Anyone from or visited St Helena, South Atlantic?

[SLL]

Hi there,

Does anyone come from or has anyone visited the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic?

DH, DD and I are moving there in September for a four year contract with DH's work and I was wondering if anybody had any first hand knowledge of the place. We have done research on the internet about the island but we haven't been able to do a site visit as the island is a five day boat trip from Cape Town (currently no flights go there as they haven't got an airport yet...).

Thanks very much in advance,
S

[ellac]

hi sll. i used to be in the royal air force, and you could fly from brize norton to ascension island, and then get a boat to st helena.i know that it is in the middle of nowhere!!!
don't know if the flights still run, but its another option to think about.

[wrinklytum]

I have met a lot of "Saints" when visiting Ascesion Island as lots of the contract workers are from SH.Lovely people!!I dunno if you can still fly from Assy to SH I think it is mainly by sea.I think Napoleon is buried/died there IIRC.Useless fact of the day!!!

[wrinklytum]

Just looked online and there are several websites linked to Island.If you e-mailed I am sure they would send you info.

[SLL]

Hi ellac, thanks for that, the flights do still run from Brize Norton, but they cost a fortune! Also, their arrival on Ascension Island isn't very well timed with the boats onwards journey to SH...

Hi wrinklytum (love the name, I have one of those as well...!) You are right, Napoleon did die there after his incarceration. There is also a giant tortoise called Timothy who I believe is almost 200 years old living on the island (another useless fact for the day... haha!). We have managed to find out all sorts from the internet about the island, have even listened to the St Helena radio station online, but I was just hoping to get a bit of "insider" knowledge.

Thanks again,
S

[madamy]

Hi ssl - DH is a Saint!!

However, am totally useless when it comes to knowing anything about the island as he was adopted here in the UK as a baby and so far, has no interest in finding out anything about his Saint Helenian background etc. When we first met, I was fascinated, and still am but obviously have to respect his wishes not to be interested.

So, I'm not much use, just thought I'd pop in and say hello though!

[mckenzie]

I have a friend who is from St Helena. If you have any specific questions I can forward them to him for answering.

[sashmum]

sorry don't know that much about the island but my MIL came from there in 1945 and we still have family over there.

please let me know know you get on, me and DH would love to visit at some point in the future and take our kids as they are 1/4 st helenian

[ShellySara]

My OH is a Saint! and I am sure he would answer your questions.

We are all looking to go over next year too.

Am sure you are going to enjoy it.