R. Doug Wicker — Author

On Monday I left you with a single image of our next Praia Micondo. I told you then that I found this beach even more fun to photograph than Praia das Sete Ondas. In addition to the image above, here are a couple more reasons why:

Okay, back on the bus and continuing south along the east coast of São Tomé to Cascata de Praia Pesqueira (Waterfall of Pesqueira Beach). A word of caution: the hike down to the waterfall is steep, slippery, and treacherous, especially for us older folk or, as with Ursula, someone who had recently received a new knee. We got off the bus in a small village with many rustic homes:

And eventually arrived at the waterfall:

Being on a praia (beach), there are, of course, other beach scenes at the waterfall:

Making our way… carefully… back up the slippery rocks, we once again boarded our tour bus turned inland. Our next destination was perhaps São Tomé’s most iconic feature, Pico Cão Grande (Big Dog Peak). We alighted from the bus at an overlook, whereupon we were greated by the ubiquitous souviner stand:

But we weren’t here for trinkets. We were here for:

Pico Cão Grande is a massive volcanic plug that juts 1,215 feet/370 meters above surrounding terrain, towering over the many palms below. If this rock looks like a difficult climb, you would be correct. Moss makes the rock slippery, and São Tomé island forest cobras make any attempted climb adventurous, to say the least. Indeed, the first known attempt to reach the summit occurred in 1975, but success only arrived in 1991.

After this week’s Fun Photo Friday look at São Tomé favorites, it’s time to head north to Abidian, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast).

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NCL Dawn arrived to the island of São Tomé on 19 March 2025. São Tomé is the principle island of the nation São Tomé and Príncipe. And, as usual, Ursula had us lined up for a tour of this seldom-visited island. On this day we would head out to Abade River, Boca De Inferno (Mouth of Hell), Sete Ondas (Seven Waves) and Micondo Beaches, Cascata (Waterfall) de Praia Pesqueira, Pico Cão Grande (Big Dog Peak), and finally a tour of the city of São Tomé. Whew. I’m tired already, and that’s just from typing out the itinerary for you. How does one small island (330 square miles/ 854 km² fit in so much to see and do? Let’s begin with Abade River, on which you’ll find women doing their daily clothes washing and using the solar clothes dryer:

Then it’s back onto the tour van, south along the eastern coast, and over to a Boca de Inferno, which is a natural arch that, when conditions are just right, acts as a funnel to send water shooting up into the air:

The Boca de Inferno overlook gives one some interesting photographic opportunities:

Next stop was Praia das Sete Ondas (Beach of the Seven Waves). I rather enjoyed the sights at this particular location, as you can see:

But as picturesque as Praia das Sete Ondas was, it paled in comparison to Praia Midondo. I’ll show you much more of this beach on Wednesday, but until then here’s a taste:

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