An Oasis in the Atlantic

São Tomé and Príncipe, the verdant island nation off the coast of West Africa, is becoming one of the world’s leading ecotourism destinations

- By Mary Holland

You feel as though you are in a y botanical garden," says photographer Nikole Herriott. "Butterflies are everywhere, soaring trees that are over 100 years old, and red, yellow, and green cocoa pods hang under canopies of orange flowers. The fragrance of ylang-ylang trees and breadfruit hangs in the air." These twin islands in the Gulf of Guinea also have biodiverse rain forests that support more endemic species than the Galápagos (in 2012, Príncipe was designated by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve), as well as million-year-old mountains, pristine waterfalls,