We arrived on Ascension Island a few days ago on a large RAF passenger plane. As we landed the pilot informed us it was 28C and sunny in Ascension Island and for those traveling on to the Falklands it was 4C and snowing. We thought 'I know where I am getting off'!
Ascension Island is a young volcanic island with a moonscape similar to Iceland or The Big Island, Hawaii. The main town is Georgetown is a very sleepy town, hot and dry, with several colonial era buildings dating back to the 1800s when it was first settled.
Even though Ascension Island is in the middle of the Atlantic, it has been a strategic military and communications location since the 1820s. There are several forts like Fort Hayes (below) and gun placements including two guns from HMS Hood (below) that were fired in anger on a U boat in WWII.
The Island is dotted with communications equipment of all shapes and sizes, the likes of which we have never seen before.
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