Log in
Join travelers community
Your Profile
Logout
Very detailed travelogue on visiting the remotest inhabited islands in the world: Tristan da Cunha and St. Helena, as well as S. Africa, Malaysia and Singapore, and Indonesia. Very informative, full of tips, history, what it was like to visit and stay there, indexed by country. Visit my webpage for this and other downloadable travelogues: http://www.tcp.com/~lgreenf
These are fascinating islands. Tristan has only 238 people, all with same 7 last names.
Remotest Islands in World St Helena, Tristan da Cunha + S Africa Malaysia, More
Larry2006-05-27 03:40:04
Displayed times (last time: )
warm, and
would be typical of what I'd experience while on the island this week.
Later in the morning I went to change US$100 worth of US$ travellers
checks into St. Helenan pounds at the ship's terrible rate of £1=US$1.70.
As the ship would be off to Ascension while I was on St. Helena, I wanted
some extra money to play it safe -- but as it turned out, cashing travellers
checks on the island was a breeze, with a much better exchange rate at
either the Castle or Solomon's than on the ship (for the $100 I changed on
the RMS, the difference between their exchange rate and the correct rate
used on the island was $7.82 -- almost an 8% markup).
For lunch very tasty pilau was served (pronounced almost like "plow",
it's a beef and potato curry with rice, and is a traditional St. Helena
dish). After lunch I went to leave my backpack outside the cabin door, as
luggage to be taken onto the island would be collected at 2:00pm. As well,
I left the duffel bag with the items I wouldn't need for the next week on
the bed for someone to pick up and store on board the RMS.
By 1:00pm St. Helena could faintly be seen in the distance, though it was
quite hazy and overcast that afternoon (it was also quite warm -- and you
could definitely feel the sun through the clouds). Walking up to the bridge
level on the port side for a look, I started talking with a younger Brit who
had spent 3 months on the island back in 1999 working with one of the
overseas agencies of the UK Government... he's now back to stay for a year,
and will be involved in trying to think up new ideas to help the island's
economy get moving again. A bit later a large container vessel could be
seen off in the distance on the starboard side... it didn't stop at St.
Helena, and was probably going between Cape Town and South America.
...
See photographs from:
Indonesia Gallery
,
Malaysia Gallery
,
Saint Helena Gallery
,
Singapore Gallery
,
South Africa Gallery
