St. Helena - a remote island in the Atlantic | (Travel Documentary) DW Documentary

Onions and potatoes, even staples like these, are part of the regular shipment of supplies brought to a

remote

island

in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. The only way to transport cargo to Saint Helena is by sea and that includes virtually everything essential for everyday life. and only one ship makes frequent trips to the

island

's port the rms saint

helena

is the lifeline of the island it is one of the last operating royal mail ships in the world every three weeks the cargo line leaves cape town south africa to The five-day sea voyage to Saint Helena Miya Henry is the second officer on board but the island is his home It is one of the most

remote

places on earth It is no coincidence that Napoleon was sent to live in exile There is definitely a stick element there and well I Anyway, I've always been interested in history, so yeah, you always think about what it was like in the days of sailing ships, what it must have felt like to arrive at this big black rock in the middle of the ocean, it's well, bridge captain, no and The boy is coming down too, so it's okay.

The captain has given the order to leave. It will be some time before the crew sees land again. Saint Helena sails under the British flag. The island is part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint. Helena Ascension and Tristan de Cuna located in the South Atlantic as Table Mountain fades into the background the ship departs on the same route that the Portuguese explorers followed long ago Mia Henry is on duty on the bridge one of her tasks is keep the ship in Of course, there was a time when up to a thousand ships

travel

ed this route each year.

Saint Helena was a vital stop for ships sailing around Africa. Today, only the RMS Saint Helena

travel

s regularly to the lone island. Which would have been very difficult even if you were. a degree, of course, if you left the cape, so even if we were a degree or two, of course, along the journey between Cape Town and Santa Lina, yes, it is possible to completely miss the island. The island is located in the middle of the South Atlantic between South America and Africa. Those who wish to travel here have to embark on a long journey from Cape Town, three thousand kilometers in five days, one of the most remote in the world.

The island has only 121 square kilometers in size the RMS Saint Helena is not only a container ship, it also provides employment to many of the island's inhabitants. Almost all crew members live in Saint Helena. Many sign up specifically for the opportunity to leave the island. Not many can afford to pay the ticket. The few passengers who travel in it. Boarders who spend hours on the terrace have their own special reasons for making the trip. I've never lived on an island, so I don't really know what to expect. From what I have heard, there are many activities going on.

I think Saint-Elenians are very friendly people and there are always social activities going on, so basically I'm going with an open mind and will see when I get there. Saint Helena is one of the few truly remote islands in the world and when people have this idea of ​​an island they usually think of an island like Santa Lina, most islands are actually relatively accessible, nothing but water as far as can be seen for days on end, travelers pass the time in traditional British style, playing cricket on the terrace for example, the nets are not there simply to protect the spectators, they also prevent the ball from falling through the board.

It's rare to see anyone splashing around in the pool, but no one wants to miss England's de facto national sport. It is one of them. of the last royal mail ships traveling in the world that actually still carry the queen's mail in dip bags you know that in the right way so yeah I think that all adds to the charm of the ship and you know the atmosphere too. of the castle curry cup played at sunday park jalan, officer mia henry's other task is to announce the results of the cricket tournament, something that british passengers in particular appreciate on the last night at sea, the captain hosts a reception for all on board, another remnant of old empire complete with cocktails and formal attire for tonight the container ship is almost like a cruise ship and as night slowly falls the ship is much closer to the island it is morning Upon arrival the passenger cabins must be cleaned for the last time Although the crew would prefer to be on deck after five days at sea, there is a sense of excitement in the air, even among the crew, first appearing as a gray streak on the horizon and then the island slowly comes into view.

Mia Henry will sail safely. The ship to its home port with the help of the helmsman The island rises abruptly like a huge black castle from the ocean This is how Charles Darwin once described Saint Helena There are steep cliffs everywhere It is only safe to land in a few places I was I think when Napoleon came here for his exile, he must have felt really exiled because it took us quite a while to get here and I imagine it was a little slower in those days, I mean, it's so remote that you just can't. I don't really understand it unless you've been on a ship the horn sounds the arrival of the ship is one of the last tasks mia henry will perform on board a new job the wait here on the island the royal mail ship the trip may not be much longer After 17 years on board, today he will disembark permanently.

Mia Henry is exchanging the open sea for the solitude of Jamestown Island, the capital and only port. Much here is reminiscent of the former colonial power and not just the bobbies strolling the streets of St. Helena. In an isolated town in the middle of the Atlantic there are only 4,500 people, most of them are descendants of shipwrecked sailors and slaves from all over the world who at some point were stranded on this rugged terrain in the middle of nowhere swept away by the waves of destiny originally the island. It was nothing more than desolate volcanic rock as the people all the flora and fauna were imported from other places brought either by the wind or by the waves some plants and animals cannot be found anywhere else the endemic tree ferns the remote mountains of Santa Elena are the only ones In this place this species survives, but the past has caught up with them for much of the 20th century.

Flax was grown on plantations here. The linen industry was the engine of the island's economy. The industry eventually fell into decline, but the plants continued to spread among foresters. as dennis leo and kyle joshua are trying to maintain the flags and other plants brought by people from foreign lands in the czech saint

helena

, sometimes called the galapagos of the south

atlantic

, but without the efforts of rangers, much of the flora and fauna endemics would be threatened by extinction everywhere with a European male randy brought his garbage here well, I think this tree, I would say that this tree is special for cerena because it just shows that 500 years after the discovery it is still an excess, you know not has been destroyed, so it's very important to keep them going, you know, to keep our land clean and running, the original plants are worth fighting for, but it's a tough battle, maybe even futile, it's very similar in The inhabitants of the island, despite strict controls, foreign plants and animals managed to reach the coast along with the usual goods.

Today, the ship brought very special cargo boxes from Paris containing historic furniture used by Napoleon during the years he spent in exile on the island. After being restored in Paris, they will now go back on display in St Helena, which is good news for Basil George, who is a tour guide at Napoleon's home in St Helena, it could help attract more tourists. This time, only two visitors have traveled with the ship for a long time. of people I think I've been touring for quite a while and you find out that it's mostly older people who come, who can, who can't afford the time, Basil George won't earn much today, but that means he'll have more.

Time for something else is also important on a remote island Shopping the shops are replenishing their shelves with the fresh produce brought by the freighter will not last forever so it is advisable to move quickly as Basil George never finds bottled and canned goods. a problem, but fresh fruit is another story, okay, all the mushrooms, the next morning they are gray and cloudy, it almost looks like rural England, only here it is even more windy and humid. A former occupant of this stately home frequently complained about the Longwood House that served as Napoleon's home. It is property of the French government.

The French Emperor was sent here by the British in 1815 and it is where he remained until his death six years later. It is said that his knights did not sleep. He wandered from one bed to another. He had three in total. Boredom seemed to have been a problem. For him, as well as the humidity in the house, restored furniture is being reinstalled in the house, including Napoleon's pool table, that is reason enough for tour guide Basil George to stop by. I think you find Napoleon's former prison more impressive. It was just to make a campaign to try to get released, I think to see how badly he was being treated and I think it was a campaign.

Vassel George and his son Kevin know that not all the prisoners on the island had it so good. They are descendants of a man who was banished to St. Helena along with many others as a prisoner during the Boer War. Basil George's grandfather lived in a camp here on this windy plateau. Six thousand men were sent by the British to the camp. Many of these uh, these tents were actually set up, yeah, like most of the island's inhabitants. Basil and Kevin's family is a mix of many cultures. Their ancestors came from all over Europe. Basil's great-grandfather from China, among the few remaining traces of the boring South Africans, is this cemetery full. of the victims of a typhoid epidemic basil george's grandfather was one of the five prisoners who decided to stay on the island after being released they had come to appreciate life on the remote island it is mia henry's first day at her new job As a security agent ensure that everyone in the port complies with the rules and regulations.

She won't say goodbye to the sea completely, but now most of her days will be spent here on a piece of land in the middle of nowhere, for me it won't be. Now I can go and do some retail therapy like before, but I think the island and everything that comes with it has other advantages that you won't find anywhere else in the world. We can enjoy the sea, you know. I'm an i' passionate about the sea, so now I can spend my weekends in the ocean or outside. Leroy, Mia's partner, also shares her love of the sea.

The coast around the island is a habitat for hundreds of dolphins. It's a little after six. morning clock leroy is in a boat with his brothers when they go fishing they always hope to catch something big they drop anchor in an area frequented by tuna fishing it is one of the few ways to make money on the island today leroy is in the Luck does not give up, the fish resists, but after 20 minutes, Leroy manages to put 110 kilos of main tuner into the boat. As for the price, I think it would go up if the fish were frozen from here, so the value goes down, but fresh.

So this freshly caught fish weighs 30 pounds, but fresh on the outbound flight, you could become a zombie at 200 to 300 pounds, which is a big difference from what we get now, but for that the island would need an airport, the British. The government has invested more than three million pounds to make this remote island a little less remote. It is a lot of money considering that it only has 4,500 inhabitants, but it would make it easier for more tourists to visit the island, a change that not everyone accepts. Twenty to six and there's something else here we play to guess who Mike Olsen is one of the harshest critics of the project.

He runs a radio station on the island and says most people here share his reservations about the airport. Loneliness is part of his identity and that could be lost. because of the air traffic it's very friendly, it's a little carefree maybe and some of that will inevitably go away, but we don't want all that to go away, we still want a little bit of it, otherwise Cynthia will be like any other place. in the world we don't want a mcdonald's on one corner and a nando's chicken on the other because saint clina wouldn't be the place it is when mike olson is walking the hills around the airport and is upset about the waste of money even though millions were spent to complete the runway there are still no scheduled flights to or from the continent mike olson shows us a video of a test flight the plane failed in two attempts to land only the third attempt was successful the airport is in an area prone to strong wind shears wind, something that only became clear after its construction, making landing and takeoff dangerous, especially on a runway that ends with a300 meter difference. 17.2 Meteorologists are now investigating whether the winds around the airport are really dangerous if the peaks of two mountains could be blown down, otherwise the expensive airport could serve as nothing more than a simple landing strip for light aircraft that do not They require the entire length of the track, which wouldn't bother ranger Dennis Leo in the least, he says, the more remote it is, the better for the island and its nature.

Kyle and Dennis have seen an animal that can only be found in Saint Helena. The extremely rare St. Helena plova or wirebird, as it is called here to distract itself from its nearby nest. The bird pretends a wing. injuries, but the nests are what Dennis and Kyle are most interested in. They keep a record of all the eggs and adult birds they see. There are only 500 ground-nesting wirebirds left on the island. They are threatened by rats and feral cats. Oh man.you know I have a shot at this I have to say that's right you know I like doing this you know and when I put a cat in a trap it's a good feeling you know I have to kill it but like have you ever lost a check like you know that you find a check this week and lose it next week you feel the look sometimes you know, oh my God, my chick is gone, you know the fact that the Europeans turned the island into a fortress is the curse of a legacy, says Dennis , others like Basil and Kevin see this historical legacy as an opportunity to attract more tourists.

Not enough money has been made from St. Helena's attractions to date. They think they love their island and the fortress over the harbor. This saddens. Let them see how more and more people are leaving Saint Helena because there is not enough work here, that is why they support the airport project and hope that it will attract tourists. It is not enough accommodation to face a boom, and that is why there has been talk of looking at investors, but I think that the number of tourists who come to the island is controlled and then yes, it grows with it instead of big investors come in, but I don't see how the island can pay for all the services it has. giving birth to four thousand five hundred people in a developed country would be a village.

I don't think they can handle having to provide all the services. Its human resource base is too small to be able to do so. The time has come to do it. the passengers and crew of the rms saint helena will depart a ritual that may soon be a thing of the past once the airport becomes operational the ship will be taken out of service mia henry has come to say goodbye this time he will leave without her, his former colleagues already They have taken their positions on the bridge of the RMS Saint Helena, how does it feel to be at ground level?

There are no feet that don't touch the ground, yeah, to be honest, it's okay, hey, the captain says last, the last blow on the whistle. for you, oh that's good, okay, I feel like a part of my identity has slipped away from me right now, so I know my new job is going to be different, but I hope I find some of that. identity again your