JAMESTOWN, ST. HELENA, UK Protectorate 
What a beautiful place this tiny island turned out to be -- the mountains and valleys looked like the Austrian Alps, very lush and green. There are different climates from the dry rugged cliffs rising from the sea to the more temperate areas of tree ferns, cabbage trees, whitewood and even Norfolk and Scotch pines, lilies, orchids and poinsettias!
Twelve hundred miles from Africa, in the middle of the Atlantic
Ocean, this 47 square mile volcanic island is one of the most isolated places in the world (mail and supplies are delivered via a mail ship every two weeks)! It has only one town, its capital, Jamestown, whose population is about 850. There are two other main “districts of population” -- Longwood with 950 and Half Tree Hollow with 1130 people. There are other homes scattered throughout the hills along the switchback roads circling the island. And it has a golf course! Its greens, however, are “browns” because they consist of ground lava mixed with oil! This may be one of the few courses that Tiger 
Woods hasn’t played …
Its claim to fame is that it was Napoleon’s last place of imprisonment. We toured around the island in a 1929 14-passenger Chevrolet convertible! We visited his original tomb where he was buried in 1821 (his body was later sent back to Paris in 1840) and Longwood House, where he lived for the 6 years of his exile. The people respected him and he was allowed to roam most of the island freely. Longwood House is a large villa and he had a staff of about 75 people who also lived there. It is now a museum.
Other places of interest we saw were St. Paul’s Church which was brought from England in pieces and assembled here; Diana’s Peak in the National Park where many of the island’s native plants, trees and blushing snail (from ten million years ago!) can be found; Jacob
’s Ladder, the very steep 699 step staircase from Jamestown at sea level to the fort at the top. Ammunition and supplies had to be dragged up these stairs. We also visited Plantation House where the governor lives, and in whose backyard 4 of their most famous residents live -- giant tortoises originally from the Seychelles. Jonathan, about 150 yeas old, allowed us to scratch him under his chin …
There is much history here in addition to Napoleon‘s exile, and we imagined the visits by famous (and infamous) characters such as Captain Bligh, Arthur Halley who plotted his comet’s path from here, Charles Darwin, the Duke of Wellington and Captain James Cook. We loved our brief visit to this historic and remote island.
What a beautiful place this tiny island turned out to be -- the mountains and valleys looked like the Austrian Alps, very lush and green. There are different climates from the dry rugged cliffs rising from the sea to the more temperate areas of tree ferns, cabbage trees, whitewood and even Norfolk and Scotch pines, lilies, orchids and poinsettias!
Twelve hundred miles from Africa, in the middle of the Atlantic
Ocean, this 47 square mile volcanic island is one of the most isolated places in the world (mail and supplies are delivered via a mail ship every two weeks)! It has only one town, its capital, Jamestown, whose population is about 850. There are two other main “districts of population” -- Longwood with 950 and Half Tree Hollow with 1130 people. There are other homes scattered throughout the hills along the switchback roads circling the island. And it has a golf course! Its greens, however, are “browns” because they consist of ground lava mixed with oil! This may be one of the few courses that Tiger 
Woods hasn’t played …
Its claim to fame is that it was Napoleon’s last place of imprisonment. We toured around the island in a 1929 14-passenger Chevrolet convertible! We visited his original tomb where he was buried in 1821 (his body was later sent back to Paris in 1840) and Longwood House, where he lived for the 6 years of his exile. The people respected him and he was allowed to roam most of the island freely. Longwood House is a large villa and he had a staff of about 75 people who also lived there. It is now a museum.
Other places of interest we saw were St. Paul’s Church which was brought from England in pieces and assembled here; Diana’s Peak in the National Park where many of the island’s native plants, trees and blushing snail (from ten million years ago!) can be found; Jacob
’s Ladder, the very steep 699 step staircase from Jamestown at sea level to the fort at the top. Ammunition and supplies had to be dragged up these stairs. We also visited Plantation House where the governor lives, and in whose backyard 4 of their most famous residents live -- giant tortoises originally from the Seychelles. Jonathan, about 150 yeas old, allowed us to scratch him under his chin …
There is much history here in addition to Napoleon‘s exile, and we imagined the visits by famous (and infamous) characters such as Captain Bligh, Arthur Halley who plotted his comet’s path from here, Charles Darwin, the Duke of Wellington and Captain James Cook. We loved our brief visit to this historic and remote island.
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