Cocoa plantations and colonial streets on the equator
São Tomé is the capital of a tiny island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, a quiet town of colonial buildings, a pink presidential palace and the Fortaleza de São Sebastião, now a museum. The island's interior is covered in rainforest and the remains of roças, the great colonial cocoa and coffee plantations, some now turned into guesthouses. The volcanic spike of Pico Cão Grande rises from the southern forest, and the Ilhéu das Rolas sits almost on the equator. Beaches, turtles and chocolate made from island cocoa complete the picture.