Diogo Vaz is a roça, one of the old plantation estates that once covered most of São Tomé, the small island in the Gulf of Guinea that straddles the equator. The Portuguese found the island uninhabited in the fifteenth century, settled it with enslaved labour from the mainland and grew sugar, and later, in the nineteenth century, built an economy on cocoa and coffee. By the early twentieth century São Tomé was among the world's leading cocoa producers, and the roças, each with a manor house, a hospital, a drying yard and a village of workers, were small worlds of their own.
The legacy is painful. The labour was brutal, whether slave, contract or forced, and in 1953 colonial authorities carried out the Batepá massacre against islanders. After independence in 1975, the roças were taken over by the state and then fell into decay, and today many stand half empty, with peeling paint, rusting machinery and families still living in the old workers' quarters. Diogo Vaz, on the north-west coast, has the typical layout, with its drying platforms and buildings set among cocoa trees and palms, and it makes a haunting visit.
The island is a place of intense green, with volcanic peaks wrapped in cloud, steep forested slopes and black sand beaches, and the smell of fermenting cocoa beans, sweet and sour, hangs around the plantations. In recent years small producers have revived the quality chocolate trade, and some estates now offer tours, so you can taste the beans and see the process. Monte Café, the coffee roça in the hills, is the other stop on this ride.
The ring road around the north of the island has some good stretches and many potholes, with goats, chickens, children and the occasional taxi sharing the surface. The weather is warm and humid all year, and the main rainy season runs from September to May, which can make the dirt tracks to the estates slippery. The drier months from June to August are the most comfortable. São Tomé city, about twenty-six kilometres away, is the only place with reliable fuel and supplies, so fill the tank before you go. Roadside stalls sell grilled fish, fried banana and breadfruit, and the coffee is excellent.