"St. Helena - Isolated in the South... " a Saint Helena Travel Page by MikeAtSea

Send Photo to a Friend

Jamestown - the capital of St. Helena

Arriving from Brazil on my first transatlantic crossing suddenly the rocks of St. Helena appeared. The island can only be reached by sea since the closest airport is at Ascension Island. St. Helena is situated in the South Atlantic Ocean two days sailing to the African coast towards the East and the South American Coast 5 days sailing to the West.
The only scheduled service to get to the islands is the RMS St. Helena which sails from Cape Town, Ascension, Portland as well as Tenerife. Any other way would be cruise ships stopping for a day to explore the islands.
First discovered in 1502 the islands soon became a frequent stop over for sailing ships on their route towards the Cape of Good Hope to stock up with water and fruits.
British influence took control of the islands from 1659 and remained till today with the exception of a brief period where the Dutch took over.
Just over 5000 inhabitants live on the island with most of the population working for the government as well as some private enterprises. The main centres of population on the island are Jamestown, Longwood and Half Tree Hollow.
Going ashore in Jamestown the capital city of St. Helena one is intrigued as to how British the Island remained so far away from its Motherland.
Its most famous “resident” on the island was Napoleon who also died here. The island is home to one of the best Napoleon museum on the globe.
Other attractions on the island include The Castle which is the Seat of St Helena Government, the Plantation House which is the residence of the Governor, Longwood House the residence of Napoleon, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Jacobs Ladder.
For the naturalist or bird watcher the only endemic bird on the island is the Wirebird.
On another note sending a postcard with the unusual postage stamps of St. Helena is quiet a treat for anyone at home, though they took 2 months to get to their destination :-)