Well it is about a year ago that I was perched on the small island of St. Helena – in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, but right on the edge of the African Plate! I was leading a trip with some lovely people who had joined me to brave about 11 days on a round trip ocean voyage for the privilege of a week in this remote and beautiful part of the planet. Primarily we explored the island with the great folks from the St. Helena National Trust and St. Helena Tourism – from their endemic wirebirds and breeding seabirds to reforestation projects (yes, a rainforest occurs on the highest peaks) and important cultural features. We enjoyed the diverse history related to the development of trade routes as well as the prisoner/exile stories too.

Their most famous ‘visitor’ was Napoleon who was exiled here in 1815 after Waterloo. It is recorded that to pass the time he particularly enjoyed a dessert wine produced in the Cape. Vin de Constance was its name and although from different vines, it is still made today and is a highly decorated product of the Klein Constantia wine estate in Cape Town. The highlight for all of us came one afternoon. Steven & Maureen run a super establishment called the Farm House and when I showed him the bottle he countered by showing us an antique wood and brass wine cooler … which belonged to Napoleon himself. I couldn’t beat that for authenticity! And the Fairy Terns drifted by… (Alastair)

The celebrated Vin de Constance which we drank off Napoleon’s old wooden wine cooler!

Enjoying an afternoon Vin de Constance on the front lawn of the Farm House – the finest place to stay on the island – superb food throughout and entertaining hosts

A view from the hillsides down to the ‘capital’ of Jamestown – all in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, about 2000 kilometers from Africa!

No post about St. Helena could be without one of the star avian attractions, one of my favourite fliers, the Fairy Tern