St. Helena 2

6. On Thursday, March 1 we moved to a self-catering flat on Napoleon Street, 30 yards from the one and only roundabout in Jamestown connecting its three streets.... Main Street, Market Street and Napoleon Street.  That evening we encountered the first of many cockroaches with which we are sharing the flat! A highly toxic spray aptly named Dyroach has been put to use.  The next day, we drove our massive Toyota 4WD vehicle up the easier of the only two roads out of Jamestown -- a narrow road that climbs steeply along the cliff-side!  Cars ascending have the right of way.  If one meets one on one's way down, one has to back up to a place where the road is wide enough for two cars.  These places are marked (because they are not altogether obvious!) with a small black and white striped sign. Our destination was Napoleon's places of residence, firstly The Briars, and secondly Longwood.  We had a tour of both houses in which Napoleon lived, and complained, during his exile from 1815 to his death in 1821.    We discovered that a Wi-Fi internet connection, which is very slow, costs £6.60 per hour, at all three places that offer it.  That should explain some of the lateness of these blogs!  We are finding that most of the tourists here are from yachts.  A surprising number of couples, some with children, are sailing around the world.  Imagine being in a 40 foot yacht in mid-Atlantic!  Most aim to complete the voyage in 4 or more years. On the evening of Sunday, March 4, we ascended the 699 steps of Jacob's Ladder, a climb of 600 feet out of Lower Jamestown to the top of the hillside.   Not originally a tourist attraction, it was an inclined plane used to take supplies in and out of Jamestown in the 19th century.  On Monday, March 5, we hiked up Diana's Peak, the highest point on the island at 823 metres.  It provides views of nearly the entire island with its mountainous terrain cut by deep valleys.  On Tuesday, March 6, we had a tour of Plantation House, the St. Helena Governor's residence.  We saw the entire ground floor which has some excellent furniture and paintings.  The front lawn is more of a large paddock and features five giant tortoises, one of which, 440 pound Jonathan, is 180 years old and most likely the oldest living land animal.  Jonathan was moving slowly and munching the long grass contentedly! Later that day, we visited, in a cramped and untidy basement under a pub and only about 40 feet from the sea, the St. Helena distillery.  Yes, there is a Brit here who uses locally grown juniper berries, coffee beans and prickly pear cactus fruit to make gin, coffee liqueur and a curious, 43% alcohol, cactus drink called tungi (toon-ji)!