Saint Helena

Saint Helena: Adventure travel in Africa

The British overseas territory of Saint Helena (St. Helena) is one of the most isolated places in the world.  Located in the South Atlantic Ocean, 2,414 km (1,500 miles) northwest of South Africa’s Cape Town, this remote volcanic island has a 500-year history of colonial occupation by the Portuguese, Dutch and British. For centuries, the British used St. Helena as an overseas exile into which they banished Napoleon Bonaparte and over 5,000 Boer prisoners.

Today, the house where Napoleon lived his last days has been converted into a world-class museum, which visitors can tour on their remote island vacation. St. Helena is a 121.7 square kilometer (47- square-mile) island with a population of 4,250 and is blessed with a temperate climate year-round, 14°C and 26°C (57°F to 79°F) in the summer and 14°C and 36°C (57°F to 97°F) in the winter. It features varied landscapes of lush green valleys, eroded deserts and 305-meter (1,000-foot) cliffs.

The inhabitants are mainly of British, African and Chinese descent and are mostly Christian and English-speaking. In 1981, the people of St. Helena were divested of British citizenship and wide-scale unemployment ravaged the island and led to an exodus of workers to the Falkland Islands and Ascension Island. Due to this unrest and in part because of exposés published by British tabloids, in May 2002, the citizens of St. Helena were granted access to full British citizenship. The island’s economy is still supported heavily by Great Britain, and the main industries otherwise are media and advertising, livestock raising and fishing.

Because of its isolation from the world, St. Helena offers a beautiful escape for travelers who may wish to veer off the beaten path. Jamestown, the capital city of Saint Helena, is a Georgian seaport nestled in a narrow valley. It is the government center and cultural hub of Saint Helena.  Here visitors can find shops, museums, hotels and bed & breakfasts. They can climb 699 steps up Jacob’s Ladder, the staircase that rises from Jamestown to Halfmoon Hollow, or visit St. James Church, the oldest Anglican church in the Southern Hemisphere. 

In addition to exploring the capital, visitors to St. Helena can go snorkeling or diving, or even sportfishing for tuna, marlin or barracuda in the clear waters of the Atlantic. There is also a fully-operational golf course, where visitors can enjoy the most remote 18 holes they’ve ever played.

Due to its separation from much of the world, St. Helena has developed a unique multiethnic cuisine. “Pilau,” a combination of rice, bacon and other ingredients, is a specialty of the island and can be described best as “peasant food.” The Farm Lodge (hotel and restaurant) serves excellent country food in a charming, elegant dining hall, and Cyril’s Fast Food Takeaway (which serves food out of a window next to an archway in the city wall in Jamestown) is not to be missed.

After a years-long discussion about how the lack of an airport affected St. Helena’s economy, in 2005, the British government announced plans for the construction of an international airport.  Though plans are now under way, the only way to get to St. Helena at present time is by ship from Cape Town, Walvis Bay or Ascension Island. All visitors will need a valid passport and will be granted a three-month entry permit, which can be extended for up to a year.

About the Author

Alsana Humbert is a graduate of University of Michigan’s prestigious MFA program in Creative Writing, and is currently living in Mumbai, working on her first novel.  She has a passionate love of urban landscapes, and in an ideal world would split her time between some of her favorite metropolises in the world.