16/04/2024
On St Helena Island everybody knows each other. If they don't know you personally, they know OF you. Driving along the mountain passes that snake all around the 16 x 8km island, you can be sure that every other driver will lift their hand in a greeting as you pass by. Though this is by far not the only charming quality of St Helena, it is one that will make you feel like you are right at home. In fact, the Saints, as they are colloquially called, welcome the marked increase in visitors since the construction of the airport in 2016. No more waiting for weeks for the Royal Mail Ship to cross the Atlantic, bringing visitors and much-needed supplies. If history is your thing, this subtropical island is a treasure trove. Visit the homes where Napoleon Bonaparte was housed during his years of exile on the island and the site of his tomb. Closer to home for the South Africans is the Boer cemetery where around 180 of the 4500 exiled prisoners of the Boer War are buried. Then there is the wealth of sea and bird life and the delight of seeing a super pod of Pantropical Spotted dolphin which have made the bay close to Jamestown their home. Season and weather permitting, you may even get to swim with the gigantic Whale Sharks that migrate past St Helena. A visit to Plantation House, mansion of the governor, is an opportunity to visit a 193 year old tortoise called Jonathan, recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the oldest known land animal in history. Our recent visit with Live the Journey Travel (with Aaron Legg as our guide) also happily coincided with a Royal state visit from Prince Edward, who had arrived for the official opening of the airport, built by the British government in its efforts at ensuring a modern and independent local government. Airlink is the only airline worldwide currently offering flights to St Helena, and Live the Journey will host their next tours, departing from Cape Town, from 25 January to 01 February 2025, and from Johannesburg on 04 February to 11 February 2025. Contact [email protected] or +27 (0)21 8636400 for more information. Read the full story in the June/July issue of Weg! and go! magazines, on sale end of May 2024
