Annobón Island

Annobón lies some six hundred kilometres southwest of the mainland, a volcanic island of around seventeen square kilometres with a few thousand people, and it is one of the most isolated inhabited places in the Atlantic. Its people speak Fa d'Ambô, a Portuguese-based creole, rather than Spanish or Fang. A crater lake sits in the middle and whales pass offshore in the southern winter.

What you actually see

• The volcanic interior - craters and steep ground filling the small island.
• The Fa d'Ambô language - a Portuguese creole spoken nowhere else.
• The isolation - six hundred kilometres of open ocean from the mainland.
• The whales - humpbacks passing offshore in the southern winter.

When to go

June to September is the drier season and the whale window. Flights and ships are irregular in any month. Permits must be arranged well in advance.

Honest expectations

Access requires a permit that is not routinely granted, and transport is irregular; being stranded for weeks is normal. There is essentially no visitor infrastructure. Photography restrictions apply across the country.

Nearby

Lago A Pot is on the island, and the mainland is far northeast.