Principe: Flying to and from Principe
Just getting to and from Principe is an adventure in its own – there are two tiny airlines operating the flights between the islands – STP Airways and Africa’s Connection. Each “airline” has a fleet of a single plane that shuttles between the sister islands about once or twice a day. Schedules are unreliable and change on a whim, also if the weather is not favorable – the flights get easily cancelled so you are running the risk of being stuck on Principe. The flight itself is spectacular as both Principe and São Tomé have stunning mountain terrain and landing on Principe is a rough u-turn-and-drop maneuver that seems like a mission impossible at first. And to top it off – you are flying bizarre turboprop planes – Saab 340 and Dornier 228 – I personally have never flown these before.
