Cruise to St. Helena

My wife, Eileen, and I enjoyed a holiday on the remote island of St. Helena, one of the last outposts of the British Empire, in the South Atlantic Ocean. We traveled July 13-Aug. 11, ’05, on the part-cargo and part-passenger vessel Royal Mail Ship St. Helena, the island’s only contact with the outside world. Everything on the island has arrived on this ship or its predecessors.

We boarded in Cape Town, South Africa, a beautiful city with much to see, and sailed to St. Helena via Namibia, where it is also possible to join the ship. In Namibia we explored the diamond mines near Lüderitz and the fascinating wildlife of the sand dunes near Walvis Bay.

We then headed out across the Atlantic for the 4-day voyage to St. Helena. Shipboard life was an extremely enjoyable experience. Our cabin (B-38) was spacious and provided all we needed, including our own tea- and coffee-making facilities. We dined well with the ship’s officers in a well-appointed dining room and joined in traditional pastimes with the crew and fellow passengers, enabling us to make friends with both.

We spent a week on the island, although it was possible to spend less time there and travel to and from Ascension Island by staying on board. St. Helena is full of fascinating scenery, friendly people and history (Napoleon was exiled and buried there). We were provided a glimpse of a simple and rapidly vanishing way of life. All of that could change with a proposed airport, due in 2010, so don’t delay a visit.

For the two us us, this holiday cost £7,309 (near $12,959), which included the airfare from London Heathrow, six nights’ half-board in a central Cape Town hotel (The Townhouse), the voyage from Cape Town to St. Helena and back, and bed-and-breakfast for a week at the Consulate Hotel in Jamestown, the capital of St. Helena.

All arrangements were made through the ship’s agents, Andrew Weir Shipping, Ltd. (Dexter House, 2 Royal Mint Court, London EC3N 4XX, England; tel. 020 7575 6480 or fax 020 7575 6200).

ROBIN & EILEEN HILTON
Clive, Shropshire, England