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| Moored under the cliffs at St Helena |
We knew it would be tough to leave St Helena. It always stuck me as an enchanted place. It
suddenly appeared to a Portuguese ship on May 23, 1502, was populated by some
of the greatest figures in history and then faded into obscurity—like a
fairytale. My fear was that when we left we’d never find it again.
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| Donkey walking with the Governor |
So we stayed. We met the Governor while
walking donkeys (!) and our hour-long chat led to an invitation to Plantation
House. The house had been off-limits to locals during the last Governor’s
tenure, but Lisa (we’re on first names now) was eager to open it back up. We
saw the chandelier that once hung in Napoleon’s Longwood Estate, and understood
the inside joke of a previous Governor who decided to hang a portrait of
Napoleon directly across from a portrait of his jailor, Sir Hudson Lowe—so they
could scowl at each other through eternity.
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| our hike to Sandy Bay Barn |
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| followed by dinner at Long Reach |
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| Sailing with friends |
We also savoured the days with the friends
we’d made. Dom and Jo walked us through Rupert’s Valley. It was here that tens
of thousands of liberated Africans were released from slave ships and began the
process of recovering from captivity. Many didn’t survive and huge mass graves
containing thousands of people were located during the construction of the road
to the airport.
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| Picnicing with Crystal Blues on our island tour |
Jo, Dom and Oli are making a documentary
about the bones—and as we walked through the desolate sites, stumbled over rocks
and ruts (uneasy and keeping an eye out for bones), we understood their
passionate need to make sure these people, who were stolen from their homelands
under horrific circumstance, weren’t forgotten.
We left on St Helena
day. But before that we squeezed in another sail, a picnic, dinner at the Old
School House (where some of the liberated Africans took English classes and the
film crew now lives) and a final group dinner. We had planned to leave before St Helena day—because what if it let us down? But when
Maia and I saw the coloured lights being strung along the waterfront, we knew
nothing about St Helena could ever disappoint
us.
So we had a new plan—we’d enjoy the day,
see the parade and leave at dusk saying a tearful goodbye to new, but very dear,
friends. We’d watch for the fireworks as we sailed away.
The moon, as it rose over the island, with
our friends on Crystal Blues raising their sails in the foreground was a final
gift.
St Helena was a reminder about all that is wonderful about cruising. Remote
and unknown, it was hard won. Coming with our own transportation—we were
flexible about how long we’d stay. Our happy days on the island weren’t the result
of the island entertaining us though—it’s not a Disneyland
that’s created to amuse. We had to be our best selves. We reached out and met
local people and learnt the rhythms of the island. We maintained our sense of
wonder. We laughed an awful lot.
When fireworks lit up a wee but very
special portion of the sky we were already ten miles away from St Helena. We’ve since added 700 more miles.
The sail was a gentle one: soft tropical
breezes from astern, easy seas and a moon each night. Neither Charlie nor I got
seasick—so we enjoyed meals with our fresh St Helena produce, seasoned with
spices from Comoros, Madagascar and Indonesia. We stayed in VHF contact
with Crystal Blues—so had a friendly voice to chat with each day to while away
the pleasant miles.
The best selves we found in St Helena came
along for the ride, marvelling at the site of Ascension when her multi-hued
volcanic hills came into view—topped by Green Mountain; Darwin’s experiment.
The once barren hill was planted with tropical plants from Kew Gardens
to create a man-made cloud forest which altered the geography and climate of
the island.
We’re pretty sure we won’t spend six weeks
here—though Immigration suggested we extend our permits, just in case (we have
to leave within 72 hours after June 1 – or apply and pay for new permits…).
We’ll see how the days go.
For more on St Helena
I wrote two stories which are already up:
http://divemagazine.co.uk/go/7404-st-helena
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160512-the-island-ready-to-welcome-the-world
And apparently I have a story in June’s
Cruising World about the Indian Ocean
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