The country is one of Africa’s smallest and most obscure nations, is a set of tin, tranquil and little-visited islands on the cusp on hitting the economic big time.

The country’s position near the equator makes for steamy, obscenely rich forest which peters out onto undisturbed sandy beaches. In fact, in contrast to many African countries, Sao Tome and Principe’s biggest problem is re-forestation. Nature has reclaimed many of the roads, railway tracks and plantation buildings of the Portuguese colonial era, making the south of Sao Tome and most of Principe essentially unreachable.

The town of Sao Tome must be the quietest capital city in Africa. Paint peels away from decaying colonial townhouses; bored guards push flies away from their eyes outside the presidential palace – and the narrow winding streets never seem to properly wake up from their dusty slumber.