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When it comes to inconceivable natural sights, this takes some beating.

Behold Pico Cao Grande, a 1,200ft-tall snake-infested needle-shaped rock that rises out of snake-infested jungle on the Lost World-style island of São Tomé off the west coast of Africa.

Fancy climbing it? Good luck. It’s technically extremely challenging – something these eye-popping images hint at – and the very few daredevils who have made the ascent were repeatedly bitten by snakes and had to contend with rock faces covered in wet moss.

Behold Pico Cao Grande, a 1,200ft-tall needle-shaped rock that rises out of jungle on São Tomé

Technically, Pico Cao Grande (which is Portuguese for Great Dog Peak) – located in Obo Natural Park - is a volcanic plug

So just how did this magnificently bizarre primordial pinnacle form?

Technically, Pico Cao Grande (which is Portuguese for Great Dog Peak) – located in Obo Natural Park - is a volcanic plug.

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These are created when magma hardens within the vent of an active volcano, with surrounding cinder removed by erosion.

King Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh and The Law in Dundee are other examples of volcanic plugs.

São Tomé is one big shield volcano that rose from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean 10,000ft below sea level

São Tomé forms a two-island nation with Principe, which lies around 200 miles off the coast of Libreville 

The volcano that created Pico Cao Grande is now São Tomé – the entire island is one big shield volcano that rose from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean 10,000ft below sea level.

The last eruption was over 100,000 years ago.

São Tomé forms a two-island nation with Principe, which lies around 200 miles off the coast of Libreville, the capital of Gabon.

The islands are, by all accounts, a haven for tourists with a yen for jungle adventures and unspoilt beaches.

São Tomé (pictured) is festooned with lovely beaches and welcomes visitors (but obviously not during pandemic lockdowns)

Lonely Planet says: ‘São Tomé & Príncipe is amazingly safe and welcoming to visitors, particularly ecotourists, for whom the advancing jungle is a delight.

‘This is particularly true on tidy and unspoiled Príncipe, an island of just 7,000 people.’ 

To see a stunning YouTube video of an ascent of Pico Cao Grande made by an American team in 2018, click here.  

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