Stopover in São Tomé

Fly back to São Tomé, and check into a hotel near the airport. On the beach outside, fishermen are dragging in the last catch of the day. The nets have only been slung out from the beach for an hour but ate already full: there is so much abundance here.

Grabbed a couple of hours of sleep and headed back to the airport in the early hours. It's already a hive of activity - São Tomé is a bustling metropolis compared to Príncipe.

Travellers don't normally cut a connection this fine, the léve léve philosophy making it wise to leave a couple of days' leeway for international flights. However, the eclipse deadline made this impossible unless we wait for Thursday's flight. Fortunately, all goes without a hitch and we head back to Lisbon.