Manfred has been the director of the Miramar Hotel for 12 years, and previously led the Polana hotel in Maputo, Mozambique.
Standing inside his hotel, Manfred has no idea about the young man outside, devouring the hotel's Internet connection.
It's the same story with electricity. But it's not only electricity, that worries those who live in the capital...
Aires Fonseca is one of the many night guards who get no sleep during the night of the capital. After all his song is no more than a revolt against the status quo. Aires is there for another long night with open eyes .... especially attentive to the state of the country, and the mosquitoes that never leave him.
Health
On television, malaria is still a reality. The spraying campaigns and the new drugs are a warning against the disease that has most affected Sao Tome for decades, and has been deadly. Although the sit
From Blogosphere — View Comments — by Kris Haamer
08
Apr 10
Banana Beach on Principe. Photo by Ana Rainho
São Tomé & Príncipe is divided into 7 administrative districts, six on São Tomé, and one on Principe. This post gives a geographical overview of the stories we’ve already covered – and those still missing.
The six regions of Sao Tome are Água Grande, Cantagalo, Caué, Lembá, Lobata, and Mé-Zóchi. The single region on Principe is called Pagué.
Hold on, and we’ll take you on a round-trip around the 7 seven regions, on the two islands.
Continue reading
São Tomé & Príncipe is divided into 7 administrative districts, six on São Tomé, and one on Principe. This post gives a geographical overview of the stories we've already covered – and those still missing.
The six regions of Sao Tome are Água Grande, Cantagalo, Caué, Lembá, Lobata, and Mé-Zóchi. The single region on Principe is called Pagué.
Hold on, and we'll take you on a round-trip around the 7 seven regions, on the two islands.
1 – Água Grande, the Capital District
This is the region around the capital of São Tomé & Príncipe, São Tomé including the city itself.
Most recently, Richar Heller wrote about the highschool Liceo Nacional.
A week before that, an overview of the Santomean air ban, and the poor state of the air strip in the capital, written by yours truly, was very popular.
Joao Morais wrote about the life of a taxi driver in the capital, in his 3-part series on living leve-leve on a dollar per day.
One of the first posts of the blog, was a listing