Backpacking in São Tomé and Príncipe🇸🇹: My Journey To The Exact Centre Of The World at Ilheu Das Rolas

“Laughing at the stoney face of gloom when your turn comes round” – Neil Finn.

This was a wild one. Life doesn’t get any easier; backpacking doesn’t get any more fun; travel blogging doesn’t get any cooler. This is actually as good as it gets without any need for me to retire, for now. I am convinced this is my craziest one yet, yet I always say that, I always write that. This was outrageous though.

“We’ll shine like the morning and sin in the sun. Oh, if you stay, we’ll be the wild ones” – Brett Anderson.

White wine that is actually white, the best host in recent years (Bernilda at Casa De Ferias – big love), the coolest backpacking buddy anyone will ever have (Polish long term explorer and biker Marek Bladowski) and a light shining on a wee Bangor child Jonny Blair as he tried to find his destiny by actually visiting the middle of the world. Sao Tome was a wild one!

Is This Really The Centre Of The World?

I’m saying yes! I’m going with my own belief that this was the real one, this is the exact centre of the world. It’s 0,0,0 / 0,0,0. Zero – 0 Latitude, Zero – 0 Longitude. In the middle. USA and Alaska is the furthest west, they’re not friends with Russia which is therefore the furthest east. This exact point is the half way mark between west and east. This exact point on Ilheu Das Rolas is also exactly half way between the north pole and south pole. So I’m going with this one…at least on land (as secretly officially, the “real” point is actually on the water 😉 shush!).

Other Equator Trips I Did

I have done a few other equator trips down the years. There are a few boasters and red herrings out there. Ecuador is one, it loved the fact that it sits on the equator that it named the country after it, how arrogant! I backpacked Ecuador’s quirkaday “Ciudad Mitad Del Mundo” back in 2010. There is a church in both hemispheres! Incidentally, I have travelled with the EXACT same Travelling Northern Ireland Flag since 2008!

Equatorial Guinea took Ecuador’s boast and Africised it. Nice try, lads because officially Equatorial Guinea is not really on the equator! In Uganda, I overlanded by bus and we passed the equator but didn’t stop. My personal favourite equator trip before 2024 was to Macapa in Brazil, in 2014. It even has a football stadium where the halfway line is the equator! I watched Costa Rica totally dick Italy 1-0 in the World Cup there and I crossed the equator on foot. Standard for me in the glory days.

No need for a longer intro, nobody reads that, what you really want to knowledge yourself on is how do you get to the real centre of the world…the one in São Tomé and Príncipe: The Exact Centre Of The World at Ilheu Das Rolas!

How To Get To Ilheu Das Rolas, Sao Tome E Principe

For a long term, 200 country deep whackpacker, this should be easy. But that’s not quite true here. Ilheu Das Rolas is a tranquil, tiny island off the south coast of Sao Tome which is the main island in the country of Sao Tome E Principe. You can barely see it in white at the bottom of this map.

There is no airport, heliport or main seaport on the island known as Ilheu Das Rolas. You’ll have to find a local boatsman/woman from the island of Sao Tome, and get a deal with them to take you there, to arrive on the beach. But even to get here, be ready for an early start, roads of mayhem, pitfalls and all that tends to a true backpacking wanderlust. In the circle of life, this one hits a high peak for me. In short, I was absolutely buzzing!

I started off at 7 a.m. in the capital city, Sao Tome, on the island of the same name in the country São Tomé and Príncipe. I woke up in my bed in the excellent Casa De Ferias and then I walked to the central bus station, which is about a 10 minute walk. As you’d expect, the central bus station here is basically just a load of bright yellow minibuses in a depot. My host Bernilda at Casa De Ferias had told me to ask for a local lad called Belmiro as he is the lad that for sure that day would be driving to Porto Allegre.

When I got to the “bus station”, I shouted out for Belmiro and found him within 30 seconds! This is ridiculous. There is no stress anymore for me and I missed backpacking with Panny and Malina as they never complained to me about my backpacking style. They just got on with it, hoping and knowing I would be right. So I found Belmira, found out it was 100 Dobras (3.7 Euros) to Porto Allegre and so I booked it and hopped in. Belmira, it turned out is a top lad, a total legend and he was my driver all the way to Porto Allegre.

The Journey From Sao Tome City To Porto Allegre By Minibus

We left Sao Tome City around 8.20 a.m. It was a normal journey here for the locals, down the east coast of Sao Tome all the way to the town of Porto Allegre on the south. For me, this was a much more extraordinary journey. I imagined many of my bus buddies had done this dozens, if not hundreds of times. For me, I would do it once only. For this lifetime.

I had a coffee and an ice cold beer on leaving Sao Tome as we boarded this yellow minibus. It was getting loaded with other things as well as people – pipes, fruit, cement, random materials etc.

Beside me was Lima, a businessman from Porto Allegre. We chatted a bit about football, he is a Benfica fan and most football fans I spoke to here on Sao Tome were fans of the famous Portuguese hat-trick – Benfica (Lisbon), Sporting (Lisbon) and FC Porto. The first part of the journey was calm and easy.

At the start, the roads were good, a few potholes maybe but generally in good order.

Once we got deeper south, the roads started to get worse, with more gravel tracks and dirt roads. Belmiro is clearly a popular lad as we had a few stops on the way where he met people, handshook them and did some fast business deals!

The views out my window were of beaches, ocean and lush greenery!

After about 2 hours and 30 minutes we arrived in the seaside village of Porto Allegre. This isn’t a town, it’s too small for that, it’s a seaside village akin to Northern Ireland’s Groomsport extravaganza.

In Porto Allegre, I take the first and next boat to the island. It wasn’t hard to negotiate that. I’m the only white lad here, it’s clear I want a boat to the centre of the world – easy. I even had time to grab a local beer from a hut by the beach. Marek and I call it “the beer with no name” as they don’t print labels, yet the brewery is Rosema and the crates say Rosema on them, but you just ask for a “Nacional” and they serve you up this fine, cold cerveja!

Thanks again to Bernilda, she had told me about a boat contact called Juary who would help with the boat. I wouldn’t have needed a contact actually but it’s good to know – ask for Juary and you will know you are heading to the famous Ilheu Das Rolas – the island which houses the equator monument in the middle of the world.

The Journey From Porto Allegre To Ilheu Das Rolas By Boat

Sadly, locals pay less for this boat than foreigners. That’s the way it is and if you read on you’ll see why I’m okay with that. We are going there and back and we are going to the equator monument. The locals are not! They are just going home. All the fellow passengers are going home to Ilheu Das Rolas to their homes, they don’t need a tour, or to visit the equator, or a later boat back. Remember, I’m doing a day trip here – I need to get back. There is an option to stay on the island of course, but I was day trip loyal.

My return boat was 20 Euros in total. In the local money that is 540 Dobras. I actually paid 500 in the end as my boat captain Vita was kind. He asked me if I wanted to pay an extra 20 Euros (540 dobras) for a guide and lunch, but I declined. I just didn’t want a guide. I didn’t need a tour of that island. I was just here to see the equator in the centre of the world, get my photos and leave. I took my Travelling Northern Ireland flag with me, of course.

The boat left Porto Allegre when full, yet there were only 7 of us. The trip to Ilheu Das Rolas is short and calm. It took us about 32 minutes through gorgeous Atlantic Ocean waves. I enjoyed the journey immensely. Here are some photos.

We land calmly on the beach on Ilheu Das Rolas. Now it was time for the walk to the centre of the world.

Backpacking Ilheu Das Rolas

If you really want, you can stay a night or a few here on this beautiful tropical island in the middle of the world. I had time to do that, but I was still under pressure to get back to Sao Tome, to get a flight back to my base in Poland and to basically just daytrip loyal the middle of the world. However, there are quite a few things to do here on Ilheu Das Rolas. There’s a church, village life, beaches, lagoons, hikes, bars, cafes and restaurants. I even played table football in the middle of the world, and lost 3-0!

For me, and for this lifetime, I was happy to backpack through the mini jungle, hike up to the centre of the world, see the village on route and have a beer in two different bars.

There was an FC Porto bar on route but it was closed. So instead, I stopped off for a carryout beer in what I termed “Chelsea Boy Pub”. My server wore a Chelsea shirt from the Lampard-Drogba era. I chose the local beer of course, which is often termed “Nacional”, it is brewed on Sao Tome and and comes in a non-descript bottle with no label, no name.

You get used to that backpacking Sao Tome, we can call it the beer with no name, or “Nacional” or “Rosema” which is the name of the brewery which brews it. At any rate, Chelsea Boy got me a cold one for less than 2 Euros done deal. A bargain as I backpacked up through this jungle lifestyle to the middle of the world.

On the walk up, I was with Vita my captain from the boat but nobody else. Just two of us whackpacking it up. Well, I had a backpack, he just walked it.

It’s a short walk uphill through a mild jungle with no real dangers of animals, nor even many mosquitoes! I always bring my mosquito spray though! Soon we have arrived at the centre of the world, say 15 minutes walk…

Backpacking At The Centre Of The World

What is there to do here? For me, it was admire, ponder, think, sip a beer, write a poem, take some photos, make some videos, get my Northern Ireland flag out, go fully nude, think about life and get a certificate to prove I’d backpacked here. I managed to do all of that. I even stayed here for about 45 minutes to enjoy the moment. Most people come and go faster than that. I loved it. There is a souvenir stall to buy some gifts, but all I bought was the certificate to say I had been here. I left a donation, and signed the book too. I spent 8 Euros in the middle of the world. I think it’s fair to say they deserve that.

Above you can see I spotted Northern Ireland on their mosaic of the world.

“Either side of the world; safe from harm” – Neil Finn.

I got snap happy and took a range of photos. These were taken by my boat captain Vita, but also by the couple I met from Spain/Portugal – it was Olivier and his girlfriend and a guy from Manchester in England and his Portuguese girlfriend.

I went fully nude for the freedom of the world! It is hardly the first time I nudepacked the world. I have also been full nude in Antarctica at Deception Island, naked yoga in London, nudist park in Munich in Germany (don’t show *** ;-0), Laguna Colorada in Bolivia and latterly Lubiewo beach in Poland. Feel the freedom.

“You make me feel naked” – Louise.

The below photo shows me actually backpacking in the centre of the world!

I found Northern Ireland and touched my homecity of Bangor (on sea).

I sipped my beer here. In fact, I finished it on the way back so that I could give the empty bottle back to Chelsea Boy.

To get my certificate, the salesman needed to know how to write my name, so I gave him my business card. He still wrote the “r” of Blair a bit like an “s” but I was glad it was personalised by him and written in the middle of the world.

I was presented with my certificate with a handshake with me in the northern hemisphere holding a beer and the salesman in the southern hemisphere.

And the last ones for the ladies (!). The freedom of the willy goes nude at zero point, the middle of the world magic covered by a green Northern Irish star. Yes, our bodies weigh much less on the equator, it seems true as I went skeleton loyal!

And then the euphoria ends, it’s time to head back to reality…

The Journey Back To Reality From The Centre Of The World

The journey back is never as good as the journey there, in most cases. I had a swim in the calm waters at the beach on Ilheu Das Rolas, I had one last beer at the bar by the beach and then it was time to go. For this lifetime. On the boat back it was just Vita and I, back to the village of Porto Allegre. Oh and I tried white wine which is actually white! But I’ll write about Porto Allegre separately!

Here are the details of the location of the exact middle of the world Ilheu Das Rolas:

Location on Google Maps

Here are my videos from my trip to Ilheu Das Rolas: