You’ll find the island nation of Sao Tome & Principe in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Africa. Consisting of two archipelagos around the two main islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, the islands are part of an extinct volcanic range that was discovered by the Portuguese in the 15th century.

The second smallest country in Africa, with a population of less than 200,000 people spread over an area of 372 square miles, the islands support a largely agricultural economy where cocoa represents around 90% of export income.

If you are in search of sun, sand and seafood, not to mention the world’s smallest ibis (the São Tomé Ibis) and the world’s largest sunbird (the Giant Sunbird), you are in the right place. If however you are in search of fairways and greens then you will be disappointed as there is no golf to be savoured yet on either the larger São Tomé or the smaller, more northerly island of Principe.