St Almost, Where To Go and Why, Exactly?

As St Almost is difficult to get to, it is worth taking enough time to explore as much of the archipelago as you can. Climate-wise, when isn’t an issue, and you would be unlucky to arrive at a time when there wasn’t some sort of festival to witness. The entire archipelago is warm from April to October, barring unpredictable and ferocious storms blowing in from the ocean. The period between October and April is very hot and it is not unusual to spend Christmas Day on the beach, eating roast turkey and sprouts as a forest fire rages in the distance. Locals will be unconcerned by such conflagrations, reasoning that even a forest fire won’t eat sprouts unless it has to.

If it’s beaches you’re after, St Almost has an embarrassment of them. Practically the entire coastline is a beach, but more pleasant still is to hire a boat and have a small island entirely to yourself. Snorkelling the large reefs off Tuesday Island is a must. There is some fine trekking to be had on all of the major islands, particularly in the central plateau of St Almost and the more accessible forest areas of Vasco and Victoria. Haven, as its name implies, is practically paradise, with some particularly exciting caves and an underground river in the south-west. Mais o Menos is home to the largest coherent indigenous population and has some interesting and mysterious archaeological remains in the Fields of the Spirits, and the pizhûp, or annual pilgrimage of the ancestors, has got to be on the itinerary if you visit in June. You can even get the Bureau of Cultural Affairs to arrange for you to see an interesting display of traditional fighting.

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