On Saturday morning at 7 am, we walked to the Hotel Mirimar close to our house (which is also owned by Pestana Group) and caught the bus to the Rolas dock. The ride to the dock took 2 1/2 hours and was the same route we took to Praia Pescina just the week before. It was a completely different ride in the bus! (Clearly since the first ride took 4 hours and the bus took 2 1/2!!) Anyway, when we got to the dock, we boarded a boat and rode for about 20 minutes to the island, Rolas. It was about 10:45 when we got there and HOT! When we stepped off the boat, there were staff members waiting for us with ice-cold towels to wipe off our faces with! (Ahh!) And they had cocnuts with straws in them for us! Nothing is as refreshing as coconut water! It was such a nice welcoming and it totally set the tone for the whole weekend! We checked it and were escorted to our bungalow, number 501! Yes, I said Bungalow!! How awesome is that?! So neither Jared or I have ever been to a resort before so we had no idea how it worked, but you do not need to carry anything with you. Your room key is all you need and if you buy something extra, you just sign for it! It was so awesome! The first thing we did was go to the pool, which was a HUGE saltwater pool with one area that was an infinity part looking into the sea with Sao Tome and all its mountains in the distance. There were several beached on the island that you could use as well if you preferred the Ocean to the pool.
Lunch was served in the dinning hall on the far northeastern tip of the island - about a 10 minute walk from our bungalow. The meals were buffet style with several options. Fish, chicken and a beef dish were available with rice and fried bananas and then there were several types of salads - my favorite being the cold corn and shrimp one! There were lots of choices of fresh fruit too, cheeses, and rolls too. Oh, and soup. It was all delicious! After lunch, Jared and I hiked to the Equator marker, which marks the exact spot the equator passes through. On our walk, it started to spit a bit of rain, but I thought it was fitting seeing as we were in the "rain forest"! The view from the Equator was amazing! You could see the whole resort as well as Sao Tome and the 7 rocks that the Angolaries supposedly crashed on. On our way back to the resort, we passed a village and bought some cloth and a necklace from an artist. Pretty sure we payed way too much for it, but oh well - I looked at it as a birthday present! When our hike was done, I was totally nasty and went to the pool again! I couldn't get enough of it! After this pool dip, Jared and I went back to the room, freshened up and then went to one of the 3 bars for a drink. There were a few other people at the resort with us - some Americans who were in ST to help with the tax system, some Portuguese people on vacation, 3 couples who looked like they were on honeymoons and a few other families with kids. Overall it was pretty sparse and we loved it! For dinner, we ordered a bottle of wine and hung out for a while there just enjoying ourselves, and then we went for a night swim under the stars! It was a really great day!
The second day (our last), after breakfast, we went our separate ways. Jared went for a hike to try and find a blow hole and I (you guessed it!) went to the beach! I found a few shells and got sand every where and then floated in the pool for a bout an hour while the pool bar played a Michael Jackson CD! It was pretty much the best birthday morning ever! So yes, I just said pool bar. There was a bar in the pool. You could walk to it and sit, or swim to it and sit in the water on stools in the pool. Totally cool, I have to say! Oh, and I got a bunch of tropical flowers from the staff too! How cool is that?!
The rest of our day was spent eating, drinking and swimming until 4:30 when the boat left for Sao Tome. It was really hard to leave. We totally wanted to stay more and do some more hiking, but we are planning a day trip in August to do that. There are pictures posted on facebook and you can see them by clicking here.
Love,
Michelle and Jared
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