Saint Helena is a volcanic island in the South Atlantic. Together
with Ascension Island and the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, it forms
the British Overseas Territory of St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan
da Cunha.
The island of Saint Helena is 1859 km from Africa
(Angola) and 3286 km from South America (Recife, Brazil). It lies on
the African Plate. The distance from Jamestown to Georgetown on
Ascension is 1297 km, from Jamestown to Edinburgh of the Seven Seas
on Tristan da Cunha is 2442 km.
In addition to the places whose names correspond to those of the districts, there are a few other places such as Ruperts and Scotland. The largest town is not the capital Jamestown with 629 inhabitants (as of 2016), but its suburb Half Tree Hollow with 984 inhabitants (as of 2016). Collectively, this "capital region" comprises about 35 percent of the island's population.
Numerous minor islands, islets and rocks lie along the coast, including Castle Rock, Speery Island, The Needle, Lower Black Rock, Upper Black Rock (south), Bird Island (southwest), Black Rock, Thompson's Valley Island, Peaked Island, Egg Island , Lady's Chair, Lighter Rock (West), Long Ledge (Northwest), Shore Island, George Island, Rough Rock Island, Flat Rock (East), The Buoys, Sandy Bay Island, The Chimney, White Bird Island and Frightus Rock (Southeast ), all within a distance of one kilometer from the coast.
The entry requirements are available online. Important: proof of
health insurance with cover of £175,000 is required! Entry fee is
payable on arrival: £20 or Rand 400 or US$28 or €25. Travelers must show
return tickets and proof of accommodation.
Consularly responsible
German mission abroad: Cape Town/South Africa
Entry is possible for
German citizens with the following documents:
Passport: Yes
Temporary passport: No
Identity card: No
Temporary ID card: No
Visa: No visa is required for German citizens for tourist entry with a
stay of up to 90 days. Upon entry, a “visitor's pass”, valid for 3
months, will be issued.
Health insurance: Proof of valid health
insurance is required for stays longer than 48 hours.
Minors
traveling alone should carry an officially certified declaration of
consent from their legal guardian (Source: Foreign Office)
For
Austrians, the Austrian Foreign Ministry reports:
Visa requirement:
Yes.
Visa available: For tourist stays of up to 6 months, the entry
permit is issued upon entry.
Travel documents: Passport
Passport
validity: At least 6 months upon entry
Cream-colored emergency
passport: No information
By plane
In 2016, St. Helena Airport
(IATA: HLE) was opened in the east of the island, but it was difficult
to use due to wind conditions. A successful test flight took place on
August 22, 2017. Since October 2017, there has been a weekly scheduled
flight on Saturdays from Johannesburg in South Africa with an Embraer
E190 from the South African airline Airlink with a stopover in Namibia.
By boat
The mail ship RMS St. Helena ran from Cape Town to Saint
Helena and Ascension and back about once a month. Arrival and departure
each took five days, in between it was possible to stay on the island
for around seven days while the ship was on its way to Ascension and
back. This connection was discontinued in February 2018 after regular
flights began in October 2017.
Jamestown can also be visited by
sailboat. Prior registration with the harbor master is required.
As in the motherland, people drive on the left.
By bus
Local public transport is very limited; it is aimed exclusively at the
needs of the population. But there are several minibus routes.
taxi
There are taxis on Saint Helena (in Jamestown behind the Tourist
Information). The taxis are not metered, the cost of the trip should be
agreed before the start of each tour.
Rental car
Rental cars
should be reserved in advance. They cost 12 to 20 pounds a day and are
usually older (mostly Ford Escort).
On foot
Saint Helena has
several marked hiking trails. But it's not that easy to get to this
plateau from Jamestown (it's best to get to the plateau with a rental
car; another option is via the "Jacob's Ladder", a dizzying staircase
with supposedly 699 steps).
See also: List
of mountains in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
The
highest elevation of the 123.28 km² island is the 818 m high Diana's
Peak; however, there are other peaks over 500 m high.
The
island's isolated location - just a step away from a satellite colony in
space, according to Edward O. Wilson - has given rise to a flora and
fauna characterized by a high number of endemic species and genera. More
than 400 species exclusively native to St. Helena are known to date;
alone among the flowering plants on St. Helena there are 36 endemic
species.
After the discovery of the uninhabited island at the
beginning of the 16th century, human influence led to increasing
destruction of the natural vegetation. Several phases can be
distinguished here:
1502–1659: The vegetation at lower elevations was
disturbed by grazing by introduced mammals, primarily goats
1659–1750: Destruction of the Commidendrum forests due to the settlers'
need for timber and firewood
1860–1930: Clearing of the tree fern and
melanodendron stocks at altitudes over 600 m in favor of Phormium tenax
plantations
1930–present: Displacement of native species by further
spread of introduced species such as Phormium tenax, Buddleja
madagascariensis and Fuchsia coccinea
Plant species endemic to
the island include St. Helena Redwood (Trochetiopis erythroxylon),
Baby's Toes (Hydrodea cryptantha) and Black Cabbage (Melanodendron
integrifolium). Some other endemic plant species have died out in
historical times, such as the moor bells Wahlenbergia roxburghii and now
also the St. Helena olive tree (Nesiota elliptica), the last specimens
of which died from fungal diseases.
Also extinct are introduced
coconut palms that once grew in Jamestown and Sandy Bay. In 1985, a
shipload of 100 coconuts was reintroduced from the Caribbean island of
Antigua and planted in Rupert's Bay. They needed special protection from
the whitefly (Aleurotrachelus atratus). However, in 2002 they fell ill
and today there are no more coconut palms on St. Helena.
The
island's only endemic vertebrate is the St. Helena Plover (Charadrius
sanctaehelenae), nicknamed the Wirebird by the islanders. It is also the
national and heraldic animal of the island. Some of the endemic animal
species have gone extinct in recent years, such as the world's largest
earwig, the St. Helena's giant earwig.
Today the island is mainly
covered with grass and bushes. Efforts are being made to protect what
little remains of native vegetation on the island's higher elevations.
In 1996, the Diana's Peak area was declared a national park. Due to its
ecological uniqueness, the island has been on the UNESCO World Heritage
List since January 2012.
There are several gift and souvenir shops in Jamestown.
Two
local spirits are worth mentioning: Tungi, a high-proof liqueur made
from local cactus, and Midnight Mist, a liqueur made from local coffee.
The food offering is limited except after the arrival of the mail
ship, but locally grown bananas are more common. Good tuna is caught on
the island.
Restaurants
Ann's Place, Castle Gardens,
Jamestown. Open-air restaurant with views over Castle Gardens, dinner
only (reservation). Open: 10.30 a.m. - 8.30 p.m.
Cyril's Fast Food
and Takeaway, Arch Gate Corner, Jamestown. Tel.: +290 22728. Street
sales only, next to the gate. Open: 11.30 a.m. - 2.30 p.m.
Farm
Lodge, Rosemary Plain, Saint Paul's. Tel.: +290 24040. Praised meal in a
private house, if possible reserve at the lecture.
Harris' Guest
House, Main Street, Jamestown. Tel: +290 22729. Reservation required.
Orange Tree Oriental Restaurant, Smith's Yard, Jamestown. Tel.: +290
22126. Far Eastern cuisine, also available to take away. Open: Mon-Sat
11.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5 p.m.
Self-catering accommodation is primarily offered such as:
Huxtable
Accommodation, Napoleon Street, Jamestown. Tel.: +290 24342, Email:
info@sthelenahuxtable.com. Four separate apartments in the center of
Jamestown.
Consulate Hotel, Main Street, Jamestown. Tel.: +290 22962,
Email: con.hotel@cwimail.sh. The largest accommodation on the island
with a restaurant and bar.
Wellington House Hotel, Main Street,
Jamestown. Beautiful Georgian building, bathroom outside.
Farm Lodge,
Rosemary Plain, St Paul's. Country house hotel in the highlands built
around 1690 with beautiful views, also accessible by local bus, 5
bedrooms with bathroom, also half and full board.
Saint Helena is considered very safe. The Austrian Foreign Ministry
certifies that the island has a “good security standard”.
The
emergency number 999 is for the police, fire brigade and sea rescue.
There is a hospital with 28 beds and a dental practice, but it is not equipped for more difficult cases. These can be a problem because of the poor connections to the island. The emergency number 911 is for emergency services.
There has been a mobile phone network on St. Helena since 2015. Since there are no roaming agreements with German mobile phone providers, you have to buy a SIM card locally. The prices are fairly reasonable considering you're at the end of the world and are a significant improvement over the ludicrous prices you previously had to pay, especially for internet connections. As well as a basic fee of £16.50 (including £10 starting credit), international calls cost 94p per minute, 150MB of data cost £10 plus 16p for each MB over the volume.
St. Helena was an uninhabited island until the 16th century because
of its remoteness and cliffs. In May 1502 she was discovered by the
Galician navigator João da Nova as commodore of a Portuguese fleet of
four naos returning from India. He named the island after St. Helena,
the saintly mother of Emperor Constantine, on whose name day the
discovery fell. The Portuguese anchored in what is now James Bay, landed
and built some houses and a chapel. They left their sick, but did not
establish a permanent settlement on the island, and reached Lisbon in
September of the same year. The island's existence and location were
kept secret for some time to ensure its strategic importance. The first
permanent resident of the island became a Portuguese soldier, Fernão
Lopes, who had been severely punished for treason by the Goan governor.
This was exposed on the way back to Portugal in 1516 during a stopover
at St. Helena. He remained alone on the island and died there around
1546.
The first Englishman on the island was Thomas Cavendish,
who on June 8, 1588 coming from the Pacific with his ship Desire threw
anchor off St. Helena and stayed twelve days. He described the island as
an "earthly paradise"; it was no longer a secret from now on. In 1591
James Lancaster reached the island. Around 1600 the Portuguese abandoned
St. Helena. Immediately afterwards it was occupied by the Dutch. The
Dutch occupation lasted until 1651. In 1659 the British East India
Company took possession of the island and established the fort
(Jamestown) and a garrison. In 1673 the Dutch reoccupied St. Helena but
were soon driven out by the English. The company that officially owned
the island established large farms employing many blacks and Chinese.
The wealth of St. Helena increased because of the safe location, large
amounts of gold were kept and rich merchants resided on the island.
Among the governors there were also Huguenots like Stéphane Poirier, who
tried in vain to grow wine. The astronomer Edmond Halley visited the
island at this time. Halley's Mount was named after him.
From the
17th century onwards, a culture of excessive drinking, especially of
arrack and arrack-based punches, developed on St. Helena, in connection
with which the mortality and disease rates on the island reached high
levels. During the Christmas season of 1783 and 1811, soldiers of the
garrison rebelled against government measures to curb excessive alcohol
consumption. In both cases, the uprisings were put down and many of
those involved were executed.
The island of Saint Helena is 1859 km from Africa (Angola) and 3286 km from South America (Recife, Brazil). It lies on the African Plate. The distance from Jamestown to Georgetown on Ascension is 1297 km, from Jamestown to Edinburgh of the Seven Seas on Tristan da Cunha 2442 km.
In addition to the places whose names correspond to those of the districts, there are a few other places such as Ruperts and Scotland. The largest place is not the capital Jamestown with 629 inhabitants (as of 2016), but its suburb Half Tree Hollow with 984 inhabitants (as of 2016). Together, this “capital region” contains around 35 percent of the island's population.
There are numerous subsidiary islands, islets and rocks along the coast, including Castle Rock, Speery Island, The Needle, Lower Black Rock, Upper Black Rock (south), Bird Island (southwest), Black Rock, Thompson's Valley Island, Peaked Island, Egg Island , Lady's Chair, Lighter Rock (west), Long Ledge (northwest), Shore Island, George Island, Rough Rock Island, Flat Rock (east), The Buoys, Sandy Bay Island, The Chimney, White Bird Island and Frightus Rock (southeast ), all within a distance of one kilometer from the coast.
St. Helena was an uninhabited island until the 16th century because
of its remoteness and cliffs. In May 1502, the Galician sailor João da
Nova discovered them as commodore of a Portuguese fleet of four Naos on
the return journey from India. He named the island after St. Helena, the
revered mother of Emperor Constantine, on whose name day the discovery
fell. The Portuguese anchored in what is now James Bay, landed and built
a few houses and a chapel. They left their sick behind, but did not
establish a permanent settlement on the island, and reached Lisbon in
September of the same year. The existence and location of the island
were kept secret for some time in order to ensure its strategic
importance. The first permanent resident of the island was a Portuguese
soldier, Fernão Lopes, who had been severely punished for treason by the
governor of Goa. This was abandoned on the way back to Portugal in 1516
during a stopover in St. Helena. He remained alone on the island and
died there around 1546.
The first Englishman on the island was
Thomas Cavendish, who cast anchor off St. Helena on June 8, 1588 with
his ship Desire coming from the Pacific and stayed for twelve days. He
described the island as an “earthly paradise”; From now on it was no
longer a secret. In 1591 James Lancaster reached the island. Around 1600
the Portuguese abandoned St. Helena. Immediately afterwards it was
occupied by the Dutch. The Dutch occupation lasted until 1651. In 1659
the British East India Company took possession of the island and built
the fort (Jamestown) and a garrison. In 1673 the Dutch occupied St.
Helena again, but were soon driven out by the English. The company that
officially owned the island built large farms on which many blacks and
Chinese worked. The wealth of St. Helena increased because, due to its
secure location, large amounts of gold were stored and rich merchants
resided on the island. Among the governors there were also Huguenots
like Stéphane Poirier, who tried in vain to grow wine. The astronomer
Edmond Halley visited the island during this time. Halley's Mount was
named after him.
From the 17th century onwards, a culture of
excessive drinking, particularly of arrack and arrack-based punches,
developed on St. Helena, in connection with which the death and illness
rates on the island reached high levels. Soldiers from the garrison
rebelled against government measures to curb excessive alcohol
consumption during the Christmas season in 1783 and 1811. In both cases,
the uprisings were suppressed and many of those involved were executed.
The island of St. Helena has been the exile of heads of state and
other personalities several times in history.
Napoleon: In 1815
the British government chose St. Helena as the place of exile for
Napoleon, who was deported there in October 1815 and lived in Longwood
House until his death on May 5, 1821. During Napoleon's exile, the
island was fully administered by Great Britain, and governor Hudson Lowe
was also appointed by the crown. St. Helena was then returned to the
British East India Company. On April 22, 1834, St. Helena became the
property of the British Crown.
In 1858, Napoleon's exiled residence
was at the instigation of his nephew Napoleon III, who was ruling at the
time. acquired from the French state for 7,100 pounds. Since then, the
French consul has resided in Longwood House.