Discover Belém: Botanical Diversity and Hiking

Belém combines botanical diversity with various hiking opportunities. Vegetation from every continent grows in the Jardim Botânico ME-ZOCHI; three hikes start in Belém and differ in difficulty, route and duration. You can therefore plan your stay according to whether you are mainly interested in plants or want to set aside time for a route.

Plant Diversity and the Garden’s History

The Jardim Botânico ME-ZOCHI brings together plants from every continent. This broad geographical range makes the garden a botanical focal point for anyone interested in different plant worlds. Rather than a single landscape, the focus here is on the diversity of vegetation.

The garden’s founding is associated with Miriam da Silva Santiago. The São Toméan doctor and pharmacist was interested in botany, introduced several hundred exotic plant species to the island of São Tomé and Príncipe, and turned her property into a botanical garden. Both the diversity of the plants and the founder’s personal story offer distinctive perspectives on the Jardim Botânico ME-ZOCHI.

A description from 2020 presents a guided visit. Visitors learn about the garden’s plants as well as ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological information about them. The visit thus combines a focus on the plants themselves with information about them. Check with the garden whether this guided option is currently available.

Three Hikes Starting in Belém

The 2020 hiking guide describes PP MZ 01 as a moderately difficult circular hike that starts in Belém and takes about two hours. If you want to include a route that returns to its starting point in your plans, its circular format is the key feature; the stated duration is approximate.

PP MZ 02 leads from Belém to a destination near Batepá. The hiking guide describes it as an easy hike and estimates about an hour and a half of walking to the destination. This figure refers to the journey there, so it cannot simply be equated with the total duration of the PP MZ 01 circular hike.

As a third option, the moderately difficult PP MZ 03 runs from Belém via Milagrosa to Roça Saudade. The hiking guide gives an approximate three hours for the ascent to Roça Saudade. Its route, destination and time required distinguish it both from the PP MZ 01 loop and from the walk to the destination near Batepá.

The three time estimates therefore refer to different things: around two hours for the PP MZ 01 circular hike, about an hour and a half to the destination on PP MZ 02, and approximately three hours for the ascent on PP MZ 03. This lets you compare the route type, destination and approximate time required together, rather than simply setting the figures side by side. All three descriptions are based on a 2020 hiking guide; as trail conditions can change, check for current information before setting out.

When choosing where to stay in Belém, you can first consider whether the botanical visit or one of the hikes will shape your stay more. For the routes, their respective destinations and time estimates can help you make your plans more specific. The garden description offers a different focus: plant diversity and guided information about the plants. This distinction can help you tailor your search for a holiday rental in Belém to your travel interests.

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Back to the main travel overview: São Tomé and Príncipe.