Words & pics – Tessa Buhrmann
There’s something wonderfully contradictory about St Helena. Remote yet connected. Tiny yet layered with centuries of history. This 122km² volcanic outcrop in the South Atlantic is one of the most extraordinary places I’ve visited – and while many know it as Napoleon’s place of exile, it’s the island’s African connections that have left the deepest imprint on me.
We begin, as most visitors do, in Jamestown, the capital of St Helena. It’s a charming, timeworn settlement nestled in a narrow valley, where Georgian architecture meets volcanic cliffs and history lingers on every narrow street. With local guide Sophia Joshua, we trace stories that stretch well beyond Napoleon’s 1815 arrival. Many African journeys passed through this narrow valley – some forced, some free, all significant.
First discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, St Helena remained uninhabited until the British East India Company claimed it as a vital resupply point for ships travelling between Europe, Africa, and Asia. Over time, it became not just a maritime hub, but a place of exile and incarceration.
African lives became deeply entwined with the island’s story. Enslaved Africans were brought to work in homes and on plantations. While not on the scale of the Americas, slavery’s legacy runs deep here.
On a full-day tour with Aaron’s Adventure Tours, we leave Jamestown, wind past Sea View toward Deadwood Plain, which Aaron tells us used to be a Boer POW camp. It’s cold and gusty, and I can just imagine what the Boer prisoners, which were encamped here in their flimsy tents must have felt. We pause briefly at Flagstaff to appreciate the sweeping views over the island’s dramatic ridges, past the Millenium Forest, a key reforestation project and on to the view site overlooking Prosperous Bay, the King and Queen rocks and the airport. Seeing the airport from this angle one can appreciate the engineering genius as well as the incredible pilot skill required to land here. But I digress…
A Sanctuary for African Slaves
Central to St Helena’s African history is its role in the transatlantic slave trade. After the British abolished slavery in 1833, St Helena’s role shifted as the Royal Navy began intercepting illegal slave ships off West Africa. Between 1840 and 1872, over 25,000 liberated Africans were brought to Rupert’s Valley.
It’s a short ferry trip from Jamestown to Rupert’s Valley, where Shelley from the National Trust shares this sobering past. The valley, once the arrival and internment area, now holds the graves of around 8,000 freed Africans. Walking through the site, I imagine the trauma and resilience of those who arrived here – many were children, and few survived for long.
Construction of the airport road in 2008 unearthed the remains of 325 of these individuals, who were subsequently reburied in Rupert’s Valley in 2022, finally giving them the dignity of remembrance. A memorial now honours them – and reminds us that St Helena was once a refuge, however tragic, on the long road from slavery to freedom.
These liberated Africans helped shape the island’s cultural and genetic heritage. Creole influences remain in the language, food, and music – echoes of West African ancestry woven into the fabric of the island.
Napoleon’s Exile
Just decades earlier, another exile had arrived: Napoleon Bonaparte. Defeated at Waterloo in 1815, he was sent to St Helena under British guard, spending six years here until his death.
French Consul Michel Dancoisne-Martineau leads us in his footsteps, starting at Briars Pavilion, where Napoleon first stayed with the Balcombe family and then to Longwood House, now beautifully preserved by the French government. Still, Napoleon found small comforts, like the sweet Constantia ‘Grand Constance’ wine from South Africa’s historic Groot Constantia estate – favoured by European aristocracy and shipped 3,000 kilometres to this remote outpost, a testament to St Helena’s ties to global trade.
Napoleon also took solace in his garden, built with the help of Chinese workers. A small Chinese pavilion overlooks the valley, and among the riot of colour and calm, I imagine him quietly sipping wine, far from the grandeur of his former life.
We lunch at Bertrand’s Cottage, once home to General Henri-Gatien Bertrand and his family, who followed Napoleon into exile. Madame Bertrand, however, loathed island life and frequently clashed with the emperor. Apparently, domestic tensions ran high, and she insisted on sleeping in a separate room to avoid nightly disturbances when the General was summoned.
No Napoleonic journey is complete without visiting his tomb in the tranquil Sane Valley. As I gaze at the simple, unmarked stone surrounded by trees, birdsong, and the fluttering Tricolour, I’m struck by the stillness. Though he had wished to be buried on the Seine, Napoleon lies here, far from France and the empire he once ruled.
Coffee Culture
Another import was coffee. In the 18th century, green coffee beans from Yemen (via the Cape) were planted in St Helena’s fertile volcanic soil. The variety, Green Tipped Bourbon Arabica, thrived in the island’s cool interior valleys and became one of the world’s rarest and most sought-after coffees.
At Wranghams, I join a bean-to-cup experience with owner Neil Fantom, who shares the story of this remarkable coffee, cultivated here since the 1700s. I sip a perfectly brewed cortado and enjoy ‘teatime’ treats prepared by his wife Debbie, taking in the view over the misty hillsides and down towards Sandy Bay. Coffee on St Helena Island tells a story spanning continents and centuries. Another must is an iced coffee at the St Helena Coffee Shop overlooking the bay. Perfect for a balmy afternoon after exploring the island.
Africans in Exile
Not all Africans came here in chains. In 1890, Zulu king Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo was exiled to St Helena for opposing British annexation of Zululand. During his time on the island Dinuzulu had eight children by his Zulu wives, two of whom died and are buried at St. Pauls Cathedral. He also mingled with locals and earned their respect. It’s said that he learned English, converted to Christianity, and even taught himself to play hymns on the organ at St James’ Anglican Church – the oldest Anglican church in the southern hemisphere.
He was eventually allowed to return to South Africa in 1897, but was once again arrested and sentenced to four years imprisonment for his apparent involvement in the Bambatha Rebellion.
After his release four years later by then Prime Minister Louis Botha, he was transported to a farm in the Transvaal, dying in 1913. After which he was buried back in his beloved Zululand. His time on St Helena adds another African chapter to this island’s story.
But Dinizulu and his entourage weren’t the only Africans to be exiled here: in 1906, 25 Zulu prisoners involved in the Bambatha Rebellion, the last major armed resistance to colonial rule in South Africa, were exiled to St Helena. Unlike Dinizulu, they were not warmly received and were housed at Ladder Hill Fort, where they endured hard labour.
Boers on the Island
During the South African War (previously known as the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), St Helena also became a place of exile for thousands of Boer prisoners. Most notable was General Piet Cronjé, captured after the Battle of Paardeberg in 1900. He, his wife, and nearly 1,000 others were sent to the island. By the war’s end, around 6,000 Boer PoWs were held in camps at Broadbottom and Deadwood.
A display at the island’s museum highlights how many Boer prisoners integrated into island life, working, starting businesses, publishing an Afrikaans newspaper, forming musical groups, and even marrying locals. Yet not all fared well. Nearly 200 Boers died in exile and were buried in a wooded valley. The quietness of the Boer Cemetery speaks volumes about the toll of displacement, my heart breaking for those that never made it back to their homeland in Africa.
This, too, is part of Africa’s story, leaders and warriors swept up in the tides of empire, forging unexpected chapters far from home.
At the island’s museum, Director Adam Sizeland speaks of the ‘Saints’ – a community shaped by African, European, and Asian ancestries. I hear it in their English, taste it in their food, and feel it in their hospitality.
Today, St Helena welcomes the curious traveller. One can trace the paths of freed Africans, emperors, and exiled leaders, walk wild forest trails, swim in clear seas, and sip coffee grown in volcanic valleys – or search for the St Helena plover, also known as the wirebird, another resilient survivor on an island shaped by centuries of change and connection.
From the dramatic ascent of Jacob’s Ladder to intimate chats with the locals, the experience is immersive, humbling, and unforgettable. Whether your roots are African or not, you’re not just a visitor here, you become part of St Helena’s living, evolving story.
Essentials:
Getting there:
Airlink operates weekly flights between Johannesburg and Jamestown with additional flights from Cape Town during high season
Where to Stay:
Mantis St Helena – https://www.mantiscollection.com/
Experiences:
St Helena Tourism – https://sthelenatourism.com/
Sip on Groot Constantia’s Grand Constance in the comfort of your home – https://grootconstantia.co.za/wine-shop/
