Annobón measures only about 7 kilometres long and 3 kilometres wide — you could walk from one end to the other in a morning. Despite its tiny size, the island has a proper volcano (now dormant), a crater lake called Lake A Pot at the top, and beaches that drop steeply into very deep, clear water. Humpback whales pass by the island on their migrations across the South Atlantic.
The people of Annobón speak a language called Fa d'Ambô, which is a creole — a mixture of Portuguese and African languages — that developed on the island over centuries. Because the island is so cut off from the rest of the world, their language, music, and traditions stayed wonderfully unique. Children on Annobón grow up learning old songs and stories that are different from anywhere else on Earth.
The waters around Annobón are crystal clear and teeming with life. The island has no nearby rivers pouring silt into the sea, so the ocean around it is transparent almost to the bottom. Colourful reef fish, sea turtles, and sharks all live in these waters. Fishermen from the island are experts at reading the waves, the wind, and the colour of the water to find where fish are gathering.
Because Annobón is so far from other land, many migratory birds use it as a rest stop on long journeys across the Atlantic. Seabirds nest on the rocky cliffs and scientists visit periodically to count species that might not nest anywhere else. The island is like a tiny oasis in the middle of a very large ocean.