Our stay in St. Helena was for a few days mainly as a rest stop to buy some fresh vegetables and fruit for our next long passage across the Atantic.

We did not know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised.  St. James was like a small Market Town in England but with the addition of Government Buildings and a Parliament all for a mere 6000 people.  It is still a British Dependant Territory like Ascension and Tristan du Cuna (South Atlantic Islands), and share a Governor, who is  in residence on St. Helena. The Islanders have recently received back their full British citizenship after being stripped of this in 1981 by a previous British Government.

Their accent which is a very quaint lilting English accent is delightful.  St. Helena people call themselves  "Saints" and they are a mixture of people from different backgrounds that have settled over the centuries mainly British, Malay, Chinese, Africans, and Boers. They are very friendly and welcoming to everyone who visits the island. 

At the moment the only way to arrive or depart the island is either by sailing yacht or, the Royal Mail Service ship St. Helena. The RMS St. Helena travels from Ascension to Cape Town and brings in all the supplies and people to the island.  The ship is the last dedicted mail ship in the world and sailing in it from Cape Town is reminiscent of old world cruises from a time gone by..

As well as having Napoleon as their most famous prisoner the island has been a concentration camp for Zulu warriors from the 1870's Zulu Wars  and in 1900, 6,000 Boers were held on the Island. A handful of Boers decided to settle on the island in 1902 when they were released.

First impressions about the island is very deceiving when you enter St. James Bay it looks like a formidable island fortress, with all its old gun batteries from the varied history of the island dating back to its discovery by Portuguese sailors in 1502. There were many sea battles between the Portuguese, British and Dutch and because of this the island has many fortresses (some quite derelict) all around the island perimeter. But when you ascend up onto the plateau from St. Jame's Bay  things begin to change and the island is beautiful with wonderful rolling green hills with villages with such names as Sandy Hollow, Half Tree Hollow, Bamboo Hedge and Fairyland. On our drive around the island we saw rolling hills as if you were in the Yorkshire Dales, and further on saw semi-desert hills and buttresses falling down to the sea. Such stark contrasts in such a small island.

Napoleon's Longwood House was a fascinating place to spend a few hours. The French Government has completely restored it from the almost ruins it had become in a few short years after Napoleon's death.

 The Saints are very warm, welcoming and friendly people. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and wished we had more time to stay but Trinidad calls us.