[Posted on behalf of José Tavares, Partner Development Officer]
“Brilliant!” Norbert’s face lit up. We were sitting in the open air hotel lobby/breakfast room, and so I looked out to see if he had spotted one of the endemic birds – I had heard the common São Tomé prinia in the gardens just before. But alas no...Norbert was looking at his computer screen, radiant. “Citrix works here!” he shouted triumphantly. From this tiny speck in the Gulf of Guinea, where internet can be painfully slow, we are at least connected to the RSPB email system. “Brilliant” Norbert repeated. Not so sure, I thought.
We had a long day today, running around the capital city to plan the work ahead. Money had to be changed, local telephone mobile cards needed to be bought (so we can call and arrange all of our meetings without wasting valuable funds), a vehicle had to be rented for our first fieldtrip – and last but not least, Kwesi Anderson’s future had to be sorted.
Our colleague from the BirdLife Africa Secretariat arrived here with a return ticket via Lisbon (the only regular air itinerary), but unfortunately without a visa for Portugal! So we tackled it at the highest level – I called the Portuguese ambassador, a contact from a previous visit, and we went for a courtesy visit and a welcome coffee in air-conditioned groomed surroundings. We talked about the amazing São Tomé birds, about money and projects, about politics and oil – and yes, about Kwesi’s visa. Unfortunately he could not really help. Portugal is a Schengen country and so visa administration is unified and outside the control of the Portuguese. We need to find a solution next week – but all this brings home the message that conservation is a huge multidisciplinary effort requiring a lot of diplomacy…
…and language skills! During the day, we spent considerable time meeting with Alzira Rodrigues (president of the board of ABS), and Hugulay Maia (ABS's main fieldworker), planning the days ahead and also getting the first update on ABS activities in the last few months – in a mixture of English and Portuguese. Over dinner and a few beers, we talked for hours with Hugulay about the São Tomé ibis, fiscal, and grosbeak, the 3 endemic species facing extinction…right here and now, only 40 km away from the capital city and where we were sitting. And that is precisely where we are going tomorrow after a 5.30 am wake up call (even after two nights of travelling). Hugulay told us that we will almost certainly see at least the endemic ibis. “Brilliant” said Norbert – and this time he was not looking at his emails.
More soon, José.
Interesting São Tomé factoids:
The island was named in honour of Saint Thomas by Portuguese explorers who arrived at the island on his feast day.
In 1990, São Tomé became one of the first African countries to embrace democratic reform, and changes to the constitution — the legalization of opposition political parties — led to elections in 1991 that were nonviolent, free, and transparent.