In June 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte suffered his catastrophic defeat at Waterloo and was exiled by the British to St. Helena – a picturesque island in the middle of the South Atlantic. As a place of exile, it was well suited to the task. Situated about 1,200 miles from Africa and 1,800 miles from South America, St. Helena is just about as far from anywhere as you can get. It’s also stunningly beautiful, with a mountainous volcanic terrain that supports an astounding diversity of plant and animal species and the last natural cloud forest on British soil.
St. Helena was discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, but was claimed by the British in 1659. The island has remained under British control ever since and is now part of a British Overseas Territory that also includes the islands of Tristan da Cunha , which we also visited, and Ascension. Before the completion of the Suez Canal, St. Helena was an important mid-Atlantic stopover and shipping port – and to this day the friendly people reflect a melting pot of cultures including European, Chinese, African, and others.
St. Helena was the penultimate stop on our 34-day voyage through the South Atlantic last spring. It’s a scenic, welcoming, and captivating place that few tourists ever get to see. Here are our highlights.
Napoleon’s Final Stand
St. Helena was not Napoleon’s first gig as an emperor in exile (he was previously sent to the Italian island of Elba in 1814), but it turned out to be his last. After living for a few months with a local family, he finally took up residence in Longwood House, a lovely manse that had been redesigned just for him. Obviously he was a big prize for the British, who were so determined to keep him on St. Helena that they built forts on every hilltop, stationed 1,800 troops, and deployed 20 warships to guard the island. Longwood House itself is situated on a high bluff, which made it easier to sequester Napoleon and keep track of his movements.
Apparently Napoleon’s last years were pretty idyllic – he rode his horse to visit neighbors, dictated his memoirs, listened to music, played cards, read from his library of 3,000 books, and was looked after by a staff of household servants. All on a breathtakingly scenic island. If that’s what life in exile is like, sign me up!
But the lack of freedom rankled Napoleon and probably shortened his life. He would spend almost six years living in Longwood House before succumbing to some sort of gut malady (stomach cancer? ulcers? arsenic poisoning?) on May 5, 1821, at the age of 51. At his request, he was first buried in the tranquil Sane Valley, a beautiful area with a spring supplying water to Longwood House. There Napoleon lay until the 1840s, when the Prince de Joinville collected his body and took it to Paris, where it still resides today in an elaborate tomb inside the Hotêl Les Invalides.
For lots more on Napoleon and his life, here’s a fascinating website.
Plantation House and Jonathan the Tortoise
Completed in 1792 by the British East India Company, Plantation House is the home of the Governor of St Helena. But its most famous resident is Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise who just celebrated his 192nd birthday – making him the world’s oldest land-dwelling animal. Jonathan and his tortoise compadres can be seen every day placidly grazing the grounds of Plantation House lawns.
Blue Point Hike
Exploring Jamestown
Just past the church is Jacob’s Ladder, another famous Jamestown landmark. This 699-step staircase replaces a cable railway built in 1829 to carry goods and materials between the town and communities in the highlands. Today the ladder is mainly a tourist attraction that rewards climbers with spectacular views of Jamestown and the harbor. At the top is Ladder Hill Fort, an important fortification built in the late 18th century.
Getting there. It’s not easy to get to St. Helena, but it’s worth the effort. The island’s tourism got a big boost in 2016 with the opening of a modern airport that offers weekly flights via Airlink to and from Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. In addition, dozens of cruise and expedition ships call into St. Helena every year (that’s how we got there), together with scores of private yachts.
Food/Drink. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Mantis Hotel. We also returned twice for lunch to Anne’s Place for its excellent seafood menu and yacht club vibe, which made us feel right at home. For a cozy bar with a friendly local scene, visit the Standard Bar. And check out the St. Helena Coffee Shop near the waterfront to sample the island-grown brew.
Lodging. St. Helena offers several options for accommodations, ranging from boutique hotels to smaller B&Bs and guest houses. Here’s a nice overview.
Other Tips. Jamestown has one bank, the Bank of St. Helena, where the friendly tellers will exchange your money for British Pounds (there’s no ATM on the island). There’s also a post office and a couple of small groceries. The St. Helena Tourism Office is worth a visit and offers free guided tours of Jamestown and other points of interest on the island. And the tourism website is a fantastic resource, with just about any information a visitor might need.
Next: Our Final South Atlantic Stop, Africa’s Cape Verde Islands!
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19 Comments
What a fascinating place! You really managed to visit some remote and difficult to get to places on that cruise. Yeah, after being beaten in Waterloo (Belgium), Napoleon had quite a nice life on St. Helena!
It seemed like a pretty nice life to us, too! But look at the contrast with his former life as “emperor of France.” I think the exile just broke his spirit. St. Helena was fascinating, and we didn’t expect it to be so pretty!
Sure hope you’re making all these blogs into a book! Love them!
Claudia! Welcome to our blog and thanks for the comment. Yeah, I’ve had a few fits and starts with a book, but after writing for a living for 30-plus years, it just feels like too much work – ha! The blog posts are my writing outlet for now. Hope you and yours are well!
Lucky you getting to explore Napoleon’s at off isle almost in the middle of nowhere! I had no clue there was so much to see and do there. Thanks for the grand tour.
Thanks, Annie! We just knew vaguely that St. Helena was where Napoleon was exiled, so we weren’t prepared for such a beautiful island with so much charm. We really enjoyed our stopover there.
I can sure see why you enjoyed the stopover so much! I’d love to see it , too, now.
I wouldn’t mind being exiled on St. Helena. Your description of Napoleon’s exiled life is difficult to imagine since it’s so opposite to the rest of his life. Great post, Maggie
Yes, imagine going from “Emperor of France” to life in exile. I think it just broke his spirit. But we agree with you – just set us up with a bunch of books, some horses to ride, and some amazing scenery and we’re good! Thanks, Maggie 🙂
Truly idyllic, indeed! If I were Napoleon, I wouldn’t mind being exiled to this paradisiacal island. The vegetation and wildlife are so lush, and it looks like you had a wonderful time exploring this remote part of the world! Thanks for sharing St. Helena with us!
Thanks, Rebecca! St. Helena was a revelation in so many ways. It was lovely to be hiking in such a beautiful environment after all the days we spent at sea.
Oh how incredible. I have always had St Helena on my list. I’d love to re-trace Napoleon’s footsteps and the island just looks so beautiful. Aside from the mountains surrounding the town, the other clue it’s not England is the weather – it’s far too sunny hehe 🙂
Thanks, Hannah! I think we got lucky with the weather – it can be pretty unpredictable in the South Atlantic. I wondered how many folks from the UK had ever visited. It’s a really special place!
Fascinating read on Napoleon and his last stand. He was such an enigmatic character.
Thanks, Meg. He was enigmatic, for sure!
It’s interesting to think about how you and some of your readers actually don’t mind living on St. Helena — it surely looks like a very idyllic and calm place to live. But for someone like Napoleon with great ambitions of conquering lands beyond his own borders, this island must have been soul-crushing. That makes me think, we are our own enemies. In many cases, we get to choose the path towards our own happiness.
Ha, good point! Of course, for someone with Napoleon’s ambitions and accomplishments, I can’t imagine how he could have been happy isolated on an island – even one as pretty as St. Helena. Soul-crushing it was, I’m sure, which is why he didn’t live a lot longer there. But it’s true – we make our own happiness. Hope you’re having a lovely year so far, Bama!
Wow, what a beautiful place! I can’t imagine living 192 years. How the world (and the island) must have changed in that time.
Thanks, Diana! I wish Jonathan could talk – the stories he could tell. He actually came to the island just a few years after Napoleon died. Amazing.