15 Dec 2019: Lagoa Amelia

The taxi I arranged to pick me up at the guest house failed to arrive at 05:00 in the morning so I made a quick dash to a nearby taxi rank. After flashing a stack of dollar bills, I convinced one of the reluctant drivers to take me up the central mountain to the Bom Successo Botanical Garden. This time Leonel and myself hiked up the mountainside to Lagoa Amelia, a dry volcano crater lake covered with vegetation. Whilst the muddy slopes were quite challenging in the heat and humidity, the scenery was stunning with beautiful views over the island and the Atlantic Ocean.

Sao Tome Oriole, Lagoa Amelia

Most of the track was covered by rainforest and we soon found the local race of Lemon Dove (simplex) and had good sightings of the São Tomé Bronze-naped Pigeon. Higher up the mountain a pair of São Tomé Green Pigeons enjoyed the early morning sun while noisy Sao Tomé Chestnut-Winged Starlings remained well-hidden in the forest canopy. I was craning my neck trying to find an elusive São Tomé Oriole calling in the canopy when I nearly stepped on a grey-black snake, about one meter in length, slithering across the path. The resulting jump would have attained great admiration from the Maasai warriors of the Serengeti who are well-known for the vertical hight they reach when jumping from a standing position.

With my adrenaline levels nearly back to normal we continued up the mountain path, still trying to trace one of the São Tomé Orioles who were now calling from all around us. In the process we flushed a Giant Sunbird, an endemic that appears nearly black in the dim light of the forest. Near the lip of the crater a female oriole finally grew tired of playing hide-and-seek and briefly appeared out in the open. My camera sounded like a machine-gun as I utilised the photo opportunity and it was a very happy twitcher that walked/slid down the mountain back to the botanical gardens. On the ten kilometre walk to the tar road many of the local endemics again showed themselves. I bummed a lift on the backseat of a motorcycle and immediately regretted it as we bumped and slid over the rutted dirt track. There was very little Sunday traffic on the road and it was only after I reached the town of Trindade before I could find a “collective taxi” back to São Tomé Town.

Sao Tome Paradise Flycatcher, Bom Successo

That evening the previous day’s milestone on reaching 1500 birds on the IOC list was celebrated by eating delicious lobster and having a few beers at Papa Figo restaurant. I think my enthusiastic consumption of the local hops made me throw caution in the wind and I took a motorcycle taxi back to the guest house. Over the previous two days I had ticked 14 endemics on São Tomé. On the Clements list I still needed 22 birds to make 1500 and comply with the ABA rules – so, I still had some work to do during the next two weeks before the end of the year.