Live Like a Saint
Discovering life on St Helena Island
Just eight years ago, a trip to St Helena Island would have required a five-day sea voyage from Cape Town. Luckily, the Island opened its airport to regional flights in 2017, bringing the magic of this sub-tropical mid Atlantic Ocean destination into easier reach of visitors looking for adventure, history, culture or a genuine break from everyday life. If you’re looking for a trip like no other, here are five reasons to put St Helena on your radar.
Step into the past
Napoleon I, arguably the Island’s most famous resident (although there have been many noteworthy visitors, including Captains Cook and Bligh), spent the last six years of his life in exile on St Helena Island. History buffs can visit Longwood House, the Emperor’s final residence, and his original tomb site, where he was buried in 1821; although the tomb lies empty as his body was exhumed and returned to Paris in 1840.
Discover nature’s rarities
St Helena provides safe harbour for over 500 endemic species, including the critically endangered wirebird, the blushing snail (with its unique, translucent shell), ancient forests, and tiny tooth-tongue ferns found nowhere else on earth. It is a birders’ paradise – and perfect for nature lovers everywhere.
Take a walk on the wild side
They say that “only where you have walked on foot, have you really been” – and this holds true for St Helena. The Island’s 25 Post Box Walks (with names like ‘Heart Shaped Waterfall’ and ‘Sharks Valley’) all offer a different glimpse of St Helena’s diverse terrain, from rocky crags to lush, cloud-forest greenery and endless turquoise sea. Whether you’re keen to trace the footsteps of Napoleon, or tread where Charles Darwin or Prince Dinizulu would have trod, or tackle the 699 steps of vertiginous Jacob’s Ladder – you’ll be rewarded with views to remember forever.
Dive with giants
Each June, humpback whales return to St. Helena, delighting visitors with epic breaching, lobtailing and flipper-slapping displays. Bottlenose and pantropical dolphins are permanent residents in the island’s waters, along with prolific birdlife that populates the island’s coastal rock formations. A marine cruise is a must; but clear, warm waters (anywhere between 19°C and 26°C) as well as accessible shipwrecks and fascinating marine life (think St Helena butterflyfish, the deepwater jack as well as green and hawksbill sea turtles) also make St Helena Island an enticing snorkelling and scuba diving destination.
Embrace island life
It doesn’t take long for the island to get under your skin – or find a place in your your heart. The Island’s 4,000 residents (affectionately known as “Saints”) will happily introduce you to the territory’s rich cultural heritage – bringing their food, traditions and maritime history to life with typical humour, generosity and storytelling. Grab a cup of the Island’s legendary coffee, adjust your pace, and fill your days with walks, history, botany, marine life, plenty of fresh air and star-studded skies (where Edmund Halley once mapped the stars of the Southern Hemisphere). This is slow, immersive, quirky travel at its very best.
Airlink operates weekly flights between Johannesburg and Jamestown, with additional, seasonal flights operating from Cape Town between December and March each year. For more information, visit www.flyairlink.com.