Eat, Pray, Travel — Wellness Retreat in São Tomé and Príncipe
12 days on a volcanic island on the Equator · maximum 12 people · 3 to 14 March 2027
Some trips are about seeing places. This one is about coming home different.
Eat, Pray, Travel is a 12-day wellness retreat on one of the least-visited archipelagos on earth — built for people arriving tired: after a burnout, a separation, a loss, or simply with the feeling that something has to change. It is not a tourist circuit, and it is not a deprivation programme.
What the research shows is straightforward. Being near the sea is consistently associated with calmer states and lower stress arousal — what environmental psychologists call the blue mind effect. Walking barefoot on volcanic sand, sleeping to the sound of the ocean, eating food that came out of the ground and the water that morning, and spending twelve days without screens competing for your attention: none of it is magic. It is physiology, and it is rhythm.
And there is one thing no solo programme can offer — a small group of people who are also starting over. Sharing without a mask, somewhere nobody knows who you are back home, gives back something that is easily lost: the feeling of belonging.
São Tomé and Príncipe adds a rare geography to this. The Equator runs through Ilhéu das Rolas, where you can stand with one foot in each hemisphere beside the marker raised by the Portuguese navigator Gago Coutinho. The whole territory is a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve — volcanic, forested, and quiet — with a kitchen built on fresh fish, seasonal fruit, ginger, turmeric and soursop.
The group is accompanied throughout by Dra. Cláudia Maestre, a nutritionist, and by Luciano Baetz, who knows the islands as few do and who speaks about this transformation from his own experience. Twelve days, twelve people at most, full board, flights included — and three final nights at Hotel Bom Bom on Príncipe Island, the quietest place of all.
Flights depart from Lisbon. Travellers coming from elsewhere in Europe connect through Lisbon, and we can arrange that connection for you.
Day-by-day itinerary
Flight from Lisbon to São Tomé, arriving in the late afternoon. You are met by our guide, helped with currency exchange and transferred to the hotel. Welcome dinner and the group's first circle: everyone says only what they want to say about what brought them here. Speaking is never required.
The morning starts in the sea — a swim, a barefoot walk on the sand and the first breakfast of seasonal fruit. During the day each participant has a one-to-one conversation with Dra. Cláudia Maestre about eating habits, goals, restrictions and medication, which shapes how they will be supported over the twelve days. Free afternoon. At dusk, a guided breathing and meditation session by the water.
Up into the island's interior to Trindade and Roça Monte Café, with a tasting of coffee grown on the plantation, and a visit to the Almada Negreiros Museum. Lunch at the plantation house. In the afternoon, a swim at the Cascata Milagrosa — cold fresh water in the middle of the forest. It is the first day almost nobody remembers their phone.
A full day by 4x4 along the south of the island: the old laundry at Roça Água Izé, the Boca do Inferno blowhole and the viewpoint over Pico Cão Grande. Fresh fish lunch by the sea and a long afternoon on a deserted beach, with no schedule. An active-listening exercise on the beach at the end of the day.
Boat crossing to Ilhéu das Rolas and the climb to the Equator marker raised by Gago Coutinho — the point where you can stand with one foot in each hemisphere. Meditation at the marker early in the morning, before anyone else arrives. The rest of the day between the islet's beaches and the sea.
The north of the island: a cocoa cooperative where you follow the bean all the way to chocolate, the centuries-old baobabs, and a swim at Lagoa Azul. Visit to Roça Agostinho Neto, the largest plantation in the archipelago. Dinner with pure São Tomé cocoa for dessert.
A day with no programme. Praia Piscina, natural warm-water pools between the rocks, and an invitation — not an obligation — to spend the morning in silence. In the afternoon, the retreat's longest session: a sharing circle where those who want to speak do, and those who do not simply listen.
A morning at São Tomé's market, among the fruits, roots and spices that underpin the island's cooking — ginger, turmeric, soursop, palm oil, izaquente. Signature lunch at chef João Carlos Silva's plantation in Angolares. In the afternoon, Dra. Cláudia Maestre reviews how each participant is doing.
Domestic flight to Príncipe, the oldest and best-preserved island of the archipelago. Transfer and check-in at Hotel Bom Bom, set above the sea. An afternoon with nothing scheduled: rest, water, forest. Dinner at the hotel.
Visit to Roça Sundy, where in 1919 Eddington's team observed the eclipse that confirmed Einstein's theory of relativity, and to Banana Beach, one of the most photographed in Africa. Afternoon in the sea and a meditation session at sunset.
A walk through Príncipe's forest with stops for breathing and silence, and the rest of the day free between the beach and the hotel pool. In the late afternoon, the group's closing ritual: each person symbolically leaves on the island whatever they came to leave. Farewell dinner.
Flight from Príncipe to São Tomé and a few last hours in town — the market, cocoa and spices to take home, one final swim. Transfer to the airport and the flight back to Lisbon, arriving the following morning.
What's included
- Return flights Lisbon–São Tomé, airport taxes and baggage included
- Domestic flight São Tomé–Príncipe–São Tomé, taxes included
- 11 nights' accommodation: 8 nights on São Tomé and 3 nights at Hotel Bom Bom on Príncipe Island
- Full board throughout the trip — breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Fresh juices and infusions made with local fruit, roots and spices, every day
- Nutritional support from Dra. Cláudia Maestre for all 12 days, with a one-to-one conversation at the start and a review midway
- Support from Luciano Baetz: sharing circles, meditation and breathing sessions, active listening and reconnection time
- Agency guide on site throughout the trip
- 4x4 vehicle with driver and all transfers
- All excursions listed in the itinerary, with a local guide
- Boat crossing to Ilhéu das Rolas and the climb to the Equator marker
- Travel insurance
- Small group, maximum 12 participants
What's not included
- Alcoholic drinks
- Tourist tax of €2.10 per person per night, paid in cash at the airport on arrival
- Single room supplement (on request, subject to availability)
- Personal expenses, laundry and gratuities
- Medical consultations, medication, vaccinations and health expenses
- Excursions, treatments or therapies not listed in the itinerary
- Anything not listed as included
Frequently asked questions
No, and it matters to say so plainly. This is a wellness retreat: rest, nature, careful food, movement and sharing in a group. It is not medical or psychological treatment and it is not intended to treat depression, anxiety or any other condition. If you are on medication or seeing a health professional, continue — and speak with them before you travel. A trip like this works well alongside that care, never instead of it.
Many people come home lighter, and the reasons are simple: twelve days of freshly made food with no processed products and no alcohol, plenty of fish, fruit, vegetables and water, walking every day and sleeping better. But we promise no numbers and no guaranteed results — every body responds differently, and this is not a weight-loss programme with targets. What we do guarantee is eating well, without going hungry, with a nutritionist present.
No. The walks are accessible and there is always the option to stay behind, rest, or do only part of one. The programme was designed for different rhythms, and day 7 is deliberately unstructured. If you have mobility limitations or a health condition to consider, tell us when you book so we can adapt.
Most people come alone — on this kind of trip that is the norm, not the exception. The group is capped at 12 precisely so that everyone genuinely gets to know each other. And nobody is ever required to speak: the sharing circles are an invitation, and being present in silence is a perfectly valid way to take part.
Island cooking, made from what grows there: fresh fish, seasonal fruit, vegetables, roots, beans, rice, and local spices — ginger, turmeric, chilli, palm oil. Fresh juices and infusions every day, and São Tomé cocoa, among the best in the world. Meals are full board and there is no deprivation. Dietary restrictions, allergies and intolerances should be flagged at booking so that Dra. Cláudia Maestre and the kitchens can plan for them.
Three concrete reasons. It is a volcanic archipelago whose entire territory is a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, with forest, waterfalls and beaches that are all but empty. It is around 6h30 direct from Lisbon, with no time difference to disturb your sleep. And the Equator runs through Ilhéu das Rolas, where you can stand with one foot in each hemisphere. The three final nights at Hotel Bom Bom, on Príncipe, add the silence of an island of roughly eight thousand people.
All flights to São Tomé from Europe route through Lisbon — there are no direct services from other European cities. The trip is priced from Lisbon, and we can arrange your connecting flight from your home city so that the timings line up with the group's departure.
Terms and conditions
Preço por pessoa em quarto duplo: 3.500€. Suplemento de quarto individual sob consulta, sujeito a disponibilidade — em particular no Hotel Bom Bom, onde o número de quartos é limitado.
Sinal de reserva: o valor indicado nesta página, por pessoa. A reserva só fica confirmada após o pagamento do sinal. A viagem deverá estar totalmente paga 30 dias antes da data de partida.
Grupo reduzido: máximo de 12 participantes e mínimo de 2 para a partida se realizar. As inscrições fecham quando o grupo estiver completo.
Em caso de cancelamento pelo participante, aplicam-se gastos de cancelamento de 50% do valor total da viagem.
Documentação: passaporte válido, visto ou registo eletrónico quando aplicável, e vacinação recomendada para o destino. Cada participante é responsável por confirmar a sua situação documental e de saúde antes da partida.
Nota importante sobre saúde: este é um programa de bem-estar e de descanso. Não é um tratamento médico, psicológico ou psiquiátrico, não substitui acompanhamento clínico e não se destina a tratar qualquer doença ou condição de saúde. Quem esteja a fazer medicação ou a seguir um plano alimentar prescrito deve mantê-lo e falar com o seu médico antes da viagem. O acompanhamento nutricional durante o retiro é de orientação alimentar e não substitui uma consulta de nutrição clínica nem qualquer terapêutica em curso.
- Adult price
- 3500€
- Single supplement
- +0€
- Book for
- 1500€