Saint Helena Island is in the eastern part of the South
Atlantic Ocean and is one of the world's most isolated islands. If you start
crossing the Atlantic due west from the border between Namibia and Angola,
Saint Helena Island will appear about one-third of the way across to Brazil.
Because of this extreme isolation, Napoleon Bonaparte was
exiled here from Oct 1815 until his death on 5 May 1821. It is the most
populous of the United Kingdom's territories in the South Atlantic.
It was our first time here. Originally, I had a taxi tour
set up, but Bob found a much better tour and even though his tour was full he
graciously set up a second car for 6 of us and a third car for 6 more. Thanks
Bob! Ironically, the only “Bob Tour” we were on, Bob couldn’t be on his own
tour. Hopefully, they will rejoin the ship in Natal, Brazil. The tour company
was Island Images LTD. My only suggestion to them as they start their new
business is to use more comfy vehicles. The old school bus wasn’t easy to tour
in.
The tender process was very slow. The water didn’t seem to
have swells, but the tender boat next to the ship was really bobbing up and
down. So, it took them a long time to load the first one. We got on the 3rd
and 4th tenders. Part of the group was on the 3rd one and
the rest of us followed on the 4th.
I’m not sure what happened with the vehicle situation, but
we were supposed to have a vehicle with 6 people in it and that got all changed
around. I thought that perhaps the person that took over Bob’s tour just made
an error and it would be a simple fix to switch us. I guess that wasn’t an
option because I was told If I didn’t want to go on the tour, she had others to
take my place. Well, it was the night before the tour and it was paid in full,
seriously??? For some reason we only had 2 vehicles as well so that put a lot
of people in the bus and 26 of us total. Anyway, it wasn’t my intention to be a
pain in the butt, but I really thought it was an oversight.
So, we got in the ancient school bus with 16 or 18 of us. Thankfully,
a guy traded seats with me since my feet couldn’t touch the floor and with my
foot condition my feet go numb quickly. He needed more leg room and the seat I
had had way more legroom and since he had a “hump” below his feet, it worked
way better for my feet. Despite each seat supposedly being able to seat 2
people, it was geared to grade school children, and the couples were wedged in.
Our drivers and guides were very good. The island is pretty
new to tourism and they were doing their best to build their business. They
stopped in quite a few places for photo ops. The scenery was jaw-dropping. One
stop was to see the Heart-shaped Waterfall which is dry this time of year.
Another was to see the house where Napoleon stayed in exile for the first 3
months. (Briar’s Pavillion)
We went to the St. Helena Distillery which is billed as the
most remote distillery in the world. We tasted several kinds of spirits such as
lemon flavored, coffee, spiced rum and gin. Honestly, we didn’t think any of it
was very good. Several people on the tour did buy some so it was nice that at
least a few people supported the local economy. I wanted the coffee one just
for the pretty bottle. The owner designed bottles that resemble Jacob’s Ladder
and the coffee one was black and gold. (wasn’t worth $25 just for the bottle)
Our next stop was to see Napoleon’s tomb. His body is no longer
there as it was returned to France in 1840. It was a short walk to get there
through a very serene and beautifully kept grounds. White Terns were flying
overhead, and it was a lovely walk.
Next, we visited the Millennium Forest where they have and
grow endemic plants for the island. We also got to see the airport which has
been dubbed the most useless airport in the world. (60 minutes did a piece on
it) If tourism takes off maybe they can have more than 1 to 2 flights a week.
We passed a pretty dry looking golf course to get there. We had hopes of seeing
a Wirebird there, but there wasn’t one to be found. They are endemic here, so
it’s the only place they can be found.
We then stopped to tour Longwood House where Napoleon
spent
the great majority of his time on Saint Helena, and where he died. It has
several wings and contains reproductions of furniture that was there. It is now
a museum and no photos were allowed. After we were finished touring the guides
set up a nice picnic lunch for us. They had vegetable quiche, tomato paste
sandwiches, fish cakes and a pumpkin raisin desert. They included soft drinks
as well.
Our next stop was to see Lot and Lot’s wife (2 rock
formations) and then on to the Blue Hill picnic area for an overlook of Sandy
Bay which is the only beach on the island.
We then visited the Plantation House grounds to see Jonathan
the tortoise believed to be the oldest living animal. He had 3 other tortoises
on the grounds, but we only saw him and 2 others. Plantation House is the
governor’s residence. There was a very nice garden next to the viewing area for
the tortoises and it belonged to our driver.
Our guide was working on Ascension Island at the same time
when Greg went there in the Navy.
The tour also included a scenic drive through the western
side of the island. We saw the Central Peaks which include Diana’s Peak which
is the highest point on the island.
After we left there, we visited High Knoll Fort which
stands 584 meters above sea level. It offered some amazing views of the island
in all directions. We climbed around on both sides of it before continuing with
the tour.
Our last stop was at the top of Jacob’s Ladder which was
built in 1829 and has 699 steps. It was built as an inclined plane to bring
goods down from the farming areas in the center of the island. The top sits at
Ladder Hill Fortification. I really wanted to climb up it, but really didn’t
want to take it down. (hard on the knees) We got our photo ops and Cathy &
Tom decided to walk down.
The tour then took us back to Jamestown where we walked
about on our own. I wanted to climb, but I didn’t want to do it by myself and
Greg didn’t want to come back down due to knee issues. (nor did I) I didn’t see
any taxis at the top to bring me back down, so I decided not to climb.
The Main Street of Jamestown is described as one of the
best examples of unspoiled Georgian architecture anywhere in the world and the
whole island has been proposed to the UK government as a mixed World Heritage
site.
We walked the small Castle Gardens and went into the St.
James church which is the oldest Anglican church in the southern hemisphere
dating back before 1774. The town didn’t take long to see, and we got our token
photos at the bottom of Jacob’s Ladder and headed back to the tender
boats.
We had hoped to see at least one Wirebird, but that didn’t
happen. We did see quite a few Yellow Canaries. Some people said they saw some
Wirebirds, but the description didn’t seem like one. Princess had a tour that
went on a search for them, I haven’t talked to anyone that went on it to see if
they saw any. We thought about grabbing a cab after our tour was over to see if
we could find one, but we decided against it. It was a great day and Saint
Helena was a delightful surprise.
We got back early enough to clean up for dinner in the
dining room.
The entertainment tonight was an encore of Branden &
James doing a whole new show.
There was a Nightro bingo right afterwards. (we did not
win)
We also got to set the clocks back an hour to get that
extra hour of sleep.
Now, we have 4 sea days before we hit Brazil.
Saint Helena https://photos.app.goo.gl/SvbEJirKbY9Yqsbn8
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