Secrets of São Tomé Tour 08 Days – Summer

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Essentials: 

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Check List: 

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Passport:

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Weather:

Annual temperatures: 22º C – 32º C
Seasons: There are 2 seasons; the rainy season and the dry season, gravana.

Rainy seasons: March to May and again October – November
The rainy season does not mean constant rain, the showers are generally sudden and heavy, preparing for clear skies and the highest annual temperatures.
Do note that the global heating is changing this pattern.

Gravana (dry season): June to September.
The sky is usually dotted by small clouds. An almost constant southern breeze of 10-25 knots with moderate temperatures. Nights are cool and often there is light rain before sunrise.

In the Northern regions, rainy days number only 2-3 per week. Due to a hilly relief, the interior and the southern regions tend to have more rain.

Gravanita (dry season): December to February.
High probability of no rain, no wind and 25-30 degrees, a bit lower than during the rainy season.

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Currency:

Dobra = 100 cêntimos. Notes are in denominations of Db50,000, 20,000, 10,000 and 5,000.
Coins are in denominations of Db20, 10, 5, 2 and 1.

• There is no ATM machine working with VISA or MasterCard on the island!

• Prefer to bring cash in EURO, CFA or USD.

• The change rate with EURO is fixed: 24,5 dobras = 1 euro. Most local changers will give 25 dobras for 1 euro.

• USD is accepted only if notes are new, and only 20, 50 and 100 USD (with variable change rate)

• Only few hotels accept credit card and they usually have a preferential service for their clients (and do not always have enough cash).

• It is possible to withdraw cash with credit card at BISTP bank (São Tomé International Bank) but it takes times (and is quite expensive).

• Some local change Agents also offer the possibility to withdraw cash against bank transfer to their account based in Portugal (but this procedure may take one to two days!).

• Tips recommended per client in a group (120 – 180 € per person, for the guide, 5-12€ per day)

Vaccination:

Yellow fever:
A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission and for travellers having transited more than 12 hours through the airport of a country with risk of yellow fever transmission. You will be required to show the yellow vaccination booklet upon arrival.

Malaria:
Due to international cooperation within the last past twenty years, Malaria has almost been eradicated from São Tomé. It is still lightly active in the poorest areas, where people live in wooden houses near rivers. Therefore there is very little chance that you be infected. Nevertheless, you should bring with you the Malaria medicine (Quartem or any other relevant medicine).
Malaria symptoms may vary upon people: headache, neck ache, toothache, dizziness, stomach ache, sore back muscles, feeling of vomiting. There are Health Centers in all cities, in case of suspicion, you should not wait to see a doctor.

Bicho:
If you walk bare feet, or with sandal in an area with pigs, it may happen that you get a little harmless worm in your foot. Local health center will remove it in a few minutes. In order to avoid any risk, local people rinse their feet with gasoline…

Urchins:
Since you are very likely to enjoy a bath in the ocean, we shall warn you about the presence of urchins at the entrance of quite a few beaches (Tamarindos, Cafe, Blue Lagoon etc..) Therefore, you should be careful where you step, and avoid unidentified black spot and rocks when enter in the water.