São Tomé and Príncipe: 10-day Birding Adventure February 2021

The scenically spectacular, equatorial islands of São Tomé and Príncipe boast 25 endemic birds! Needless to say, therefore, they are a “must” for any serious world birder. We aim for all 25 of these endemics during our comprehensive tour (but of course might not get them all). We are forced to spend some nights camping (which we try and make as easy as possible for you) during our tour. The rainforest-clad volcanic slopes of these islands make for amazing birding, including a host of other species apart from the endemics, which are the main focus for us. While our focus is very much on birds we’re likely to encounter a great diversity of other wildlife as a byproduct of the birding.

Sao Tome Green Pigeon (Paul van Giersbergen) should be seen on this tour.

São Tomé is the larger island and has a population of just under 200,000 people, whereas Príncipe is smaller with only 5000 people. You will enjoy the friendly atmosphere and idyllic setting – a combo of stunning beaches and well-forested mountains.

This tour can be combined with our preceding Birding Tour Gabon: 14-day Birding Adventure (3 – 16 February) and our following Birding Tour Ghana: Upper Guinea Forest and Pre-Sahel (1 – 22 March).

Sao Tome Paradise Flycatcher (photo Paul van Giersbergen) should be seen on the islet of São Miguel.

Itinerary (10 days/9 nights)

Day 1 Arrival by air on the island of São Tomé

We’ll meet you on arrival at the airport and take you to your hotel for checking in. Time permitting, we may be able to start a little birding today.

Overnight: hotel or guest house in or near the city of São Tomé

Day 2 Boat trip to São Miguel

Excited, we embark on a boat trip, which takes a couple of hours, to São Miguel, where we’ll set up camp. Here we hope to find some of the tantalizing endemics such as Giant Weaver, Sao Tome White-eye, Sao Tome Paradise Flycatcher, Sao Tome Green Pigeon, Sao Tome Olive Pigeon, Island Bronze-naped Pigeon, Sao Tome Thrush, Sao Tome Prinia, Príncipe Seedeater, Black-capped Speirops, and some more widespread species such as Whitetailed Tropicbird.

Overnight: camping at São Miguel

Day 3 Back to São Tomé

We try to clean up on this endemic-rich forest before heading back (by boat again) to São Tomé, where we might have time to bird in the late afternoon.

Overnight: hotel or guest house in or near the city of São Tomé

Days 4 – 5 Flight to Príncipe and birding there

Usually the first morning is pretty much spent getting to Príncipe (after breakfast) and checking into our hotel there. Then we spend one and a half hours birding this fabulous island. The list of possible new additions to our list is long and very exciting! We’ll search for several birds with Principe in their names – Principe Speirops, Principe Sunbird, Principe Starling, and Principe Weaver. We’ll also look for Sao Tome Spinetail, Dohrn’s Thrush-Babbler, and some more widespread but still very special birds, including Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Grey Parrot, African Green Pigeon, and many others.

Overnight: Hotel or guest house in Príncipe

Principe Speirops (photo Paul van Giersbergen) should be seen on Príncipe.

Day 6 Birding Príncipe, flight back to São Tomé, birding São Tomé

Hopefully this will prove to be another very spectacular birding day, trying to clean up in the morning on Príncipe and then after flying back to São Tomé. Here we will be birding Bom Sucesso Botanical Garden, Obo National Park, and other sites. A highlight in the national park is always Sao Tome Scops Owl, but we’ll also be looking for a lot of the species mentioned previously if we still “need” them, along with some more widespread birds.

Overnight: hotel or guest house in or near the city of São Tomé

Days 7 – 8 The forests of Monte Carvo for some tricky endemics

We’ll leave the city behind us for a couple of days. En route to Monte Carvo we plan to stop at Rio Grande for some widespread birds as well as for chances of Giant Sunbird and other endemics. After this we drive onward to Ribeira Peixe and say goodbye to our vehicle for the next two nights. We’ll do a lot of walking, accessing some of the higher-altitude sites within these mountains, camping for two nights. We’ll be looking mainly for the “Big 5” endemics of this area. The first one is Sao Tome Short-tail, aka Bocage’s Longbill – you’ve got to love these alternate names, enough to confuse even the most experienced world birders! The others are Sao Tome Ibis, Sao Tome Fiscal, Sao Tome Weaver, and Giant Sunbird. But we also should see several other São Tomé/Príncipe endemics, along with the “party-crashing” widespread birds.

Overnight: camping

Yet another endemic, Sao Tome Ibis (photo Paul van Giersbergen).

Day 9 Back to São Tomé

This is a “cleanup” (for birds we’re still missing) and travel day.

Overnight: hotel or guest house in or near the city of São Tomé

Day 10 Departure and, time-permitting, north beaches

Time-permitting, we’ll bird woodland, savanna, and grassland areas for some more widespread birds to pad the list. Then we have to say our sad goodbyes after what was hopefully a very exciting and enjoyable tour.

Please note that the itinerary cannot be guaranteed as it is only a rough guide and can be changed (usually slightly) due to factors such as availability of accommodation, updated information on the state of accommodation, roads, or birding sites, the discretion of the guides and other factors.