We started our day trip to the south of the island with a short and easy hike to Aida Peak. We left our car at the oil palm plantation and walked along a rough road, greeting a few locals carrying breadfruit on their heads. One of them followed us and later explained that he lived…
We started our day trip to the south of the island with a short and easy hike to Aida Peak. We left our car at the oil palm plantation and walked along a rough road, greeting a few locals carrying breadfruit on their heads. One of them followed us and later explained that he lived on the peak. Friendly guy and he offered to take us to the real summit, which we accepted. The real summit is a few hundred metres from the ruins of Villa Irene, perhaps a more popular tourist destination for many. A little bushwhacking and we found a broken trig pillar.
There are oil palm plantations at the trailhead. There are quite a few of them on the south side of the island.
View from ridge (left) Ilhéus Sete Pedras (right)
Friendly local with breadfruit. He lives on the hill (left) Polypore (right)
The ruins of Villa Irene and a typical ‘modern’ house (top right)
On the way down, our friendly local cut some delicious grapefruits for us and gave us a few more for the road. It was a lovely start to a promising day. We continued on to the southernmost peninsula of São Tomé with the Lama Porco peak.
