We live on an isolated tropical paradise island with stunning scenery and incredible wildlife – and it’s BRITISH
A British tropical island has been described as “paradise” for its stunning scenery and incredible wildlife.
One of the most remote islands in the world, Saint Helena is located in the middle of the South Atlantic, 1,200 miles from Africa and 1,800 miles from South America.
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St. Helena is Britain’s second oldest overseas territory after Bermuda.
It was named after Helena, Constantine I’s mother, and was completely uninhabited when it was discovered by the Portuguese in 1502 en route to the Indian subcontinent.
For around four centuries, until the opening of the Suez Canal, the island was an important stopover for ships sailing from Europe to Asia and back, circumnavigating the African continent.
The island is also known as the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte, as the French military commander was exiled here from 1815 until his death in 1821.
St. Helena is also called “Galapagos of the Atlantic” and has a unique biological diversity. Around 500 species of flora and fauna have been discovered on the island.
St. Helena has no native land mammals, but is a haven for birds, including the endangered St. Helena plover, or ‘wirebird’.
From boat trips to spot hundreds of dolphins to swimming with whale sharks, visitors and residents of St. Helena are in constant contact with the island’s marine life.
The marine waters surrounding the island are also home to incredibly diverse coral ecosystems.
St. Helena is also home to the world’s oldest giant tortoise.
Jonathan – who was 186 in 2017 – has lived on the island since the 19th century and has been mating with another turtle named Frederica since 1991.
But it turned out that the giant animal could be gay.
Experts in the British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic recently found that the girlfriend of the classic car of the past 26 years is likely a man. The times reported.
Despite the gorgeous tropical weather and the fact that it’s thousands of miles from Britain, the volcanic island resembles Britain more than meets the eye.
It comes as St Helena also appears to suffer from weekend night chaos, particularly in the capital, Jamestown, where most of the 5,314 residents live.
The paradise island reportedly turns to hell on weekend nights when ‘drunk’, ‘wild children’ and young racers wreak havoc.
Earlier this month, the St. Helena government released a statement condemning “anti-social behavior,” “intoxication” and “criminal activity resulting in needless harm” in Jamestown’s bottom half.
It mentioned that “a minority of people” are “harming their own community”.
The statement added that the St Helena Government is working with the UK Representative Office in London to secure financial support to roll out solutions such as CCTV and the establishment of civilian security patrols.
The St Helena Independent — one of the island’s two newspapers — ran an editorial detailing the antisocial behavior.
“Having slept in Jamestown once or twice, I’m acutely aware that weekend nights are hell every weekend,” wrote the newspaper’s editor Vince Thompson.
He recalled one Sunday morning when in the early hours “a number of cars pulled onto the ramps, slowed down, went over the ramps and immediately thereafter accelerated at their highest possible rpm”.
“Throwing away rubbish” and “breaking bottles” were other problems. Vince described some of Jamestown’s wayward youth as “wild.”
He added: “I just looked up the definition of ‘feral’, it says ‘in a feral state after escaping domestication’. That sounds about right.”
A bombastic 2010 letter also revealed how David Cameron was ordered to ignore dire warnings that a £285million airport on St Helena would be a disaster.
The ex-prime minister was told that “unwanted” wind shear would make it a “very expensive and embarrassing white elephant”.
Former BA pilot Brian Heywood urged David Cameron not to waste taxpayers on the remote island project.
But the Prime Minister relayed his constituent’s warnings to the Department for International Development – and was reassured that everything would be fine.
Former Aid Secretary Andrew Mitchell said any concerns raised by the pilot would be addressed.
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