Jamestown, Capital of St. Helena

Wedged between the steep sides of a volcanic valley is the capital of St. Helena, Jamestown, and our arrival point on the island. A lovely little town, only two streets wide and lined with colourfully painted Georgian buildings and reminiscent of a country village of a by gone era with post office, grocery stores, pubs and hotels lining the high street.

High above Jamestown is the town of Half Tree Hollow and connecting the two is the famous Jacobs Ladder. Originally a funicular railway to transport goods the 700ft from sea level to cliff top. We climbed the 699 steps of the ladder each day to our accommodation in the interior of the island.

We stayed at Princes Lodge, once the Bishop of St. Helena's residence, with a wide veranda and commanding views of the Atlantic Ocean 1500ft below.

The harbour side of Jamestown is protected by a moat and thick castle wall and gate, ostensibly to keep out invading forces but in more recent years has saved the town from flooding from high seas. Along the castle wall is an open air swimming pool. The 33m length, we suspect, is an artifact of the space available as much as anything. As with Ascension Island it was on our tick list to swim in the pool and we managed to squeeze in a 1/2 hour swim while waiting to reboard the RMS at the end of our all too short stay on St. Helena.

All aboard the RMS

Boarding the RMS at Ascension proved to be quite the challenge. There were 4 stevedores manning the step from pier to the Atlantic Queen which would shuttle us to the RMS anchored off shore. The Queen rose and fell several feet above and below the pier steps in the high swell and the steps were regularly washed with waves. Timing was important in order to avoid an early dunking. Boarding the RMS from the Queen was a similar process, first stepping onto a platform temporarily lashed to the side of the RMS and then nimbly stepping from platform to gangplank staircase when the two momentarily came in contact between waves and finally up the bucking bronco stairs to the ship. It took nearly an hour to load all 112 passengers on board, the Queen shuttling 40 passengers at a time from pier to ship. For safety, no flip flops or high heels and hands free i.e. no bags in hands were strictly enforced and with good reason. All luggage was shuttled by barge and craned aboard in a container.

Finally the ships horn was sounded and we steamed off along the Ascension coast with last views of land for the next 3 days. Dolphins in great pods swam alongside us leaping high out of the sea. Tropicbirds with long streamer tails, white Fairy Terns and Ascension Frigate birds followed the boat as we passed the seabird colony on Boatswain Island.

It was a rough sailing, we all walked around like drunken sailors for 2 days and found lying horizontal was preferable to standing. Nothing to see but sea for 2 whole days..... Everyone was on deck eagerly scanning the horizon for land on the morning of the third day and by 10am St. Helena was clearly in view. We were all relieved to come into calm waters in the lee of St. Helena. Although the same process of disembarkation was the same as the embarkation it was far easier in the calmer waters.

St. Helena Bound

The RMS has dropped anchor off Georgetown and we will be boarding this afternoon for the 2 day voyage to St. Helena, 1300km south of Ascension Island.

There was a party last night originally to celebrate the last sailing of the RMS. The warehouse was decked out in deck railings, RMS crest, shipping flags and model RMSs built by the local school children.

It was quite the party!

Ascension's Idyllic Beaches

Ascension is blessed with a plethora of beautiful sandy beaches, alas most are not suitable for swimming but great for chilling out. Here are some photos of some we visited.
Long Beach right by Georgetown is the major Green Turtle nesting area but great for morning and evening strolls.

Northeast Bay is another long stretch of golden sand. It feels like the end of world and almost is, the nearest land across the Atlantic Ocean is Brazil.

Comfortless Cove is a tiny, but lovely beach for swimming and relaxing.

English Bay is one of the most beautiful beaches in the island and one of the few that is safe to swim at but is surrounded by antennas, wind generators and oil tanks.

Letterbox Walks

To keep the troops seconded to Ascension occupied, there are a collection of hikes called the Letterbox Walks. There is a book describing the walks and a letterbox along the route with a embossing stamp. The idea being to stamp the book from each walk done, just like bagging Munro mountains in Scotland. We have now done 4 of the 34 walks.

The first was my favourite, Elliot's Pass, which circumnavigated Green Mountain just below the summit and gives stunning views of all sides of the island. It is a narrow path clinging to the steep mountain side with the occasional tunnels through the lava rock. The path was originally used as a look out by the British Navy.

When ever we visit a country or island one goal is to climb to the highest point so getting to the summit of Green Mountain was on the itinerary for our stay on Ascension. It is of course a letterbox walk. The first step was driving up the steepest road we have ever been up with switchbacks every 100yards, I didn't get the car out of first gear. Then it was almost a bushwhack through a forest of bamboo (an extreme example of the invasive non native plants introduced 2 centuries ago) to the 2817ft summit.

We also did a rather nice letterbox walk along the north east coast, a deserted corner of the island. It was a beautiful hike across lava fields to secluded sparkling white sand beaches filled with the craters left by nesting turtles to Porpoise Point where through the binoculars I think I spied some dolphins.

The last letterbox walk we did was to Comfortless Cove, so called because ships with yellow fever were quarantined there. The lovely golden sand beach nestled in amongst black lava is one of the few beaches where it is safe to swim. The highlight was the tropical fish swimming around you and toss an apple core into the water and the black trigger fish swarmed around like piranhas.

Endemics Plants and Animals

Ascension Island is most famous, animal wise, for its turtles. Hundreds of Green Turtles make the arduous journey from Brazil to Ascension to lay their eggs. We have yet to see a turtle but every beach is pockmarked with large craters where the turtles have dug holes to lay their eggs. There are the telltale trails of the turtles having hauled themselves across the sand each night and empty eggshells everywhere. It is now hatchling time and the young are now making their way to the ocean each night leaving a small trail too. We just need to stay up all night to see one!

Ascension Island was a very barren and unvegetated place until the Brits arrived. They brought trees and plants from all over the world to beautify the island but more importantly to create a rain catchment on the island mountain to provide a reliable source of water. Green mountain went from having ferns, grasses and mosses to a verdant tropical forest. The downside is that many of the native species are now rare. The Ascension Conservation Department is working to rehabilitate and increase the numbers of species. Below is one of the endemic and rare ferns and an invasive non native ginger species.

A similar fate has befallen the sea birds who nested on the island with the introduction of cats and rats. The feral cats are now gone, there are rat traps everywhere and the birds are beginning to return. There are still sheep and donkeys roaming wild on the island. The endemic Ascension frigate bird is only found on this island and we have seen them regularly scanning the beaches for young turtles.

Perhaps the oddest creature we have seen is the land crab that stays high in the mountains and comes down to the sea only to lay its eggs. There are 'warning land crabs crossing' signs everywhere and we had to swerve to avoid quite a number of them on the roads.

Georgetown, Ascension Island

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.