The green jungle canopy of Sao Tome and Principe caught the eye of South African multimillionaire Mark Shuttleworth. He is investor behind the new luxury eco-tourism resorts on the two-island nation.PRINCIPE COLLECTION
The rainforest of Principe is so lush and verdant that describing it merely as “green” does it a disservice. It is a kaleidoscope of mint, crocodile, olive, pine, emerald, shamrock, sage and jade. Peppered between the fronds, leaves and grasses are bright bursts of yellow cacao pods, hanging heavy on branches and testifying to the agricultural dominance they held centuries ago.
From the moment you arrive – as jetlagged and travel-worn as you’re likely to be after a two-day odyssey from Canada – you realize this place is a tourism unicorn. It’s hidden in plain sight off the shore of a continent dismissed by travellers over the centuries as a place synonymous with savages or safaris.
Principe has neither. Most people couldn’t point out the 20-kilometre-long smaller island of the two-island nation of Sao Tome and Principe on a map. That has likely saved the continent’s second-smallest nation (after the Seychelles) from overtourism. Sao Tome and Principe sit just above the equator and about 200 kilometres off the western coast of mainland Africa.
As a Portuguese colony (it gained independence in 1975) Principe was prized for its sugar, coffee and cocoa plantations. Africans, Portuguese convicts and Sephardic Jewish children separated from their parents and expelled from Portugal were the enslaved labour backbone of the industry. When slavery was abolished in 1875, indentured servitude took its place. Cape Verdean workers were lured with the promise of compensation that never materialized. Many of them and their descendants continue to live on the island, in the very sanzalas (homes) their ancestors once worked from.
When it was a Portuguese colony, Principe was prized for its sugar, coffee and cocoa plantations.Scott Ramsay/PRINCIPE COLLECTION
As those agricultural revenue streams diminished, nature reclaimed the land. And in 2009, it was that green jungle canopy that caught the eye of the South African multimillionaire who is funding its future.
Mark Shuttleworth, born in Welkom, South Africa, came to the island in search of his own vacation hideaway. But when he learned that a palm oil company might begin clear-cutting the island, he offered an alternative: agritourism. The government agreed and in 2010, his company HBD (Here Be Dragons) Principe began what has turned into a multimillion-dollar investment.
He now owns four hotels here (collectively the Principe Collection) and visits regularly from his homes in South Africa and the U.K. The collection’s boutique size and ecoconscious approach have attracted wealthy travellers keen on something new.
On Principe, his hotels include Bom Bom, a sanctuary featuring 18 ecofriendly casitas or bungalows, enveloped by two beaches and 14 elegant tented villas at Sundy Praia, where dining in the resort’s vaulted bamboo and thatch restaurant is an experience all on its own. There are also rooms in the renovated plantation great houses of Roca Sundy. The fourth hotel, Omali, is on the island of Sao Tome – a layover option for guests en route to Principe.
There are 14 tented villas at Sundy Praia on Principe, where travellers can eat at the resort’s vaulted bamboo and thatch restaurant.Géraldine Bruneel/PRINCIPE COLLECTION
Emma Tuzinkiewicz joined the company in 2021 as its sustainability director. By then, Principe’s transformation from impoverished island to luxury getaway was well under way.
More than 500 people are estimated to work directly for HBD Principe (the largest employer on the island, according to Tuzinkiewicz), and they are learning the tourism trade and improving their own lives with new skills and income opportunities. “It’s incredible to see someone’s life actually be different, for someone to have employment, to buy something that they really, really love and need for their family, or someone who can learn a skill and help their neighbours with making a dress for their daughter,” she says.
Every guest pays €25 ($38) a night into the Conservation and Communities Contribution (CCC) fund – a financial pool that is used entirely for local projects.
The company’s sustainability focus is rooted in ecotourism, nature-based experiences, agroforestry (creating natural items such as soaps and hand creams on the island) and support services such as an auto shop and carpentry school.
The renovated plantation great house of Roca Sundy on Principe.Martin Nicholas Kunz/PRINCIPE COLLECTION
Across the Principe Collection, sustainability feels seamless. The laundry bags in the room, cloth napkins at dinner, lampshades in the dining hall and fresh teas on-site are all examples of local entrepreneurship. Even the cobblestone paths are the result of the company’s masonry program graduates.
Resort guest excursions also lean on locals: Trips to see the island’s stunning and virtually empty golden-sand beaches, to snorkel the Bay of Needles or to hike jungle paths to waterfalls are all resident-led.
Shuttleworth has also been instrumental in working with the United Nations. The organization declared the island a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2012, protecting it from future desecration, and UN-Habitat provided oversight for a voluntary relocation of residents from the area surrounding the Roca Sundy resort in 2024 and improving their living conditions.
Locals speak of Shuttleworth with high praise and almost God-like reverence. It’s clear they value the opportunities that he has brought to the island. According to HBD Principe Group’s CEO, Egbert Bloemsma, the ultimate goal for the island is self-reliance: “Mark Shuttleworth does not have an intent to receive a return on capital; rather, all future profit will be invested back into HBD and the sustainable development and conservation of Principe.”
The beaches on Principe are often empty. Resort guests can snorkel the Bay of Needles or hike jungle paths to waterfalls.Scott Ramsay/PRINCIPE COLLECTION
Still, on an island where outsiders have consistently put profit over people, it’s hard not to question intent. At its simplest, Shuttleworth – a white outsider – owns the Bom Bom property and holds 30-year concessions to the land that grant him the opportunity (and in some cases make it an obligation) to build on 1,700 hectares of a 142 square-kilometre island, more than half of which is protected parkland. This puts much of the stewardship of the land and its people in the hands of one company and the whims of one man.
In an age when “plantation tourism” – heading to places for recreation where enslaved people were forced into labour under horrific conditions – often give people pause, turning former plantations into hotels and attractions is likely to raise an eyebrow.
But the Principe Collection pushes back on the comparison. A statement from the company in response to concerns notes that the rehabilitation of plantation houses for tourism and agriculture is a part of the central government’s own strategy for economic growth.
To be clear, no one on the island speaks ill of the Principe Collection, its owner or its initiatives. How could they? To do so would be to look a gift horse in the mouth. The island stands poised as a test case of sorts – to see if the good intentions of an outsider will lead to prosperity for all. The only choices for tourists will be to wait, or to visit and see for themselves.
If you go
Travel to Sao Tome and Principe takes time but it is fairly easy. I flew TAP Airlines from Toronto to Lisbon, spent the night in Lisbon, then flew to Sao Tome. I stayed overnight in Sao Tome before taking a 35-minute flight over to Principe. (Flights to Principe have a 15 kg weight limit and visitors can store luggage in Sao Tome.) For more details, visit www.principecollection.com
On Principe: Bom Bom casitas are perfect for a total escape with comfortable amenities and little frill. Rooms start at €340 ($512) a person per night, all inclusive. Or try the elegant tents at Sundy Praia and dine at the incredible vaulted bamboo and thatch restaurant. Rooms, including breakfast and dinner, start at €675 ($1015) a person per night. Book rooms at the plantation great house of Roca Sundy and enjoy stunning views from the property’s back deck. Rates start at €210 ($316) a person per night.
On Sao Tome: Omali works well as a layover option for guests en route to Principe, rooms start at €195 ($293) a night.
Make sure to bring home chocolate made on Principe from the cacao pods that still grow here. Visit the small-batch chocolate farm and factory on site at Roca Sundy. You’ll also want to keep an eye out for the recycled-glass jewellery made by the women at a local co-operative.
The writer was a guest of TAP Airlines and HBD Principe. Neither reviewed or approved the story before publication.