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Jamestown, St. Helena |
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| General
Information
St. Helena is situated in the South Atlantic Ocean the nearest
land is Ascension Island which lies 700 miles to the northwest and is
one of the island's dependencies. The island is 1200 miles from the southwest
coast of Africa and 1800 miles from the coast of South America. St. Helena
has an area of 47 square miles. It is 10.5 miles long and 6.5 miles wide.
Rising dramatically from the South Atlantic the island has sheer baron
cliffs which are intersected by deep valleys (known as guts locally),
which slope steeply from the central ridges. There is little flat land
and access to the sea by vehicles is limited. There are no sandy beaches.
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St. Helena as we arrive from the
east. |
Our friends Walter and James sharing
the early morning view of the island during
our arrival. |
Jamestown, St. Helana |
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The island has many forts. |
Our tender deposited us 200 yards
from the center of town. |
Our home, The Seven Seas Mariner
at anchor. |
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The Jamestown front gate. |
A stair to another fort at the top
of an adjacent ridge. The stairs are known as "Jacob's Ladder" |
The garden next to one of the government
buildings at the foot of main street. |
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There was a church at
the beginning of the main street just inside the gate. |
Judy and Loren enjoyed our wonderful
company for the day and after several hours of negotiation agreed to pay
for half the cab fare but only if our rental was limited to one hour.
That Loren is a tough negotiator. |
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There is only one street
in the town and it is very European in character. |
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The intrepid adventurers. |
The place was spotless
and friendly. |
The most beautiful
part of the place was the countryside. |
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The interior of the island
was stunningly beautiful. Our driver, Marcel maintained an astonishing
level of good humor in spite of having to endure our groups customary
abuse. |
A
QUICK STOP AT LONGWOOD HOUSE (MAISON DE NAPOLEON) |
Originally a barn,
which was converted into a house in 1752, Longwood House was further extended
and repaired 60 years later when Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena in
1815. After Napoleon's death in 1821 the house was allowed to fall into
disrepair and was used for many years as farm buildings. Since then it
has been restored to its former condition and is maintained by a resident
honorary French council. |
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CONTINUING
OUR RIDE THROUGH THE BEAUTIFUL CONTRYSIDE |
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The countryside was lush.
The ground is very fertile and the shades of green were beautiful. |
The residence of the island's governor,
was built in 1792 and modified in 1816. |
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You could walk up to
this fort from the town. Some did. |
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The harbor at the foot of town. |
THe town is built along the bottom
of a a steep valley (known as a gut). |
The roads in and out of the town
were quite narrow, cut into steep slopes and were a little exciting to
drive. Donna kept asking if the roads were for two way traffic. |
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Judy and Loren at the top of Jacob's
ladder. |
The traffic was light. |
We were the last cruise ship scheduled
to visit the island until next March. There is no airport and a supply
ship only comes every 3 weeks. |
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The seas were calm, allowing for
the tender service to operate on a wonderfully convenient schedule. |
Jacquie, the fitness instructor with
Jeff, of the tour office return with us from the island for a late lunch. |
The island is a stopping off point
for many small craft crossing the Atlantic. |
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