Roça Sundy

Drove up to Roça Sundy after dark, in official convoy - which entails having the emergency lights flashing the whole way. Not sure how this helps. But plaque is already installed, and hidden in fabric before tomorrow's ceremony. It looks a little higher than design, to the point that steps were built in front of it, but should be great!

Better, though, was the welcome given us by the people of Sundy. As we pulled up, they were gathered around a fire and floodlight in the central clearing. Drumming, singing and dancing greeted the visitors and the president. Absolutely wonderful of them, and I can't wait to go back in daylight to properly meet these incredibly friendly people.

Santo Antonio

Welcome from president José Cassandra and more public lectures (again to a packed room) in Santo António, the capital of Príncipe. A lifesize copy of the plaque (just visible behind our legs) was well received, and will stay here to entice people to travel up to Roça Sundy, where Eddington made his observations. The government building, where the talks were held is of fantastic colonial architechture, with high ceilings and a particularly beautiful wooden staircase spiralling up from the entrance hall. It looks out on a revently renovated and calm town square, as well as the tennis court where Eddington played.

To Príncipe

At last, and in a very excited mood, we flew first thing this morning to Príncipe. What a beautiful island - even more so than São Tomé, with rugged volcanos everywhere, shrouded in dense green rainforest. And the beach where we are staying on Bom-Bom island is indescribably beautiful. Couldn't help running straight into the sea as soon as we arrived, for a quick swim before the afternoon's work.

The (Dornier 228) plane was quite an experience. The pilot himself described it affectionately as a "van with wings". We'd chartered it to make four shuttle runs between the islands, gradually carrying over the whole delegation (at eighteen seats per run, that increased Príncipe's population by 3%). When it arrived on São Tomé a couple of hours late from Cameroon for reasons unknown, the extra lie-in was actually very welcome. Things sped up - by the time we had got off the plane and greeted the Scientists In The World team, who had been at schools on Príncipe all week, it was flying back for the next shuttle. Unfortunately, that was the last we were to see of it, as a tyre burst after the third run. One group is therefore stuck in the wrong island, and hoping to fly over very early tomorrow morning for the ceremony. Fingers crossed...

Sightseeing at the equator

I skipped the conference today, and went sightseeing. At 7:30 (8:00 léve léve time), I caught an employee shuttle bus from one of the big resort hotels here in town. It wound for two and a half hours over bumpy roads, past some stunning beaches and volcanic landscape to the extreme southern end of the island. It was insisted that I take the passenger seat up front. Without exception, I have found the people here incredibly friendly and with time they have been willing to spend helping me find something, take me somewhere or translate! By now, waiting beside the road for fallen trees to be cleared from the road, and detours from a collapsed bridge to ford the river are old hat, and the journey went well.

From the southernmost point, we got onto an open motor boat to take us to the small Ilhéu de Rolas, which includes another resort run by the same company. I've been diligently carrying my waterproof coat everywhere with me. But of course, it was at exactly this moment, amidst the rollercoaster waves and precisely the one time I had no hope of opening my bag safely, that the heavens opened. I spent the rest of the day soaked and splashing inside my boots, feeling a little silly about the perfectly dry and rather heavy coat in my rucksack. But the rain is warm and actually rather refreshing.

Once the boat landed (and the rain abruptly stopped), I quickly headed off into the forest. Pushing overgrown leaves aside, I followed a winding trail of sorts up the side of an extinct volcano. The greens are amazing, with damp cool spots in the shade and oppressive humdity buzzing under respiring banana fronds. Occasionally, the sound of a falling coconut or a wild pig grunting under a boulder rips through the forest. At the top, the rim of the crater reveals a giant caldera, plunging back down in the centre. As the ferns give way to giant lettuce-like leaves, covered in enormous spider webs (tiny spiders), I expect dinosaurs to leap out from every other turn.

A monument marks the line of the equator, and I pause for a photo before plunging back into the forest. There animals are interesting too: lizards everywhere, dragon flies, land crabs and more pigs, wallowing in a deep pool of mud before my approach scares them off. Eventually, the forest thins, giving war to palm trees. Wary of the now more frequent sound of coconuts falling after the heavy rains, I suddenly stumble onto a deserted beach. Bright blue water crashes onto the aa rocks (good one for scrabble, that), and shoots into the air through a blowhole. Not a soul has disturbed the sand, and I sit on driftwood for a long drink in the heat.

The amazing beaches continue as I head back around the coast, hidden in little coves, some inaccessible except via the sea. It's been a few hours since I saw another person, and I eagerly hop back over the rocks to the boat to the mainland.

The boat has been cancelled. Frantic wait for another, followed by a bus that I'm allowed to ride on, and I make it back to São Tomé just in time for dinner at the Potuguese ambassador's house. See: it's not been a day off all day at all!

Exhibitionism

Half the displays installed successfully in the university, where they will be on show during an eclipse conference tomorrow. Slight problem with adhesives in the humid climate; overcome the old-fashioned way with hammer and nails.

Ate chicken curry in hotel to celebrate. Slightly lame, but I've been hankering after it for days. :)

Word is getting out around the islands

Pedro spent the day talking. Morning: interview on the national radio station. Afternon: at a conference in the Centre for Portuguese Culture, attended by a full room of interested locals. Maybe they'd heard about it on the radio. Evening: the daily newspaper and (shown in photo) Portuguese national TV station RTP. Only three days to go before the anniversary celebrations on Príncipe, and momentum is gathering.

Africa Day

Today is Africa Day, and it brought a mixed bag in São Tomé. Celebrations began in the morning at the local school. Unfortunately, rain at lunch time halted proceedings before, and a fight broke out in town. My taxi driver assured me this was very rare (and I have otherwise felt completely safe), with island life running more usually to the local motto "léve léve".

So I léve léved the afternoon away, waiting for things to happen at their own pace. The photo was taken from the roof of the main market, whose busy hustle overflows into the surrounding streets. It's a great place to watch the world go by. The rain had cleared by evening. The Africa Day party restarted in the central park, popcorn began to flow, and everyone (now friends again) danced together - to some thumping bass and reassuringly cheesy disco lights.

The day was rounded off with a soirée at the Brazilian embassy. This honoured the simultaneous RAS expedition to Sobral, from where the 1919 eclipse was also visible.